Michael McDowell is 250/1 to win Busch Light Clash

Michael McDowell and No. 34 Ford Team The Clash at The Coliseum Competition Notes

TEAM AND RACE NOTES:

Fr8Auctions.com will support Michael McDowell during his kickoff to the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series race season this weekend. It’s the eighth consecutive season that the Atlanta, Georgia-based asset recovery business has supported Front Row Motorsports (FRM).

McDowell will race the No. 34 Fr8Auctions.com Ford Mustang during The Clash at The Coliseum at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum- a purpose-built track inside the famous stadium. The two-day exhibition event will begin Saturday, February 4 at 6:00 p.m. ET with a practice session televised live on FS1.

Qualifying will also be Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. ET live on FS1.

Sunday will feature qualifying heats (25 laps), two last-chance qualifying races (50 laps), a pre-race concert by Cypress Hill, and finally a 150-lap feature race that will start 27 of the 36-entered teams. The race will feature a mid-race break highlighted with a perfomance by Wiz Khalifa.

All of Sunday’s coverage will be televised live on FOX.

COMPETITION NOTES:

The Clash at The Coliseum will mark the first track test for new faces on the No. 34 team. The team is now led by Travis Peterson who moved over to FRM from Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing. Peterson has new members in place for his road crew that include two new engineers and a car chief. However, the team is poised to be even stronger in 2023.

CREW CHIEF TRAVIS PETERSON:

“We’re not going to miss a beat from the success that we saw out of Michael last season. We’re going to pick up where the team was at the end of last season and our goal is only to improve on what has been built. The Clash is a chance for us to knock off some rust and get back into the rhythm of traveling, putting in full days at the track, and working on our communication with Michael.

“Our goal is to leave The Clash with a top-10 result. Michael enjoyed The Clash last year and had some success passing cars and he had good speed. As a team, we expect nothing less than the same effort with an even better result.”

DRIVER MICHAEL MCDOWELL:

“The Clash is really the first chance that everyone can really get together and see how you stack up against one another. I don’t know if it’s the perfect test, since this event is such an anomaly, but it gives you an idea of where your program may be.

“I agree with Travis, I don’t see us really slowing down from where we’ve come. Sure, we know we have some new faces to the team, but I’ve really enjoyed working with Travis and trust that he’s working hard to give me what I need in the car. We both have lofty goals this year and it’s good to start off with an exhibition event where you can work out any bugs.

“Finally, we’re not getting to The Clash without Fr8Auctions and Marcus Barela. Their unwavering support to the sport, Front Row Motorsports and myself is special. It’s rare you see partners stay so committed for so long. We all want to have a great night for them to say thanks for their support.”

ABOUT FRONT ROW MOTORSPORTS

Front Row Motorsports (FRM) is a winning organization in the NASCAR Cup and Craftsman Truck Series. The team is the 2021 Daytona 500 and 2022 Craftsman Truck Series champions. The team was founded in 2004 and is owned by successful entrepreneur, Bob Jenkins. FRM fields the No. 34 and the No. 38 NASCAR Cup Series teams along with the No. 38 Craftsman Truck Series team from its Mooresville, N.C. headquarters. Visit teamfrm.com and follow FRM on social media: Twitter at @Team_FRM, Instagram at @Team_FRM and Facebook at facebook.com/FrontRowMotorsports.

Martin Truex Jr is 20/1 to win Busch Light Clash

 

Martin Truex Jr. Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD for Joe Gibbs Racing

Event Overview

●  Event: Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum ●  Time/Date: 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 5 ●  Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ●  Layout: Quarter-mile oval ●  Format: 150-lap Feature with a 27-car field set by Heats and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) ●  TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio ●  Note:  Heats and LCQ are broadcast live from 5-7 p.m. EST. Feature airs live at 8 p.m. EST.

