Steve Phelps: NASCAR ‘lost millions and millions of dollars on the Clash’ at LA Coliseum

As NASCAR turns the page on The Clash at LA Coliseum, there is more information on how the event fared for the sport monetarily. Los Angeles isn’t on the schedule for 2025.

The NASCAR Cup Series has raced inside the LA Coliseum for the last three years. Opening the season up at the historic stadium. It was an experiment that showed NASCAR is capable of racing anywhere and everywhere.

After the Michigan race a couple of weeks ago, NASCAR President Steve Phelps opened up about The Clash with Kevin Harvick on his Happy Hour podcast.

“I think so. … There are things that you need to do to scale it, right? So there are costs associated with that we have to [analyze] over time. Because we lost millions and millions of dollars on The Clash. But it was an important thing to do. It was important for our friends at FOX, I think it was important to kick off the season the right way. It was unique, it was different, it allowed people to think differently about the sport. And when I talk about that, I’m not talking about people who are in the sport or stakeholders or longtime fans.

“It’s those that are on the fringe or would not consider NASCAR to be part of their subset of sport. And I think that’s an important thing for us. So the converse is going to happen with a Bowman Gray, which is, you are going to get causal fans that we have now brought to the fold with a lot of the different things that we’ve done, Netflix shows and different pieces, where you have this massive new fanbase that’s here, and they’re going to look at this historical, crazy things at the Madhouse and the documentary and the whole thing and they’re going to be like ‘Wow, this is insanity.’ And I think that’s a good thing, I do.”

Kevin Harvick is having good conversations on his show. The NASCAR Clash is an important race. Steve Phelps should be applauded as well. It takes a lot to admit you lost a ton of money on an event. But he makes a great point.

NASCAR is investing in the longterm. New fans and old fans, and turning new ones into old ones down the line. Time will tell if the plan is going to work out how they pictured it.

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