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3 years ago

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11:23 PM ET

  • Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Martin Truex Jr. won NASCAR’s return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for its season-opening exhibition race — a sloppy Sunday night extravaganza in which the Wiz Khalifa halftime show might have been the most entertaining part of the event.

Truex took the lead with 25 laps to go in the Busch Light Clash, a 150-lap race that was moved from Daytona International Speedway last year to the Coliseum. NASCAR built a temporary quarter-mile track inside the iconic venue in a bold attempt to try something radically different.

Last year’s race was considered a smashing success based on the new fans drawn to the event and excitement over the progressive approach to creating a brand new type of racing.

NASCAR knew it was going to be difficult to duplicate the success in its return and the racing Sunday wasn’t great — there were 25 cautions, and laps under yellow didn’t count. There were only five cautions in last year’s race.

“Last year’s show, I felt like, was relatively clean and good racing, some bumping, some banging, but we could run long stretches of green flag action,” Kyle Busch said. “Today was, I would call it a disaster with the disrespect from everybody of just driving through each other.

“But it’s a quarter mile. It’s tight quarters racing. Actually this is probably how it should have gone last year, so we got spoiled with a good show the first year. Maybe this was just normal.”

Truex, who contemplated retirement in last year’s winless season, put Joe Gibbs Racing in the victory lane to start 2023 after a horrible close to last year. Coy Gibbs, who essentially ran his father’s race team, passed away in his sleep the night before the November season finale. Gibbs’ death came just hours after his son, Ty, won NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series championship.

“Last year was a pretty rough season for us with no wins, and to come out here and kick it off this way, really proud of all these guys,” Truex said.

Austin Dillon and Busch, in his debut for Richard Childress Racing, finished second and third for RCR. They joined Truex on a podium for a NASCAR-first medal ceremony held below the Coliseum’s famed peristyle.

Alex Bowman and Kyle Larson went fourth and fifth for Hendrick Motorsports, and Tyler Reddick was sixth in his debut for 23XI.

Ryan Preece, in his debut race for Stewart-Haas Racing, led 43 laps until a late electrical issue took him out of contention. Before Sunday night, Preece had led a total of 25 laps in 115 Cup races over five seasons. Preece finished seventh.

Bubba Wallace was dominant early for 23XI but spun late by Dillon and then banged into him after to show his displeasure. He finished 22nd after leading 40 laps.

The format of the exhibition Clash included heat races and a pair of 50-lap “last chance qualifiers” to help drivers make the 27-car field. Three drivers from each of the LCQ’s advanced: Michael McDowell, Christopher Bell and Todd Gilliland advanced from the first race, and Chase Elliott, Ty Gibbs and AJ Allmendinger advanced from the second.

Those who did not advance to compete in the main event were Brad Keselowski and RFK Racing teammate Chris Buescher, Harrison Burton of The Wood Brothers, Corey LaJoie and Ty Dillon of Spire Motorsports, Cody Ware and J.J. Yeley for Rick Ware Racing, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. of JTG Racing and B.J. McLeod of Live Fast Motorsports.

The Cup Series opens at Daytona International Speedway a week from Wednesday to begin preparations for the Feb. 19 season-opening Daytona 500.

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Who will make the 12-team College Football Playoff?

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3 hours ago

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August 22, 2025

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Who will make the 12-team College Football Playoff?

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2025 preseason College Football Playoff predictions

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August 22, 2025

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2025 preseason College Football Playoff predictions

It’s August and no games have been played, but that’s not keeping ESPN’s college football reporters from predicting the 12 schools that will make up the College Football Playoff beginning in December.

Ohio State won the inaugural 12-team bracket last season, despite starting as the No. 8 seed, demonstrating that the playoff truly gives new life to any team that gains entry.

There’s a slight alteration to the format this year. The tournament will still comprise the top five conference champions and seven at-large schools. But the top four seeds — and the first-round bye that comes with each of those seeds — will no longer go to the four highest-ranked conference champions (last season that was Oregon, Georgia, Boise State and Arizona State). This season the committee has moved to a straight seeding model, so the four highest-ranked schools in the committee’s final top 12 will get the top four seeds.

