Clash in the Coliseum to “The Madhouse”: NASCAR’s Bold Short‑Track Era, 2022–2025 – Speedway Digest

When NASCAR announced it would carve a quarter‑mile oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the 2022 preseason Clash, the idea sounded audacious. Over three winters, the league delivered a stadium spectacle that fused engineering theater with elbows‑out short‑track racing.

Then, in 2025, the event completed its arc by returning to the sport’s grassroots at Bowman Gray Stadium “The Madhouse” reaffirming the Clash’s role as a laboratory and a love letter to stock‑car heritage.

Building a Racetrack Where No Racetrack Existed

Crews draped the football field with layered safeguards Visqueen plastic, plywood, geotextile fabric before compacting thousands of cubic yards of base material and paving a 0.25‑mile asphalt oval with modest 2.5‑degree banking.

SAFER barriers and infield infrastructure completed the temporary build, which had to be assembled and removed in a matter of weeks without damaging the venue’s turf or subgrade. Repeating that feat in 2023 and 2024 became a seasonal ritual of speed and logistics, with contractors refining timelines and tolerances year over year.

That focus on safety feels especially relevant in Los Angeles, a city where traffic and collisions are part of everyday life. It’s a reminder that while NASCAR’s drama plays out in a controlled environment, real-world crashes have real consequences something Los Angeles car accident lawyers know all too well.

Season by Season

2022   Logano Sets the Tone

The inaugural Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum was a 150‑lap sprint that demanded patience and timing. Kyle Busch secured the pole and paced the field for 65 laps, but Joey Logano, methodical through restarts and traffic, seized control in the final third and closed the deal.

The average speed hovered around 29 mph slow by NASCAR standards, but appropriate for a quarter‑mile with frequent cautions and compressed rhythm. The Next Gen car’s toughness encouraged bumper‑to‑bumper aggression, and by night’s end, the event had proven both viable and vibrant in its unconventional setting.

2022 Stats Snapshot

Winner: Joey LoganoPole: Kyle BuschMost Laps Led: Kyle Busch (65)Laps: 150 (37.5 miles)Average Speed: 29.03 mphTop 3: Logano, Busch, Austin Dillon

2023   Truex’s Timing in a Caution‑Heavy Chess Match

Year two dialed up the friction. Aric Almirola won the pole, and Ryan Preece led a race‑high 43 laps, but survival mattered as much as speed. With 16 cautions disrupting flow, Martin Truex Jr. capitalized late, leading the final 25 laps to break a personal drought and notch his first Clash victory.

The average speed fell to 21.83 mph, a reflection of stop‑start chaos and the micro‑decisions drivers had to make on each restart. The podium featured Truex, Austin Dillon, and Kyle Busch three veterans who managed aggression with restraint when it counted.

2023 Stats Snapshot

Winner: Martin Truex Jr.Pole: Aric AlmirolaMost Laps Led: Ryan Preece (43)Laps: 150 (37.5 miles)Average Speed: 21.83 mphTop 3: Truex, Dillon, Busch

2024   Hamlin’s Overtime Composure, Gibbs’ Heartbreak

Weather forced NASCAR to move the event up a day, canceling heat races and setting the feature by qualifying a pragmatic call amid a forecast of severe flooding. Denny Hamlin started from pole, but Ty Gibbs seized the narrative by leading 84 laps with resolute pace.

 In the final stint, restarts reshuffled everything: contact and positioning unsettled Gibbs, and Hamlin executed the decisive overtime restart to clinch his fourth Clash win, edging Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney. It was a veteran’s brand of control at the chaotic edges, and a reminder that the shortest tracks often demand the coolest hands.

2024 Stats Snapshot

Winner: Denny HamlinPole: Denny HamlinMost Laps Led: Ty Gibbs (84)Laps: 151 (OT; 37.75 miles)Average Speed: 32.94 mphTop 5: Hamlin, Busch, Blaney, Logano, Larson

2024 Storylines to Know

Schedule shuffle: NASCAR advanced the race to avoid a dangerous atmospheric river, showcasing operational flexibility.Young vs. established: Post‑race friction between Gibbs and Logano underscored generational tension raw ambition meeting seasoned savvy.

The Return to Roots: Bowman Gray Stadium, 2025

The Coliseum chapter proved NASCAR could take the show anywhere. In 2025, the series took it somewhere deeply familiar. Bowman Gray Stadium the site of weekly NASCAR racing in the sport’s earliest days hosted the Cook Out Clash on its flat quarter‑mile.

 Chase Elliott, starting from pole, controlled 171 of 200 laps with crisp exits and clean traffic management. Ryan Blaney charged from last to second, while Denny Hamlin’s mid‑race strength faded late. The feature saw seven cautions and four lead changes; the last 80 laps ran green, allowing racecraft to decide the outcome instead of randomness.

2025 Stats Snapshot

Winner: Chase ElliottPole: Chase ElliottMost Laps Led: Elliott (171)Laps: 200 (50.6 miles)Top 5: Elliott, Blaney, Hamlin, Logano, Wallace

2025 Storylines to Know

Heritage homecoming: The first Cup‑sanctioned Clash at Bowman Gray since 1971 rekindled NASCAR’s connection to its original weekly track and short‑track culture.LCQ fireworks: The Last Chance Qualifier delivered the night’s wildest moment with Ty Gibbs’ car launching briefly after contact a quintessential “Madhouse” sightline

What This Era Revealed

Short‑Track Identity, Modern Production:
The Coliseum’s pop‑up oval verified that NASCAR can package authentic short‑track intensity within a major‑market entertainment frame live music, fireworks, micro‑sprints and still deliver the core product: late‑race restarts and contact‑heavy chess. Bowman Gray then grounded that identity in tradition, where the venue itself tells the story.

Drivers Who Defined the Stretch:

Joey Logano (2022): Opportunist’s instinct owning the final third when the track compressed.Martin Truex Jr. (2023): Patience and placement winning amid cautions and collisions.Denny Hamlin (2024): Execution under pressure overtime mastery from the pole.Chase Elliott (2025): Control and economy setting pace and preserving margin at a bullring with no escape lanes.

A Laboratory with Consequences:
The Clash’s formats and settings functioned as testbeds heat races, compressed schedules, overtime finishes, provisional entries. Those choices shaped race narratives, amplified restarts, and forced teams to iterate quickly on setup and strategy. The outcome wasn’t just entertainment; it informed how the Cup field thinks about contact, track position, and pit‑stop‑free sprints.

The Numbers, at a Glance

Venues: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (2022–2024), Bowman Gray Stadium (2025)Winners: Logano (2022), Truex Jr. (2023), Hamlin (2024), Elliott (2025)Most Dominant Lap Leader: Elliott, 171 laps led at Bowman Gray (2025)Caution‑Heaviest Clash: 2023, with 16 cautions, average speed 21.83 mphFastest Coliseum Clash by Avg. Speed: 2024 at 32.94 mph (despite overtime)

Why This Chapter Matters

The 2022–2025 Clash era stitched together ambition and authenticity. In Los Angeles, NASCAR proved it could engineer a racetrack where none existed and captivate a new audience without sacrificing the essence of short‑track combat. At Bowman Gray, it returned to where the sport’s weekly heartbeat was born.