Notes of Interest

● Entering his fifth season under the JGR banner, Truex has become quite the short-track ace during his first four seasons with JGR’s No. 19 team. Prior to his time with JGR, Truex had never won on a short track. However, since joining JGR, he’s brought home six of his 12 total victories on short tracks, which includes with three wins each on the Virginia shorts track at Richmond Raceway and Martinsville Speedway. In fact, nine of Truex’s wins since joining JGR at the start of 2019 have been on tracks 1.33 miles in length or shorter, which bodes well for the New Jersey native at this weekend’s race on the quarter-mile oval at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.   ● Truex will participate in the Clash for the 12th time in his career this weekend. His best finish of second came in the 2015 edition at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, the traditional home for the non-points event before last year’s inaugural race at the Coliseum. Truex started 23rd and brought home a 15th-place finish at the event in 2022.   ● History was made last February when the NASCAR Cup Series competed for the first time at the Coliseum. The Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum was a bold way to unofficially kick off the start of the NASCAR season. On a temporary, quarter-mile paved oval built on top of what is typically the running track around the football field the Trojans of the University of Southern California call home, NASCAR thundered into America’s second-largest media market. The location was strategic, as was the event’s timing – held on the off weekend between the NFL division championship games and the almighty Super Bowl. For all the unknowns coming into the event, it proved to be an absolute success. The buzz was palpable throughout the weekend, and more than 70 percent of ticket buyers were first-time NASCAR attendees. And with 4.3 million viewers tuned into the live TV broadcast on FOX, its ratings were 168 percent higher than the previous year’s Busch Light Clash, which was held at Daytona and broadcast on FS1. It was the Clash’s best rating since 2016, when it was broadcast on FOX. On Twitter, NASCAR was the No. 1 trending topic in the United States during the race, besting the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which was held the same day.    ● While NASCAR certainly made history last year at the L.A. Coliseum, it’s appropriate to say auto racing history was remade. As World War II wound down, racing open-wheel midget cars around the Coliseum cranked up. Beginning in 1945, the United Racing Association (URA) ran on a quarter-mile track that was paved right over the top of the athletic track. Racing continued through 1948, but under the auspices of the Automobile Association of America (AAA). As more permanent racetracks began populating Southern California, racing at the Coliseum fell by the wayside. That is, until 1979 when Mickey Thompson packaged off-road racing into his innovative stadium series, with the Coliseum serving as his first event of many across the country. Broadcast on ESPN and TNN, it was where an up-and-coming off-road racer with NASCAR ambitions first started making a name for himself – none other than seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.   ● NASCAR celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2023, and for most of those years the sanctioning body began its annual campaign at Daytona. Starting the year in California isn’t a break from tradition, necessarily. In fact, it could be argued that it’s a return to a previous tradition. Last year’s Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum marked the first time since 1981 that NASCAR didn’t start its season at Daytona. But starting the year in California was not new. In 1965, and again from 1970 to 1981, the NASCAR Cup Series’ season-opening race took place at Riverside International Raceway, a road course that was approximately 50 miles east of Los Angeles. Riverside is long gone, the site now home to the Moreno Valley Mall, but the L.A. Coliseum was at 311 Figueroa Street 34 years before Riverside opened its doors in 1957, and it’s still there today. It’s a juxtaposition of old and new, a microcosm of NASCAR’s brave new world.   ● In true L.A. fashion, almost any NASCAR Cup Series team can show up at the Coliseum, but not everyone is getting past the velvet ropes to participate in the 150-lap main event. Because the track at the Coliseum is only a quarter-mile in length – the shortest track the NASCAR Cup Series will compete on in 2023 – only 27 cars can compete in the feature. Getting to the main event is much more arduous than walking the red carpet and slipping the bouncer a $100 bill.   Here's how it works: ●  Saturday, NASCAR Cup Series competitors will take to the track for practice prior to single-car qualifying to determine the starting order for Sunday’s four 25-lap heat races consisting of 10 cars each. Below is a breakdown on how the heat races will be filled out:   ●  The top-four fastest qualifiers from Saturday’s single-car qualifying session will be on the pole for each heat race, while cars that qualified fifth through eighth will make up the other half of the front row in each heat.   ● The remainder of each field will be filled using this methodology: Heat one will be made up of cars with qualifying positions of one, five, nine, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37.   ● The top-five finishers (20 total cars) from each heat race automatically advance to the Busch Light Clash, with the winner of heat one winning the pole and the winner of heat two earning the outside pole.   ● The winners of heats three and four will fill out the second row, with the remaining order being determined in the same manner.   ● The remaining finishers from each heat that did not advance will continue to one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifying (LCQ) races. Below is a breakdown on how the LCQ will be filled out:   ● The starting order for these two events will be determined based on finishing positions in the heat races.   ● Those who did not advance from heats one and three will make up the first LCQ race. The second race will be made up of those from heats two and four.   ● The sixth-place finishers from heats one and two will be on the pole in their respective LCQ races. The sixth-place finishers from heats three and four will be on the outside pole. ●This pattern will continue to fill out the remaining cars in each LCQ.   ● The top-three finishers (six total cars) from each LCQ race will advance to the Busch Light Clash, filling out positions 21-26 of the 27 available positions.   ● The final spot in the Busch Light Clash will be reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2022 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in their heat race or in their LCQ race.   ● All other drivers will be eliminated from competition for the remainder of the event weekend.

