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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR will open the 2022 season inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in one of the biggest shake-ups to its schedule in years.

The annual exhibition the Clash, held at Daytona International Speedway since 1979, will shift to Los Angeles next year. The invitation-only race was always the kickoff to competitive NASCAR racing and held the week before the season-opening Daytona 500.

The 2022 race will be held Feb. 6, one week before the Super Bowl and two weeks before the Daytona 500. The race will be inside the stadium on a temporary, quarter-mile, asphalt track. The historic Coliseum is home of the University of Southern California football team and seats 77,500.

The announcement made Tuesday night on Fox Sports precedes the release of the full 2022 schedule.

“Los Angeles is synonymous with major sports and entertainment events, so we seized an innovative opportunity to showcase NASCAR at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum,” said Ben Kennedy, NASCAR senior vice president of strategy and innovation. “We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to take center stage in this market as we get our 2022 season underway.”

NASCAR has run inside stadiums before, including regional events at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and a Cup race at Soldier Field in Chicago in 1956.

Eligibility for the Clash has not been announced, but the drivers will be using the Next Gen cars that are set to debut in 2022.

NASCAR will return to the Los Angeles area after the Clash for its traditional stop at Auto Club Speedway. NASCAR did not race in Los Angeles in 2021 because of the pandemic.

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Devils forward Meier undergoes shoulder surgery

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Devils forward Meier undergoes shoulder surgery

New Jersey Devils forward Timo Meier underwent arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder Tuesday.

Meier, 27, is expected to make a full recovery from the elective procedure in time for training camp.

He registered 52 points (28 goals, 24 assists) in 69 games in his first full season with the Devils in 2023-24.

New Jersey acquired Meier from the San Jose Sharks in a multiplayer deal on Feb. 26, 2023.

Drafted ninth overall by San Jose in 2015, Meier has 382 points (191 goals, 191 assists) in 541 career games.

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Bruins’ Peeke week-to-week, won’t go to Toronto

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Bruins' Peeke week-to-week, won't go to Toronto

Boston defenseman Andrew Peeke is week-to-week with an upper-body injury and will not travel with the Bruins to Toronto, coach Jim Montgomery announced Tuesday.

Peeke appeared to be struck in the left hand by a puck before leaving the ice late in the second period of Game 2 on Monday night in Boston. He did not return.

The Maple Leafs won 3-2 to even up the Eastern Conference first-round series at one victory apiece. Game 3 will be on Wednesday night in Toronto.

Peeke, 26, contributed 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 38 games while splitting the regular season between the Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets.

He joined Boston in a four-team trade on March 8 that sent a 2027 third-round pick and defenseman Jakub Zboril to the Blue Jackets.

Peeke has recorded 44 points (10 goals, 34 assists) and 104 penalty minutes in 233 games since Columbus drafted him in the second round in 2016.

The Bruins recalled defenseman Mason Lohrei from Providence of the American Hockey League on Tuesday.

Lohrei, 23, posted 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 41 games with Boston this season.

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Flyers ink goalie Fedotov to 2-year, $6.5M deal

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Flyers ink goalie Fedotov to 2-year, .5M deal

The Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday signed goaltender Ivan Fedotov to a two-year contract, keeping him out of free agency this offseason.

Fedotov, 27, will have a $3.25 million cap hit.

The Flyers waited nine years for the 6-foot-6 goaltender to leave Russia and join the NHL. Fedotov was selected 18th overall in the 2015 draft but remained with the Kontinental Hockey League for the next eight seasons.

Fedotov signed a deal with the Flyers in May 2022 but his attempt to come to North America that summer was thwarted when Russian authorities took him to a remote military base in the Arctic Circle for a year of service. After completing that service, he signed a two-year deal with CSKA of the KHL. That allowed the Flyers to toll his contract to this season.

After CSKA was eliminated from the Gagarin Cup playoffs, the team announced it had terminated the final year of his KHL contract but retained his Russian league rights. Fedotov finally arrived in the NHL and made his debut April 1. He appeared in three games for the Flyers last season, going 0-1-1 with an .811 save percentage.

Flyers general manager Danny Briere declined to offer specifics on how the team was able to get Fedotov over from Russia.

“He’s been through a lot in his career. He’s been through a lot in his personal life. It’s a big part of the reason why we feel comfortable. We’re excited to have him aboard,” he said in March.

The Flyers now have their goaltending tandem secured for 2024-25, with Fedotov joining 24-year-old Samuel Ersson, who also earned an extension through 2026.

Ersson played 51 games for the Flyers, who were eliminated from the playoffs in the last week of the regular season. Previous starting goalie Carter Hart took an indefinite leave of absence from the team and was one of four NHL players charged with sexual assault in London, Ontario, in January.

The London Police Department launched an investigation in 2022 after TSN reported that Hockey Canada had settled a lawsuit with a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by eight members of that team after a gala celebrating their gold medal win at the 2018 world junior championships.

Hart is a restricted free agent.

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