Getty Kyle Larson leads at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 2021 NASCAR season has featured significant changes, such as a dirt race at Bristol Motor Speedway and a trip to Circuit of Americas. However, 2022 could send the drivers to an iconic football stadium. NASCAR is reportedly exploring how to hold a race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Athletic provided the surprising news during a recent article about destinations for future All-Star Races. Writers Jordan Bianchi and Jeff Gluck mentioned several realistic possibilities — Martinsville Speedway, Fontana, and Homestead-Miami Speedway — but also broke some news at the same time. Bianchi, in particular, explained that NASCAR could head to the LA Memorial Coliseum as soon as 2022.
“You may read this and think the notion of a stock car race inside the stadium the USC Trojans football team calls home is harebrained, maybe even completely ludicrous. Understandable,” Bianchi wrote. “Except this idea is actively being explored by NASCAR, industry sources have told The Athletic, and could even happen as soon as 2022.”
The LA Memorial Coliseum Has Hosted Some Major Football Games
GettyThe USC Trojans take the field at the Coliseum.
The home of the USC Trojans, the LA Memorial Coliseum has been the go-to destination for several major events for many decades. The football stadium has hosted countless USC games, Super Bowls I and VII, and a variety of concerts. The Trojans football team has spent every season since 1923 at the Coliseum, filling the stadium to capacity on a regular basis.
In 2016, the NFL approved a move that brought the Rams back to Los Angeles. The football team used LA Memorial Coliseum as its home stadium while waiting for the construction of SoFi Stadium. The Rams spent four seasons in the open-air stadium, hosting the first Monday Night Football game since 1985.
If The Athletic’s sources are accurate, the next big event at the iconic football stadium could feature stock cars with the 750-horsepower, low downforce setup. There are still many questions remaining about how they would all fit and navigate what would be a short track, but NASCAR could provide these answers in the future.
The All-Star Race Continues to Change Locations
GettyKyle Larson celebrates an All-Star Race win.
Prior to the 2020 season, the annual All-Star Race had taken place at Charlotte Motor Speedway nearly every year from 1985 until 2019. The lone exception was 1986 when Bill Elliott captured the win at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
The situation changed in 2020 with the announcement that the All-Star Race would move to Bristol Motor Speedway. NASCAR decided to put the top Cup Series drivers on a short track and have them compete for the $1 million prize while also showcasing the undercarriage lights. This trip to Tennessee lasted only one year due to the All-Star Race heading to Texas for the most recent iteration, which Kyle Larson won on Sunday, June 13.
“It was fun to watch [the All-Star Race] at Bristol last year,” Larson told media members on Sunday night. “I’ve always believed that the All-Star Race should move around to different tracks and stuff, kind of like how other sports, their All-Star games kind of move to different venues and things. Yeah, we’ll see if that’s something that they do. I think all of us drivers would love to see that, but yeah, it’s cool to be one of the few guys that have now won it at a couple different tracks.”
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