Martin Truex Jr., Driver of the No. 19 Bass Pro Shops Toyota Camry TRD

What are you expecting from the NextGen car this year that will be different than last year? Do you think your team will make some gains, especially since some changes had to be made to the back of the car in particular?   “I think so, especially on short tracks and road courses, where we had some of our issues. What we’ve seen so far in all of our wind-tunnel testing and everything else I think we’ll be able to make some gains on what we needed last year and what we were lacking. Feeling good about that, but until we go test and also get on the track for real, there’s no guarantee, but it seems like things are lining up that are going to be able to help with what we thought we needed help with last year.”   With the experience you gained there last year, what do you expect at this year’s Clash at The Coliseum?   “I think the Clash will be a better race overall this year. Last year, there were just so many unknowns. You even had a new car and just, setup-wise, it was all a big guess. We all just got thrown out there, and whoever guessed right was the fastest there last year. I think we’ll see more of a competitive race even though they’ve put down new asphalt. Will the asphalt be any different or will it be exactly the same? It will be interesting to see. I expect a more competitive race and it will be hard to make the show if you are not locked in, for sure.”   How did the NextGen cars change your approach to short tracks last year?   “Short tracks were a challenge last year for us. It was a lot harder to pass than the previous car at short tracks. With the increased shifting and the way the brakes were on this car, it’s just so much different. I think the shifting has made the biggest difference. But with the braking going along with that, independent rear suspension, and differential and all of those things going on with the bigger brakes that we have now, we almost have more brakes than the tires can even take. So it’s been a challenge not to modulate that and try not to lock up the rear tires, which has been a big issue for us as a team.”   What are your expectations for this season as you work to get back in the playoffs and focus on getting into championship contention again?   “We are looking forward to the season and we have some pretty high expectations. Winning races and going for another championship is really the only reason why I’m still here, so anything short of that is going to be a disappointment. We’ve got a great team and really no changes other than hopefully the fastest over-the-wall pit crew in the sport. We are pretty excited about that group and what they can get done on pit road for us. It’s going to be all about taking advantage of our opportunities. We had a good season last year, but we didn’t get a win. We had a lot of opportunities to do that but we weren’t able to put one of those away. That’s what we are focused on – how do we not make mistakes and how do we get our cars more competitive more consistently. But I think with the changes NASCAR has made to the cars, I think it’s going to help us. We are fired up and ready to go and I think we are going to make some big problems for a lot of people this year with our Bass Pro Shops Toyota.”

Aric Almirola is 40/1 to win 2023 Busch Light Clash

 

ARIC ALMIROLA  Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

●  Event: Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum ●  Time/Date: 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 5 ●  Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ●  Layout: Quarter-mile oval ●  Format: 150-lap Feature with a 27-car field set by Heats and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) ●  TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio ●  Note: Heats and LCQ are broadcast live from 5-7 p.m. EST. Feature airs live at 8 p.m. EST.

