Off-Topic Forum

Its that time of year again. With Daytona starting next week and the Crash...oops Clash completed I am excited for this upcoming year.

Lets start off with everyone's take on the Clash, I thought it was a joke.I was ok with it last year, But to try it again, Everyone is a little more comfortable in the car and tried to win on the first lap. Bright spot my boy MTJ for the W. 

Report going around today, that in January

Kyle Busch was detained in a Mexican airport for

having a pistol in his luggage....

Seems he was sentenced already... Don't know where that is going to end up....

Mexican authorities have reported a 3.5 year sentence in Mexican prison, but Busch said he was aware of the charges and didn't expect any action from it. He claimed he wasn't aware of Mexican rules on pistols and apologized for breaking their laws but followed all American laws for the procedure.

As for the Clash, it appeared to not be as successful as last season, but at least was some racing to get everyone back into the swing of things before Daytona. I did like the medal ceremony for the top 3 in the podium though. Wouldn't mind seeing that come into play at other events also. Most interesting thing about the Clash this year was the Heat races with everyone trying to make it in. The Clash itself was essentially a string of cautions followed by single-lap green flag runs between each.

I use to watch racing a lot growing up, was a dale jarett fan...I haven't really paid much attention to it in recent years.  I will watch daytona and see if I can get back into it at all.

I liked the Clash at the Coliseum. Mainly because the race at Daytona had become a throwaway low attended race on the schedule. 2020 sealed the deal. 

I enjoyed the Clash events myself. Heats 2,3 and 4 were exciting and the LCQs were also entertaining. The Clash itself was a little back and forth though. Some excitement for a while and then a long stretch of stop-and-go after the mid-point. In the end, I thought it was another successful race at the Coliseum. However, I couldn't help but notice all afternoon and evening (from NC) how empty the stands were this year. That place was packed last year and maybe only 30-40% full this year (being generous on those numbers). And while I enjoyed the musical acts, it seems the fans in attendance just didn't care. NASCAR still has another year on the contract with LA Coliseum, but they might not honor that if the ticket sales can't at least match the cost of building that track in the stadium. Personally, I'd rather see the Clash in North Wilkesboro before we see it in the LA Coliseum again. NASCAR might have a bonus influx of fans to the Coliseum in 2024 though since they will not have a race at Auto Club Speedway (AKA Fontana). ACS will start their transformation into a short track after the race there on 2/26/23. That is expected to take 18 months to complete.

As for the 2023 season, I have high hopes that this is just as entertaining as the 2022 season was. The All-Star Race and the Chicago Street Race are really the only questions about what we will see in those races. NASCAR has also approved a rain package for oval tracks but I haven't heard a lot of info about this yet. I think this is going to be another great year of NASCAR racing. Plus, Jimmie Johnson will finally get to say goodbye to NASCAR Nation with fans actually sitting in the seats at the tracks. I REALLY hope this isn't a bust for him and I'd absolutely love to see him get one more win to break the 3-way tie for All-Time Wins. Just in case you missed the info on Sunday, Legacy Motor Club (formerly known as Petty-GMS Racing)  got both of their cars into the Clash (#'s 42/43) while RFK Racing (#'s 6/17) didn't get either of their cars in the Clash.

As for the Kyle Busch thing, that's a bunch of BS that will not happen. At most, he'll pay a higher fine than was levied against him. Is Mexico really going to come after him in the U.S.? I highly doubt it. If they were going to do anything real about it, they would have never let him leave the country. Plus, why did that happen 2 weeks ago and nobody mentions it until the day after the Clash? Publicity stunt!

I would also enjoy seeing it at North Wilkesboro. I hadn't heard about ACS becoming a short track, but heard that changes were coming to the track. That will be interesting as another short track. I also noticed the seats appeared to be empty (from the broadcast at least) I am excited for both the All-Star race and Chicago Street Race, and hope they are successful events. As for the Kyle Busch news, I had actually first heard that info back around January 25th so it wasn't actually the day of the Clash. I just heard some stories about it though and wasn't from any official sources. I agree though that Mexico won't come to the US looking for him (as long as Busch is smart and doesn't go back into Mexico since there is potentially an outstanding warrant for him there) other than issuing a fine through US Diplomats to him.

