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Column: Sloppy race clouds NASCAR's return to LA Coliseum
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NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Blaney (12) spins out and is hit by Daniel Suarez (99) during the Busch Light Clash NASCAR exhibition auto race at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023, in Los Angeles. - photo by AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bubba Wallace said his back and neck hurt following the bumping and banging of NASCAR’s first event of the new year, an exhibition that Kyle Larson called “very violent for the majority of the race.” Austin Dillon was shocked at the aggressiveness shown Sunday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, especially early in the race, when he found his head going “bang, bang, back and forth, every corner" in a sloppy, caution-filled game of bumper cars. “There was nothing but just hammer each other and hope to come out the other side,” said Dillon, who added that he told new teammate Kyle Busch that the steering wheel was knocked out of his hands on a particularly hard hit to the back of his Chevrolet. “You’re taking some pretty good blows out there and trying to stay calm.” NASCAR brought its preseason Busch Light Clash back to the Coliseum for a second consecutive year to race on a temporary quarter-mile track inside the iconic venue.