Notes of Interest

●  NASCAR returns to the track this weekend to unofficially kick off the 2023 season with the second running of the Busch Light Clash at the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The weekend’s 150-lap Feature race will showcase 27 world-class drivers battling on a temporary, quarter-mile, paved oval, built on top of the playing field that is home to the University of Southern California Trojans football team. It makes for one of the most unique sporting events in America. Last year’s inaugural event proved to be a success with 4.3 million viewers tuning in to the live broadcast on FOX. That rating was 168 percent higher than the previous year’s Busch Light Clash  held at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and broadcast on FS1, and it was the best rating since 2016 for The Clash, when it was broadcast on FOX. On Twitter, NASCAR was the No. 1 trending topic in the United States during the race, besting the NFL’s Pro Bowl, which was held the same day.   ●  Saturday, NASCAR Cup Series competitors will take to the track for practice prior to single-car qualifying to determine the starting order for Sunday’s four, 25-lap heat races, which will consist of 10 cars each. Below is a breakdown of how the heat races will be filled out: The top-four fastest qualifiers from Saturday’s single-car qualifying session will be on the pole for each heat race, while cars that qualified fifth through eighth will make up the other half of the front row in each heat. The remainder of each field will be filled using this methodology: Heat one will be made up of cars with qualifying positions of one, five, nine, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37. The top-five finishers (20 total cars) from each heat race automatically advance to the Busch Light Clash, with the winner of heat one winning the pole and the winner of heat two earning the outside pole. The winners of heats three and four will fill out the second row, with the remaining order being determined in the same manner. The remaining finishing positions from each heat that did not advance will continue to one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifying (LCQ) races. Below is a breakdown on how the LCQ will be filled out: The starting order for these two events will be determined based on finishing positions in the heat races. Those who did not advance from heats one and three will make up the first LCQ race. The second race will be made up of those from heats two and four. The sixth-place finishers from heats one and two will be on the pole in their respective LCQ races. The sixth-place finishers from heats three and four will be on the outside pole. This pattern will continue to fill out the remaining cars in each LCQ. The top-three finishers (six total cars) from both LCQ races will advance to the Busch Light Clash, filling out positions 21-26 of the 27 available positions. The final spot in the Busch Light Clash will be reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2022 points standings who did not transfer on finishing position in his heat race or LCQ race. All other drivers will be eliminated from competition for the remainder of the event weekend.  ●  Busch Light Clash History: In Aric Almirola’s seven previous Clash appearances, he has finished in the top-10 three times with a best finish of sixth. In his heat race during last year’s inaugural Clash, Almirola was involved in an accident not of his doing that eliminated his chance to race in the Feature.   ●  The quarter-mile oval at the L.A. Coliseum is the shortest of short tracks. Almirola thrives at shorter flat tracks with his most recent NASCAR Cup Series win coming on the 1.058-mile oval at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.   ●  Appearances: Almirola will make an appearance on Sunday at 11:45 a.m. local time at the NASCAR Fan Fest for a Q&A session alongside his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) teammates.   ●  Almirola’s career: In 424 NASCAR Cup Series starts, Almirola has earned three wins, 28 top-five finishes, 91 top-10s, four poles, and has led 974 laps.   ●  2022 Recap: Almirola earned one pole, two top-five finishes, seven top-10s and led 81 laps. He started the season as the only NASCAR Cup Series driver with three consecutive top-10 finishes – fifth in the season-opening Daytona 500, sixth at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, and sixth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He earned his fourth Cup Series pole at the Sept, 17 race at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.   ●  Smithfield Foods rejoins Almirola and the No. 10 Ford team as the anchor sponsor for the 2023 NASCAR season. Smithfield has been a sponsor of Almirola’s for the entirety of his fulltime NASCAR Cup Series career – making it one of the longest-lasting partnerships in NASCAR.   ●  Back for More: Last year, Almirola announced that he would step down from fulltime racing following the 2022 season.Through the course of the year, he discovered a new balance between his passion for racing and dedication to his family. His wife Janice, and kids Alex and Abby, joined him on most race weekends, oftentimes enjoying once-in-a-lifetime experiences together as they traveled the country. His rapport with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer flourished, and the intense pressure he had put on himself was replaced with the joy of simply being present. Not only did Almirola see the sport from a new perspective, so did anchor partner Smithfield Foods, who broached the subject of Almirola returning to fulltime racing in 2023. On Aug. 26, Almirola, SHR and Smithfield Foods announced his return with a multiyear agreement and the Smithfield’s largest allotment of races since joining the team in 2018.    ●  Beyond the 10 YouTube Series: In 2023, Almirola will continue to share his life beyond the No. 10 Smithfield Ford with season five of his award-winning YouTube series. Fans and media can subscribe on YouTube to see Almirola’s personality on and off the track. Episodes have already featured life as a dad, a husband and an athlete, and it gives fans a unique perspective on what goes on in the life of a professional NASCAR driver. Fans can also follow Almirola’s social media channels: @Aric_Almirola on Twitter and Instagram, and @AricAlmirola on Facebook.

Aric Almirola, Driver of the No. 10 Smithfield Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