Update: The incident happened on the 27th, and was first reported on the 29th. I guess that was when I heard about it because I knew it was in January when I first heard the mention of it.

spazmatastic wrote:

I enjoyed the Clash events myself. Heats 2,3 and 4 were exciting and the LCQs were also entertaining. The Clash itself was a little back and forth though. Some excitement for a while and then a long stretch of stop-and-go after the mid-point. In the end, I thought it was another successful race at the Coliseum. However, I couldn't help but notice all afternoon and evening (from NC) how empty the stands were this year. That place was packed last year and maybe only 30-40% full this year (being generous on those numbers). And while I enjoyed the musical acts, it seems the fans in attendance just didn't care. NASCAR still has another year on the contract with LA Coliseum, but they might not honor that if the ticket sales can't at least match the cost of building that track in the stadium. Personally, I'd rather see the Clash in North Wilkesboro before we see it in the LA Coliseum again. NASCAR might have a bonus influx of fans to the Coliseum in 2024 though since they will not have a race at Auto Club Speedway (AKA Fontana). ACS will start their transformation into a short track after the race there on 2/26/23. That is expected to take 18 months to complete.

As for the 2023 season, I have high hopes that this is just as entertaining as the 2022 season was. The All-Star Race and the Chicago Street Race are really the only questions about what we will see in those races. NASCAR has also approved a rain package for oval tracks but I haven't heard a lot of info about this yet. I think this is going to be another great year of NASCAR racing. Plus, Jimmie Johnson will finally get to say goodbye to NASCAR Nation with fans actually sitting in the seats at the tracks. I REALLY hope this isn't a bust for him and I'd absolutely love to see him get one more win to break the 3-way tie for All-Time Wins. Just in case you missed the info on Sunday, Legacy Motor Club (formerly known as Petty-GMS Racing)  got both of their cars into the Clash (#'s 42/43) while RFK Racing (#'s 6/17) didn't get either of their cars in the Clash.

As for the Kyle Busch thing, that's a bunch of BS that will not happen. At most, he'll pay a higher fine than was levied against him. Is Mexico really going to come after him in the U.S.? I highly doubt it. If they were going to do anything real about it, they would have never let him leave the country. Plus, why did that happen 2 weeks ago and nobody mentions it until the day after the Clash? Publicity stunt!

I didn't hear anything about the Busch incident until 2/06, but now I know why it suddenly got more attention. The court hearing was on the 3rd. Of course Kyle wasn't there but an attorney was there for him. Media took the info wrong and made it like Kyle was facing 3 years in jail b/c that is the usual penalty for that infraction. However, when it actually happened, Kyle paid a hefty bond and the fine at that time and was allowed to leave the country. No further action will come from that but the media has to talk about something. NASCAR has publicly said that he will face no punishment from them and that he didn't break the personal conduct rules. The gun was stored and wasn't loaded, he just didn't have Mexican paperwork saying it was okay for him to have it. He paid them an "undisclosed" amount of money, which is really all Mexico wanted anyway. My only real question about it is: Why did he have hollow-point bullets?

I think the Clash was entertaining. The restart after restart got a bit redundant, but it was entertaining, nonetheless. Lookng forward to another crazy season. I enjoyed last year more than I had numerous years before, combined. Loads of different winners and of course Ross Chastain's Hail Melon move was incredible. I still haven't found a replacement for Matt Kenseth to root for though...... Ty Gibbs, Noah Gragson, Ross Chastain......among others in the mix

The Marine that accidently entered Mexico and was just trying to turn around and get back to the US

with rifle in his vehicle was detained without charges for a long time.....

Would have no sympathy for Kyle if he did get put away....