One of the world's historic sports venues will welcome race fans next year when NASCAR brings its Clash exhibition race to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
It's a significant step for the pre-season, non-points race that has for decades been held at motor racing shrine Daytona International Speedway.
Here's what to know about the Clash's shift to the West Coast and what the bullring of a racetrack will look like.
How will a track be built inside the Coliseum?
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The Clash will be on a quarter-mile asphalt oval track built around the Coliseum's football field.
The race series used iRacing computer. simulations to determine the track's profile, including how much banking there will be in the turns.
The video below shows the iRacing demo of the Coliseum track.
"You can only go so high, just because of the sight lines and the temporary construction, but we've played with a few different ones,'' said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of strategy and innovation. "We'll have more at a later date on that.''
Construction will begin New Year's Day.
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It will be the shortest track layout for the Cup Series in the modern era. Bristol Motor Speedway, at 0.533 miles, and Martinsville Speedway, at 0.526 miles, are the shortest layouts on the schedule.
The series raced on quarter-mile Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, from 1958-1971 and the almost comically tiny .2-mile Islip (N.Y.) Speedway from 1964-68, 71.
When is the Clash and are tickets on sale?
The Clash, an exhibition race that doesn't impact driver points standings, is scheduled for Feb. 6. The green flag drops Thursday on ticket sales through TicketMaster, but the pre-sale is on now.
“I think the large fan base that we have here in Los Angeles, the largest that we actually have in the nation, paired with exciting racing and being here in the downtown Los Angeles market, I think will be really special," Kennedy said.
What makes this significant?
The Clash has been held at Daytona International Speedway since 1979.
Organizers changed things up this year with the Clash, moving from Daytona's oval track to a road course -- think left and right turns using the complex's infield -- but the move to the Coliseum is the first time the race will not be at the storied Florida speedway.
"We've been discussing the Clash for a while, and we've had it at the (Daytona) oval for a number of years,'' said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of strategy and innovation. "We moved it to the road course this year, but really wanted to think outside the box as we thought about the Clash in the future -- and seeing that it's an exhibition event, we looked at a number of different places and
locations that we could host it at, and ultimately narrowed it down to the L.A.
Coliseum.''
Talks with Coliseum officials began two years ago and started after NASCAR executives went to the Coliseum's website, found their contact page and reached out to stadium executives, Kennedy said. The format and eligibility for the race will also be announced later.
The Clash will be the first time the series competes at the Coliseum, which has been the site of supercross and speedway motorcycle and off-road truck races along with rallycross events, including the X Games.
The race also marks the first time NASCAR's Next Gen car will race in competition.
