NASCAR at the LA Coliseum?


An oval novelty




The old Roman Colosseum had chariot races and now this newer coliseum will have our version.

The Los Angeles Coliseum has been around for almost one hundred years. They have staged many events there. Spectacles of all sorts, including the spectators making spectacles of themselves spectacularly.

The Rams once were primary residents. The Raiders planted their flag on its field. Their fans have rumbled there. USC football calls it home.

There have been 2 Olympics put on. The Los Angeles Dodgers called it home before they built their stadium in Chavez Ravine. It has hosted concerts and events of all types over the years.

But the idea of stock cars roaring around a small oval track is a real head scratcher. How fast are they going to go? Faster than on the 405, that’s for sure, but for racing fans, it might seem like a lazy Sunday drive with the family.

Bootleggers found NASCAR after prohibition. Junior Johnson tearing up the woods of Carolina, this ain’t.
It’ll be like warming up around the track behind the pace car but without the pace car. It won’t be a race, but a pace. The track is a quarter mile around. Once drivers put their foot on the gas, it will be time to slow down.

The curves are going to come up so fast that the drivers will have to pit for brakes way before usual. A brake pad conglomerate should sponsor the complete fiasco.

They should have horse racing there, not hundreds of horsepower. Motorcycle racing would make more sense than a motor car darting contest.

There are people that go to races to see huge car pile-ups. They go to see the wrecks. The most they’ll see at this race is a slight fender bender and maybe a busted bumper or two. They could see that sitting in traffic at rush hour.

The really worst part of all this is that the powers that be didn’t take into consideration that there won’t be any place close for NASCAR fans to park their recreational vehicles. The nearest place is 15 miles away.

How would any self-respecting car racing fan do that? Where are they supposed to drink too much and hang out with the regulars that go to races?

I suppose there are fans that will be glad for that, but there won’t be enough of them to fill the coliseum. NASCAR is a culture that is half waiting for wrecks and half an excuse to get wrecked with the crowd.

All this sounds like a goofy spectacle. Is it going to attract new fans? I can’t imagine the trendy Hollywood crowd is going to show up and watch performers turn left for four hours. They already do that for the Oscars.

Maybe the ones that watch television. What the hell else is there to watch during the by-week of the Super Bowl?




Larry McTighe, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons


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