NASCAR’s recent bold push to hold the season-opening Clash on a 400m track inside a football stadium has paid dividends for the series – so what could Supercars achieve with a similar format Down Under?

The Precedent

For the first time since 1981, the NASCAR year kicked off at a venue other than Daytona International Speedway, with the series moving its season-opening Busch Light Clash to a temporary short oval inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Racing inside stadiums isn’t new for stock cars, but at this scale and with the quality of event, it was a massive swing at the format. Also, temporary circuits are an entirely fresh concept for NASCAR.

And it was a massive success.

The event’s huge TV numbers were backed up with staunch ticket sales in the downtown Los Angeles area, a vast potential market for the sport, with 70 per cent of those sitting in the stands being first-time attendees at a NASCAR event.

There was also a big section of the bleachers dedicated to the local University of Southern California (USC) students, and why not – the event had a definite party vibe, with Pitbull and Ice Cube performing shows throughout the event.

The entire Clash was about fan experience and engagement, some distance away from wash, rinse and repeat of the weekly travelling circus.

As if almost beside the point, the racing action was great, which just added to the atmosphere inside the Coliseum.

There was genuine hype, and the event has set the scene for the Next Gen of NASCAR competition.

The Challenges

The 99-year-old LA Coliseum is an iconic multi-purpose venue, with its website stating that is it “The Greatest Stadium in the World”.

And it probably has a point.

It accommodated the 1932 and 1984 Summer Olympics, and in 2028 it will become the first-ever three-time host of the event.

Outside of being the venue of Super Bowl I and the Baseball World Series, it has seen practically every major sporting event and political rally, plus concerts and more.

Current tenants of the Coliseum include the LA Giltinis rugby team, plus the USC Trojans college football team.

Construction on the track commenced at the start of December, and with the Rugby season kicking off at the end of February, essentially, the facility was occupied by NASCAR for three months – a factor many stadiums, especially big-time NFL grounds, couldn’t handle for the event’s place on the calendar.

In that window, the track had to be formed and laid, cure sufficiently, with infrastructure put in place, deconstructed, and finally the grass field re-sown for rugby use.

Los Angeles was a choice location, mainly because the city played host to the Super Bowl the following week, but also because coming out of winter, any more northern, and the conditions wouldn’t be conducive to drawing an audience outdoors.

Motorsport inside stadiums isn’t necessarily a new thing in Australia – think motocross, the Speedway GP at Marvell Stadium, while different takes have included the good old indoors go kart track which made up the 1995 Legends of Motorsport, or further afield, the Race of Champions in its various iterations.

So what do we require from a Supercars stadium track?

While a 400m long oval might seem like a fun idea, it isn’t exactly suitable for a Supercars event, so it would be somewhat necessary to send a loop outside the main stadium to make up some extra track length.

Also, smaller rectangular rugby and soccer stadiums should be ruled out because they don’t have enough playing field to transform into a reasonable race track.

Then there is access – for example, the MCG has an extensive playing surface, but there are no straightforward entry and exit points – they all feed into the maze of underground roads built into the basement of the stands.

There would have to be consideration given to venues and their availability – for large stadiums, like the Gabba, SCG, MCG, Adelaide Oval and Optus Stadium, it would be difficult to find a significant window to set up, knockdown, and replant the grass between cricket and AFL seasons.

Lastly, the venue should have the ability to hold a decent crowd – there’s no point going for a sports field at the local park – it needs to have an atmosphere appropriate to the event.

A Solution

The 48,500 seat Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (QSAC) ticks a lot of boxes, and even promotes itself as a blank canvas for event promoters.

It’s an absolute fantasy, but it’s not entirely unrealistic – no doubt there would be a lot of similar concepts that could be applied to any number of stadiums around the country, but many would have shortfalls.

While the stadium formally known as QE II doesn’t have 100 years of history behind it, it has still played host to a number of significant events.