What is your mentality for 2023?   “My mentality for 2023 is really to be better this year than I’ve ever been before, each and every day. For me, as I look throughout my career, I have had a lot of inconsistencies. And once I got to Stewart-Haas Racing, I really honed in on being a lot more consistent and running up front, but last year was not the case. I want to consistently be up front and be the best that I can be. Hopefully we can get our cars faster, but for me personally, it’s just about being the best me every single week.”   What are your thoughts on racing at the L.A. Coliseum again?   “I think it’s incredible what NASCAR is doing to grow our sport. I remember the energy being so electric in that stadium last year. When we walked down for driver intros, the cheering was so loud it reminded me of a Martinsville playoff race. There was a huge section of college students, too, so it was great to see that younger crowd excited about our sport. L.A. is a huge market, too, and we’re generating a ton of buzz before the Daytona 500. This race is like a teaser for our Super Bowl to kick off the year. I mean, what a month for sports. You have The Clash, then the Super Bowl, then the Daytona 500 all in three weeks. You can’t beat that.”   What was the racing like last year, and what do you expect this year?   “There were just so many unknowns last year. There really wasn’t an expectation because we had a brand new car on a brand new track that no one had ever raced before. You saw a lot of mechanical issues take cars out last year, so I think you’re going to see different racing just because of the experience we now have with the car and the track. Hopefully we’ll see cleaner racing so we have a shot at it this year.”   As an organization, how do you feel you are prepared for the 2023 season?   “It’s always hard in the offseason to predict what the season is going to give you. You never really know. Even though you’re working to get better, so is every other race team. You never know really how you stack up until the beginning part of the season gets going, and then you find out if you’re on top or if you’re playing catch-up. Last year, we found ourselves playing catch-up. We certainly didn’t start out the year like we wanted to and we worked really hard throughout the season playing catch-up. Whereas this year, at least we have some notes and some benchmarks going into the season to know, OK, well, we’re certainly better in this area than we were last year. So aerodynamics, car setups, engineering, and even drivers being able to go back and look at data and comparing ourselves to the guys who beat us, and being able to make those changes and those tweaks so that when we get ready for this season, we feel like we’re where we need to be.”   How was your offseason, and are you ready for the season?   “Every year in November after that championship race, we’re all ready to finally get a break. Thirty-eight weeks with one off weekend wears on you, but every year January comes around and I feel reinvigorated and ready to go. Maybe that means we do our offseason right. We took a few trips. I took Alex to see Lambeau Field and watch the Packers play. We took Abby to New York to watch the Rockettes before her theatre performance back home. Then we went to Utah as a family for a ski trip. It was a fun and relaxing offseason, but I’m ready to get back to it.”   Last year, you started the season planning to retire, but plans changed. Walk us through getting to the 2023 season for you.   “I was fully committed to being done. I did not envision a 2023 fulltime season. I went through the first half of last year and was soaking it all in, taking it one race at a time and enjoying what I thought to be my last season. As we got closer to summer, the race team asked if I had interest in staying, Smithfield asked if I had interest in returning, and a lot of it was hinging on whether or not I would continue racing. With that, I felt humbled that the race team and sponsor wanted me to come back because, all of your career, you’re clawing and grinding to get a ride and a sponsor. It felt really nice to have that feeling of being wanted. On top of that, our lives changed. I was choosing to retire because I didn’t want to keep chasing my dream at the expense of my kids searching out for what their dream was. We have found such a wonderful balance with our family now, me being the husband I want to be, the dad I want to be, and their activities changed. We were able to find Alex a baseball league that just so happened to play when I was home, and I was able to spend that time as the assistant coach on his team. Abby is really into theatre and her performances happened to be on weeknights, as well. All the stars aligned and I have to really thank God for providing for us and aligning all of the stars to find balance.”   How much did traveling with your family and experiencing things most families don’t get to on the road impact your decision?   “Yeah, that was one thing that really impacted our decision. They were able to come to 26 races. The experience they get to have traveling the country is remarkable. Before the pandemic, the schedules didn’t really work as well. We used to leave on Thursdays and that didn’t really work with school and their activities, but now we leave on Friday evening and we’re done by 1 or 2 o’clock and we really took advantage of that last year as a family. In the past, I would fly in, get to the racetrack, and be completely focused because the schedule demanded that of me. We would have a Friday-morning practice and qualifying, then Saturday we would have another hour or two of practice, then Sunday was the race, and it was an exhausting weekend that didn’t leave room to enjoy with your family. Now with this new schedule, it has allowed me to both stay extremely focused for the race and make memories with my family.”

Chase Briscoe is 28/1 to win Busch Light Clash

 

CHASE BRISCOE Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

● Event: Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum ● Time/Date: 5 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 5 ● Location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ● Layout: Quarter-mile oval ● Format: 150-lap Feature with a 27-car field set by Heats and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) ● TV/Radio: FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio ● Note: Heats and LCQ are broadcast live from 5-7 p.m. EST. Feature airs live at 8 p.m. EST.

