Martin Truex Jr. came across the finish line in first place to claim a win at the Bush Light Clash at the L.A Coliseum. With that came some thoughts: Here are our biggest takeaways from the first NASCAR race of the year.
They Bent (A Little)
Across the 150 laps, one of the first thing that caught the eye was the fact the cars actually bend, at least a little. This was evident with Chase Elliott, to begin with as he came into the actual main race with a squared-off front grill. Ryan Blaney got a couple dents too. To the untrained eye or, to starters in the sport, this might be completely meaningless, however, it is big news and it is very important.
One of the biggest complaints (and safety concerns) was that the cars didn’t take impact very well. In fact, it did such a poor job that it send Kurt Busch straight into retirement after a concussion in Pocono and sidelined Alex Bowman for a little bit over a month after a hard rear-end hit at Talladega. Cars did not crumple and every bit of the hard hits was felt by no others than the drivers themselves.
It took the hits well for the most part, yet, concerns are still hanging around the garage, especially with rear-end contact. Bubba Wallace had a few words for the sanctioning body on the radio after being bumped into the wall near the end of the race:
“Uh NASCAR, rear bumper hit are still f#$&ing awful”, said the driver.
For now, short track safety does not seem to be a problem, up next is Daytona, and bumping the wall at the World Center Racing will definitely test the safety capabilities of the still very new Gen 7 car.
Ryan Preece Had it Going
If you’re going to have someone as a dark horse for the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series season then pick Ryan Preece. The former Modified champions did what few have done in the racetrack at the Coliseum in its two-year history. He had pace and found his way out of potential trouble more than a handful of times picking up spot after spot.
The Connecticut native qualified 16th for the main race and went as high as taking the lead. Keywords being “had” and “went”; unfortunately for the 41 crew, an electrical problem took it all away with 19 laps to go. Regardless, Preece managed to switch batteries on the fly and found a way to keep going finishing seventh.
If the United rentals car can do that in a place like dirtless Bristol or Martinsville, Stewart-Haas will have at least one driver in the Postseason this year.
Watch out for Rodney’s Boys
Perhaps the most surprising out of all our conclusions from the clash was the Richard Childress Racing lineup.
Austin Dillon and Kyle Busch got a 2-3 finish at the podium (Yes, there was a podium) in a very impressive performance. While Dillon’s performance was surely worthy of taking note, it is the former M&Ms man’s race that opened up eyes wide open.
Yes, it’s not an official race, but it was quite the introduction for RCR and Chevrolet Motorsport.
As for the sacrilege of having a podium for NASCAR, that’s a topic for another article.
Up Next: Daytona
That’s all folks! Next time races will count for real and a spot in the postseason will be up for grabs at the 2023 Daytona 500.
Feature Image Credit: Getty Images
