NASCAR Star Ryan Blaney Talks Racing at LA Coliseum, Goals for 2022 Season (Exclusive)

This week, NASCAR began construction at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the season-opening Clash exhibition race. This will be the first time the race will be held outside Daytona International Speedway since its inception in 1979. PopCulture.com recently caught up with NASCAR star Ryan Blaney who detailed the challenges of competing at a venue known more for college football. 

"I think the venue's kind of unknown; it's just... Okay, the track's going to be incredibly small for all these cars that are going to be on it, so we're going to be right on each other's bumpers all day and probably running into each other," Blaney told PopCulture. "And I think, the toughest thing about it is just going to be finding some space, just to be by yourself. You're never going to be alone. You're never going to be just running laps. You know, you're always going to have someone pressuring you.  

"It's going to be a shrunken Martinsville, and that Martinsville is already bad enough to where you never get a chance to take a breath. But I think it's a neat concept what they're doing, for sure. I really do think that it's cool to bring the Clash out to LA and do it at a place like the LA Coliseum. Gosh, the Olympics were there; that's super cool. So, I look forward to seeing it done and finished and racing on it. So hopefully, everyone comes out. It'll be something new, but I'm looking forward to it. "

The Clash will get drivers and fans ready for what should be an exciting 2022 season. Last year, Blaney reached the Cup Series playoffs as the second-seeded driver. However, the 27-year-old came up short of winning the title as he finished seventh in the final standings. 

"It was very unfortunate we didn't make it to Phoenix," Blaney said. "To run for a Championship, I thought we had a good enough year to do it. I thought we were in a good spot and just had a couple of bad races there at the end, and that does it. But you'll have that in motorsport and just figure out what you can do better, and try again next year. But I think, just having a really good regular season, just having smooth playoffs."

Besides winning the Cup Series championship, Blaney revealed his other goals for the upcoming season. He said: "Everyone's goal, at least my goal, each year you just want to get better. I mean, whether that's more consistently running better, winning more races, maybe having more Top Fives, just all those little things, just showing that you're progressing and keep improving and learning. And I think those things we've been doing really good throughout the last handful of years; it's just a matter of keeping it up."