Notes of Interest

● The 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season begins on the West Coast for the second year in a row with the non-points Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum. Last year’s race on the purpose-built, quarter-mile, asphalt oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum was the debut of the new NextGen car, the seventh variation of the NASCAR stock car first introduced in 1949. Chase Briscoe and the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors team for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) showed up ready to impress as Briscoe was third-fastest in practice and finished second in his heat race after starting seventh. He lined up sixth for the 150-lap feature and was running fourth on lap 53 before a mechanical issue ended his race.   ● Last year’s Clash was the first look at a more comfortable and confident Briscoe as he entered his sophomore season in NASCAR’s premier series. Two weeks later, the young driver competed in his second Daytona 500, ultimately finishing third following a three-way battle for the lead on the final lap.   ● Briscoe struggled to find success on the short tracks in NASCAR prior to last season, but the inaugural edition of The Clash with the NextGen car was an opportunity for the former dirt racer to find a new path to success. Just four races into the season, the Mitchell, Indiana, native earned his first career Cup Series win on the Phoenix Raceway mile oval.   ● Briscoe went on to earn career-best finishes at two of the most historic short tracks on the NASCAR schedule – Richmond (Va.) Raceway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway – but his standout performance didn’t stop there. He made his first appearance in the playoffs by way of his win at Phoenix and advanced to the Round of 8. Gritty performances in the cutoff races at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway Roval and Martinsville showed the rest of the Cup Series that the No. 14 team wasn’t one that gives up.   ● That never-give-up-attitude is what landed Briscoe a multiyear contract extension during the offseason. Now going into his third fulltime Cup Series season with SHR, the 28-year-old racer can compete for a championship with the peace of mind that is still unfamiliar for a driver who fought for the smallest of opportunities en route to fulfilling a dream. When his contract extension was announced, Briscoe said, “It’s the place I’ve known longer than anywhere else in my NASCAR career. I remember getting signed by Ford in 2017 and I told people, ‘You know, if I could pick one place to be, it would be Stewart-Haas Racing. And if I could drive one car, it would be the 14 car. That would be the ultimate dream.’ And now, here I am.”   ● Mahindra Tractors returns for its second year as primary sponsor for Briscoe and the No. 14 team at The Clash. Houston-based Mahindra Ag North America joined SHR prior to the 2022 season with Mahindra Tractors as the anchor sponsor on the No. 14 Ford Mustang. Briscoe’s strong start to the season and perseverance through the playoffs made Briscoe the perfect fit for the Official Tractor of Tough. As a tribute to those who don’t back down, Mahindra Tractors and the No. 14 team will be hosting several customers at The Clash who were impacted by the storms that overwhelmed California in January. Families were selected by the local, independent Mahindra dealerships in recognition of their courage and toughness.   ● When the NASCAR Cup Series returns to the L.A. Coliseum Saturday, drivers will take to the track for practice prior to single-car qualifying to determine the starting order for four heat races. Sunday, on-track action will begin with four, 25-lap heat races consisting of 10 cars each. Below is a breakdown on how the heat races will be filled out: The top-four fastest qualifiers from Saturday’s single-car qualifying session will be on the pole for each heat race, while cars that qualified fifth through eighth will make up the other half of the front row in each heat. The remainder of each field will be filled using this methodology: Heat one will be made up of cars with qualifying positions of one, five, nine, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37. The top-five finishers (20 total cars) from each heat race automatically advance to the Busch Light Clash, with the winner of heat one winning the pole and the winner of heat two earning the outside pole. The winners of heats three and four will fill out the second row, with the remaining order being determined in the same manner. The remaining finishing positions from each heat that did not advance will continue to one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifying (LCQ) races. Below is a breakdown on how the LCQ will be filled out: The starting order for these two events will be determined based on finishing positions in the heat races. Those who did not advance from heats one and three will make up the first LCQ race. The second race will be made up of those from heats two and four. The sixth-place finishers from heats one and two will be on the pole in their respective LCQ races. The sixth-place finishers from heats three and four will be on the outside pole. This pattern will continue to fill out the remaining cars in each LCQ. The top-three finishers (six total cars) from both LCQ races will advance to the Busch Light Clash, filling out positions 21-26 of the 27 available positions. The final spot in the Busch Light Clash will be reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2022 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in his heat race or in his LCQ race. All other drivers will be eliminated from competition for the remainder of the event weekend.

Chase Briscoe, Driver of the No. 14 Mahindra Tractors Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing:

When the 2022 season ended, you said you felt like you had underachieved. Do you still feel that way, or have you had a chance to reevaluate during the offseason? “My feelings have changed a little. You always want more, but the more I look back on it, I realize it was a good season. The more I think about the things we accomplished, the more proud I am of everything we went through to get there. You want to win more races and to just perform better in general, but now I feel like I’ve realized what a big deal it was to do those things with these guys – to win a race early on, to come back stronger in the playoffs and overcome those moments when it looked like our playoff run was done to almost make it to the Championship 4. As a driver, I want more, and I know as a team we want more, so yes, I’m happy with what we did and I feel more now that it was a success, but we are ready to do more this season.”   Success is measured in many different areas, but is there one overall goal that you’ve set for this year? “Winning multiple races. I’d be good with two, three, four – one won’t be enough his year. But I’d like to start that off with The Clash, then we can take that momentum into the points-paying races and earn our spot in the playoffs.”   Do you remember how you felt going into last year’s event in L.A., and how does it compare to your outlook going into this weekend? “I remember going into last year excited for what The Clash was going to be like and not really knowing. It was a new car, new track, new venue, and I think there was little bit of hesitation on what to expect, but I was really excited for that first time. Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised with how well the NextGen drove at the Coliseum and how the track raced. We had a lot of fun in 2022, so I’m definitely excited to get back there. It’s a great way to kick off the season, and it felt like we had one get away last year, so hopefully this year we can come out with a win.”   You performed well in practice, the heat race and the early part of the feature race, and it was really the first time you looked comfortable racing on a short track in the Cup Series. Did racing on a track that small and having some kind of success to start the season help with confidence on some of the other short tracks on the schedule? “Yeah, it definitely helps with confidence, but I think the NextGen car is really what helped me out with short tracks. I had a really hard time in the old car on short tracks, and the NextGen just seemed to fit my driving style and how I like to race a short track a little better. I still have a lot I need to work on, but I think The Clash was probably the first time feeling like I could be successful and had finally found what I needed, and from there I was just more comfortable going into races like Martinsville and Richmond.”

