Regardless of what NASCAR “Core” fans believe, NASCAR made the right call moving the Clash to Saturday night from Sunday due to a massive rain storm that may cause significant flooding throughout southern California. NASCAR made the call in the afternoon with the full support of the teams and offered free admission to whoever was in the area. NASCAR will provide full refunds to fans with Sunday tickets and prepaid parking passes.
NASCAR realized several issues that led them to move the race:
Meteorologists predicted extraordinarily heavy wind and rain for the next few days, and most predations pointed to the storm lasting until Tuesday or Wednesday. Assuming the race happened on Wednesday, The teams may have returned to North Carolina on Friday or Saturday, putting them far behind in their Daytona preparations. With Sunday out, it was race Saturday or not at all.
If the worst case flooding occurred, the necessary emergency personnel needed on race day Police, Fire, EMS, and other stadium resources would be unavailable as they would be engaged elsewhere.
The safety of the fans and teams is paramount. The Clash is an exhibition race without any impact on the regular season. From reports today, many areas are subject to emergency evacuations, meteorologists posted hurricane-strength wind warnings for the first time in California’s history, and public safety officials are asking people to prepare for multi-day power outages. It is best for everybody that NASCAR is out of the way.
The race itself was alright. The NextGen car still needs to work on providing excitement on short tracks, but the drivers did their best to put on a decent show with minimal practice. Denny Hamiln reminded the world that he beat all your favorite drivers again! Ty Gibbs and Joey Logano exchanged words after the race. Ross Chastain and Tyler Reddick are on each other’s radar after Ross dumped Reddick after the checkered flag.
On To Daytona!