Built in 1975, it was the centrepiece of the 1982 Commonwealth Games, plus State of Origin matches, the Super League Grand Final, the Goodwill Games, Davis Cup Tennis and more.

Don’t forget Monster Jam.

It’s also a favourite of big-time music acts, such as Michael Jackson, U2, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Billy Joel, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Eminem and others, so it is used to hosting red-letter events.

And due to this, much of the logistics of getting people in and out of the area has a plug and play transport and traffic plan solution.

Owned by the Queensland Government Major Sports Facilities Authority, it resides within the custodianship of a government body with a significant connection with Supercars events.

Currently, its typical utility is for use as an athletics venue, with the State Athletics Facility just outside the main arena similarly containing a 400m running track.

The facility has plenty of paddock space for teams to set up, while the adjacent Nissan Stadium could easily be used as a showcase venue for sideshows to the main event.

The main stadium lighting is broadcast quality, while unlike other square stadiums with a running track, there is still ample space built-in around the perimeter to the grandstands.

While it might not feature all of the luxury commodities of some of the new stadiums around the country, there are still ample opportunities for corporate types in the boxes built into the undercover main grandstands.

The Program

Headliner:

Supercars with 4x 100km races, approximately 55 laps each

Short races keep it entertaining, without the need for pit stops.

Sideshow:

Supercars pit stop competition – held within the stadium section, it’s sure to be a fan favourite. If the event wanted to be bold, the pit stop competition could determine the grid via a bracket showdown based on fastest practice times. This said, on a track such as this with consequences, a top-ten shootout would be worth watching.

Supports:

Stadium Super Trucks

It’s in a stadium, right?

Aussie Racing Cars Pro-Am

Ideal sized machines for the circuit – stack the field with available name drivers, taking on the best of the regular drivers in an invitational format.

Celebrity Race

My Mum would always watch the celebrity race at the Grand Prix, but lose interest before the main course. Actual proper celebrities, hit, giggle, lots of fun, everyone loves it.

Motorsport Shootout

Get ten different race cars from ten different series, the bigger and louder the better, on the track for a one-lap shootout demonstrating the various genres of the sport. Get an old F1 car, an old Indycar, an old NASCAR, some maniac on a Superbike, an equally insane person in a Superkart, a rally car with no exhaust, a hillclimb special, a racing truck, an off-road racing buggy, and an old school Mini Cooper S.

Time Fillers

Monster Trucks

Motorbike Jump Stunts

Drifting Trains

Burnout Competition

Use all of the available area on the infield sections of the stadium, open up crossover gates etc.

The Off Track

It obviously needs a big draw, rock and roll, stadium-spec band. What is Cold Chisel up to these days? Hell, they reformed for the 2009 Sydney Olympic Park event and also the 2015 Gold Coast 600… surely this would get Jimmy, Mossy and co together one more time…

The Track

Measuring approximately 1.85km long, the lap isn’t long, but it isn’t a dinky two-turn quarter-mile crash fest, either.

Also, with some achievable modifications to some of the external access roads around the facility, it should be around 10m wide for its duration, with some additionally widened sections into the tight hairpins aiding the task of overtaking.

For the sake of convenience, it is also entirely within the QSAC grounds, so it won’t interfere with traffic on the nearby main roads.

The tight stadium section is complete with a paved infield section for support personnel, which can double as an extra playing field for the various sideshows.

When the cars peel out of the stadium (handily, QSAC has two well-placed access roads bordering the western grandstand), they hug the gently curving access road around the grandstands before the track dives off the shelf into a sweeping set of descending esses.

A hairpin brings the cars back to the uphill sweep, before the track peels back into the stadium to complete the lap.

A lineup of pedestrian bridges will assist in getting patrons in and out of the eastern stands, with the necessary infrastructure able to be drawn from the Gold Coast street circuit pool.

Your Take?

Where would you like to see a Supercars special event? Hit us up on the socials @theracetorque with your hot take!