Ryan Preece Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum Preview

 

RYAN PREECE Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing

Event Overview

●  Event:  Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum ●  Time/Date:  5 p.m. EST on Sunday, Feb. 5 ●  Location:  Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum ●  Layout:  Quarter-mile oval ●  Format:  150-lap Feature with a 27-car field set by Heats and Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) ●  TV/Radio:  FOX / MRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio ●  Note:  Heats and LCQ are broadcast live from 5-7 p.m. EST. Feature airs live at 8 p.m. EST.

Notes of Interest

●  United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI), the largest equipment rental company in the world, is serving as the primary sponsor of Ryan Preece and the No. 41 team of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) for select NASCAR Cup Series races in 2023, beginning with the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum Feb. 4-5 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. United Rentals has an integrated network of 1,449 rental locations in North America, 13 in Europe, 27 in Australia and 19 in New Zealand. In North America, the company operates in 49 states and every Canadian province. The company’s approximately 24,700 employees serve construction and industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company offers approximately 4,700 classes of equipment for rent with a total original cost of $19.3 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, the Barron’s 400 Index and the Russell 3000 Index® and is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. Additional information about United Rentals is available at UnitedRentals.com.   ●  Perseverance has paid off for Preece. SHR promoted the 32-year-old racer from Berlin, Connecticut, from his reserve driver role with the organization to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023 where he will drive the team’s No. 41 Ford Mustang. Preece had spent 2022 performing simulator work while running a mix of races across each of NASCAR’s top-three national touring series – Cup, Xfinity and Truck – a schedule punctuated by a Truck Series win from the pole June 24 at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, his second straight at the 1.333-mile oval near Music City.   ●  One of the NASCAR Cup Series races Preece ran last year was the Busch Light Clash at The Coliseum. Preece drove for Rick Ware Racing and advanced into the 150-lap main event. It was a herculean effort for the small team, and Preece played a key role even from outside of the racecar. To simply have a car ready for the race, Preece worked side-by-side with his mechanics in the days and nights leading into The Clash building the racecar, a rarity in the ultra-specialized world of NASCAR’s premier division.   ●  Preece made a name for himself on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – NASCAR’s oldest division and the only open-wheel series sanctioned by NASCAR. Preece won the Tour championship in 2013 and worked hard to leverage that title into additional opportunities in the Xfinity Series – NASCAR’s stepping-stone division to the elite Cup Series. After spending all of 2016 in a scrappy effort with an underfunded team that delivered a best finish of 10th, Preece mortgaged his house to secure two races with Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) in 2017. In equipment finally befitting his talent, Preece finished second in his JGR debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon and then won in his very next start at Iowa Speedway in Newton. In his next five Xfinity Series starts, Preece never finished outside of the top-10, a run capped with a second victory in April 2018 at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.   ●  The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is filled with short tracks, so competing at a quarter-mile oval – the shortest track the NASCAR Cup Series will compete on in 2023 – is nothing new for Preece. That experience will prove incredibly useful because only 27 cars can line up for the 150-lap feature. Getting to the main event is a process. Here's how it works...   ●  On Saturday, Feb. 4, NASCAR Cup Series competitors will take to the track for practice prior to single-car qualifying to determine the starting order for four heat races. On Sunday, Feb. 5, on-track action will begin with four, 25-lap heat races consisting of 10 cars each. Below is a breakdown on how the heat races will be filled out:       ●  The top-four fastest qualifiers from Saturday’s single-car qualifying session will be on the pole for each heat race, while cars that qualified fifth through eighth will make up the other half of the front row in each heat.       ●  The remainder of each field will be filled using this methodology: Heat one will be made up of cars with qualifying positions of one, five, nine, 13, 17, 21, 25, 29, 33, 37.       ●  The top-five finishers (20 total cars) from each heat race automatically advance to the Busch Light Clash, with the winner of heat one winning the pole and the winner of heat two earning the outside pole.       ●  The winners of heats three and four will fill out the second row, with the remaining order being determined in the same manner.       ●  The remaining finishing positions from each heat that did not advance will continue to one of two 50-lap Last Chance Qualifying (LCQ) races. Below is a breakdown on how the LCQ will be filled out:       ●  The starting order for these two events will be determined based on finishing positions in the heat races.       ●  Those who did not advance from heats one and three will make up the first LCQ race. The second race will be made up of those from heats two and four.       ●  The sixth-place finishers from heats one and two will be on the pole in their respective LCQ races. The sixth-place finishers from heats three and four will be on the outside pole.       ●  This pattern will continue to fill out the remaining cars in each LCQ.       ●  The top-three finishers (six total cars) from both LCQ races will advance to the Busch Light Clash, filling out positions 21-26 of the 27 available positions.       ●  The final spot in the Busch Light Clash will be reserved for the driver who finished the highest in the 2022 points standings who does not transfer on finishing position in their heat race or in their LCQ race.       ●  All other drivers will be eliminated from competition for the remainder of the event weekend.