Ahead of Week 0, here are the slates our reporters picked. Let the chase begin:

Andrea Adelson: 1. Clemson 2. Penn State 3. Texas 4. LSU 5. Georgia 6. Ohio State 7. Notre Dame 8. Miami 9. Alabama 10. Iowa State 11. Nebraska 12. Boise State

Kyle Bonagura: 1. Texas 2. Penn State 3. Ohio State 4. Clemson 5. Georgia 6. Notre Dame 7. Alabama 8. Oregon 9. LSU 10. Arizona State 11. Miami 12. Boise State

Bill Connelly: 1. Penn State 2. Alabama 3. Texas 4. Ohio State 5. Georgia 6. Notre Dame 7. Texas A&M 8. Clemson 9. Oregon 10. Boise State 11. Miami 12. Kansas State

Heather Dinich: 1. Penn State, 2. Clemson, 3. Texas 4. LSU 5. Georgia 6. Ohio State 7. Notre Dame 8. Alabama 9. Miami 10. Oregon 11. Kansas State 12. Boise State

David Hale: 1. Ohio State 2. Texas 3. Clemson 4. Penn State 5. Notre Dame 6. Georgia 7. Oregon 8. LSU 9. Texas A&M 10. Kansas State 11. Miami 12. Toledo

Eli Lederman: 1. Penn State 2. Texas 3. Clemson 4. Ohio State 5. Notre Dame 6. Alabama 7. Oregon 8. Georgia 9. Arizona State 10. LSU 11. Miami 12. Boise State

Max Olson: 1. Texas. 2. Penn State. 3. Notre Dame. 4. Clemson. 5. Alabama. 6. Oregon. 7. Georgia. 8. Ohio State. 9. Texas Tech. 10. LSU. 11. Utah. 12. Boise State

Adam Rittenberg: 1. Texas 2. Penn State 3. Clemson 4. Georgia 5. Alabama 6. Ohio State 7. Notre Dame 8. Oregon 9. Miami 10. Iowa State 11. Boise State 12. Illinois

Mark Schlabach: 1. Texas 2. Clemson 3. Penn State 4. Georgia 5. Ohio State 6. Alabama 7. Notre Dame 8. Oregon 9. Miami 10. LSU 11. Arizona State 12. Boise State

Jake Trotter: 1. Texas, 2. Clemson, 3. Penn State, 4. LSU, 5. Ohio State, 6. Notre Dame, 7. Georgia, 8. Oregon, 9. Illinois, 10. South Carolina, 11. Texas Tech, 12. Tulane

Paolo Uggetti: 1. Ohio State, 2. Georgia, 3. Texas 4. Penn State 5. Notre Dame 6. Clemson 7. Oregon 8. LSU 9. Arizona State 10. Miami 11. South Carolina 12. Boise State

Dave Wilson: 1. Texas 2. Penn State 3. Clemson 4. Ohio State 5. Georgia 6. Notre Dame 7. Alabama 8. Oregon 9. LSU 10. Arizona State 11. Miami 12. Boise State

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Tide RB Miller expected back for UGA showdown

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August 22, 2025

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Tide RB Miller expected back for UGA showdown

  • Chris LowAug 22, 2025, 12:11 PM ET

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    • College football reporter
    • Joined ESPN.com in 2007
    • Graduate of the University of Tennessee

Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer said he expects starting running back Jam Miller to return in time for the SEC opener against Georgia on Sept. 27.

Miller dislocated his collarbone in the Tide’s scrimmage last Saturday and will miss the opener against Florida State on Aug. 30. He’s doubtful to play in the next two games against ULM and Wisconsin. Alabama has a bye the week before its visit to Georgia.

“He’s a leader for us, a quiet leader, but somebody the players all respect,” DeBoer told ESPN. “Having that bye week, I feel good that he will be back out there. He does so many things for us at that position.”

Miller, a senior, chiseled his body this offseason and added muscle. He was having his best preseason camp after leading Alabama with 668 rushing yards last season.

“He’s was a clear No. 1 for us with everything he did, from protection to getting the tough yards,” Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb said. “I told Jam that the running back room needs him more than ever now.”

Grubb said Daniel Hill and Richard Young add the most experience in stepping in for Miller and that Dre Washington adds a little different tempo out of the backfield. The running back that has been “creeping up” the last week, according to Grubb, is redshirt freshman Kevin Riley. Grubb said Riley is undersized but is physical and fast.

“It’s going to be a little bit by committee until Jam gets back, and there’s going to be a proving ground — who can take care of the ball, who can advance the ball, take on the game plan and help us protect?” Grubb said. “I’m excited to see who’s going to come out here these next few days and take over.”

Alabama ranked sixth in the SEC last season in rushing, and quarterback Jalen Milroe was a central figure in the running game. With Ty Simpson taking over at quarterback, Grubb said this offense will be geared more toward the pass to help balance out things.

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