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For the last three years, NASCAR tried a grand experiment, taking its annual preseason exhibition, the Cup Series Clash, to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
Much the same as the NFL playing games in London, the idea was NASCAR should stage a race in a new market to grow the sport and let new fans see an event live.
It was a success and brought the sport to the second-largest TV market in the country, but the idea wasn’t exactly popular among drivers or long-time NASCAR fans. For one thing, taking racecars, equipment, team and crew members from their homes in Charlotte, N.C., to the other side of the country for an exhibition was costly and probably a logistical nightmare – especially given the fact just barely more than half of the field actually makes it into the main Clash event every year, and less than two weeks later they had to be back on the East Coast for the Daytona 500.