Ryan Preece, Driver of the No. 41 United Rentals Ford Mustang

You won the second LCQ race last year to advance to the Busch Light Clash. Talk about that LCQ race and how frantic the final laps were, and how your poise earned you the win, even after crossing the stripe in second place. (Ty Dillon was originally declared the winner, but NASCAR determined he jumped the final restart. He was disqualified. Preece, who had finished second to Dillon, was awarded the win and the final transfer spot to the Clash.) “Going there with Rick Ware Racing and having to race our way in, we knew it was going to be tough. It was a level playing field for the most part just because not many people had been testing with the NextGen car, so it was all still pretty new. I felt like we had a pretty decent car right away and we just kind of tuned on it and we were able to make it into the big show. That was huge for that team, and I come from quarter-miles, so it was nice to be a part of it and get some experience.”   Which was tougher – advancing to the Clash via the LCQ or just getting your car ready to compete at the L.A. Coliseum. Rumor has it you built your own NextGen car to race at the Clash. Is that true? “I didn’t completely build it, but I did help at times, and after the B-main (LCQ), I had to get in there and do a little bit of work just because we were short-handed. It’s always nice to get your hands dirty and be a part of the process, but at this level, there are so many smart people, and people who are seasoned and knowledgeable, so it’s nice to be at SHR and have the opportunity to lean on my teammates.”   You’re a bit old school in that you’ve always worked on your own racecars. Talk about growing up with that mentality and how it has helped you get back to the NASCAR Cup Series with Stewart-Haas Racing. “The one takeaway you really have from being old school and working on your own racecars is that it teaches you the will to win. It teaches you to be a fighter. It teaches you how to make things possible. Racing, as much as it is a competitive sport and it’s about winning, there are so many life lessons that come along with it. I’m proud of my grassroots, weekly racing background and from where I come from. It’s rewarding to be back and have this opportunity.”   When it comes to the primary partner on your racecar, United Rentals, you’re pretty hands on with them too. You know your way around all the equipment they provide. Is it a badge of honor to be able to jump on a scissor lift or a forklift, or to grab a generator or an air compressor and just know what you need to do with them?  “My father, he owns an HVAC company, and you’re using forklifts or scissor lifts, really all of United Rentals’ equipment all the time. It’s really a natural fit for me. When some guests from United Rentals show up and I get to talk to them, I can have a genuine conversation with them, even if it’s not about their equipment or what they’re doing. Those are the types of people and partners that I really enjoy working with. Getting to meet all of the different contractors that they bring and hearing their stories.”   For a guy who is used to working on his own stuff and making parts and pieces for his racecars, is there any better place to be than at a race team that’s co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and Haas Automation founder Gene Haas? “I’m really excited about this because Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, they’re both innovators. They’re racers. Tony’s a racecar driver and just look at everything Gene Haas has built, this empire he has created with Haas Automation. It’s a great opportunity that I have to race for this team and this organization and, hopefully, we’ve done a good job preparing and we can go out and have an extremely successful year.”   In regard to the actual racing at the Coliseum, how did reality line up with your expectations, and what are your expectations for this year’s Clash? “We surpassed our expectations at The Clash last year. For every race, my expectation is to show up and try to win, but just making that race was a big deal for me and for that team. I felt like we could’ve had a top-10 effort but, unfortunately, we had a brake failure. As far as our goals and what we have set for this year, I know what my goal is and that’s to win. I feel really strongly about the relationship that I have with Chad (Johnston, crew chief) and what we’re capable of doing together.”   -SHR-