In February for Black History Month, USA TODAY Sports is publishing the series ’29 Black Stories in 29 Days.’ We examine the issues, challenges and opportunities Black athletes and sports officials continue to face after the nation’s reckoning on race following the murder of George Floyd in 2020. This is the fourth installment of the series.

You may have heard about the destruction of a bronze Jackie Robinson statue in Kansas. The statue honored the man who broke baseball’s color barrier and one day, it simply went missing, cut from the top of the shoes.

The removal of the statue would generate national headlines and immense outrage. Part of the reason why was because of the affront to what Robinson represented. There aren’t many respected symbols of overcoming and persistence more recognizable than Robinson. There’s also the fact that League 42, named after Robinson’s Dodgers number, paid about $50,000 for it, and the statue was placed in a park, where hundreds of kids play in a youth baseball league.

There’s an ugliness and brazenness to what happened. The news would get even worse. The Wichita fire department found the statue burned to ashes not long after it was stolen. It was totally destroyed.

What happened? Was it a prank that went too far? Was it an act of racism? We don’t know yet.

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“If it turns out it was racially motivated, then obviously that is a deeper societal issue and it certainly would make this a much more concerning theft,” said Bob Lutz, the executive director of the league nonprofit that commissioned the sculpture. “We’ll wait and see what this turns out to be.”

But this is what we do know. The destruction of the statue led to a rallying cry that was united and loud. Everyone came together to decry the destruction of the statue.

Lutz said MLB and its individual clubs would help replace the statue. There’s also a GoFundMe that’s raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In a country divided there was unity over the statue of Robinson.

Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘You can steal the statue but you can’t steal the spirit of what the statue represents! Disheartening end to the stolen Jackie Robinson statue has generated a Robinson-like resolve from the public for good to overcome evil!’

This story is brutal and ugly but in many ways it embodies Robinson perfectly. There was a resoluteness to Robinson and his legend, and this symbol of that legend, has the same unwavering effect.

There’s something else that was stunning to see. The support for League 42 was resounding and appeared to come from people all across the country.

There are some things, a few things, which can unite us all and this was one of them. That’s the good part to come from this ugly moment.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Class is in session.

As usual, a lesson from the esteemed Harry Edwards positions us at the intersection of sports and society. It comes with historical context, underscoring the significance of one Black athlete after another. It amplifies, with powerful eloquence that is quintessential Edwards, struggles and evolution of the civil rights movement. And the renowned activist doesn’t hesitate to tell you that it is hardly finished business.

Typically, Edwards, a longtime consultant for the San Francisco 49ers and once the most popular professor at Cal-Berkeley, uses personal experiences to illuminate messages. During the late 1960s, while earning his Ph.D. from Cornell, he organized the Olympic Project for Human Rights, which produced the raised-fist protest by Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the medal stand during the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

He rolled with the Black Panthers and was under surveillance by the FBI, with J. Edgar Hoover personally overseeing his case. He can drop so many names, and so casually, of people he has more than merely encountered on his journey: Maya Angelou. Martin Luther King. Jim Brown. Bill Walsh. Bill Russell. Colin Kaepernick. 

There are so many places that Edwards can take us on a continuum of enlightenment.     

SUPER BOWL CENTRAL: Latest Super Bowl 58 news, stats, odds, matchups and more.

Yet as Edwards, 81, reflected for more than two hours at 49ers headquarters earlier this season, this particular lesson included a theme for which he is not famous: life and death.

‘Stuck a screwdriver in a bone and started twisting’

Edwards was diagnosed during the spring of 2022 with myeloma, a cancer that develops in the bone marrow and threatens to spread throughout the body. Without a cure and determined to reject various forms of treatment, he has battled excruciating pain for months.

‘If you sit here and watch me get up out of this chair, you’ll wonder why I even bother,’ Edwards told USA TODAY Sports. ‘I’m almost living on quick-release, maximum-strength Tylenol every two, three hours. Pain in my bones, clavicles, hips, spine, my back.

‘It’s far enough down the road where I know I have to be careful getting up, because sometimes I go to stand up and one side, or both sides, from my hips down, just disappear like they evaporated, like I’m falling. And that’s a big problem with this condition.

‘So it’s something that I’m aware of, and I just have to roll with it. To manage it, I’m sometimes eating Tylenol like it’s popcorn. But that’s what it takes, and it doesn’t dull my faculties. I’ve talked to a number of doctors; there’s stuff that I could take to ameliorate the pain, treatments that might slow the pace … but there are side effects. There is no cure.

‘But one thing after the pace is slowed and it’s even halted, when it comes back, it comes back with a vengeance. So there’s that dimension. The pain is really bad news. I don’t know if it’s the 80 years or the myeloma. But it feels like somebody stuck a screwdriver in a bone and started twisting.’

At first glance, Edwards looks as imposing as he was during the early 1990s, when I met him while working for The Marin (County) Independent-Journal as a 49ers beat writer. He’s a well-built 6 feet, 8 inches (which is one reason why two NFL teams and an NBA team in the early 1960s dangled tryout options, which he shunned to pursue a career in academics), and despite his illness, has kept his weight on. The thought of cancer weakening his body is not easy to decipher. He has always seemed so powerful, with a booming voice and incisive wit that matched his physique.

In mid-January, Edwards received good news after undergoing another battery of tests. Doctors told him there has been no increase in myeloma markers since his previous round of extensive tests in May. He realizes the disease is unpredictable, that it is possible he can remain stable for 10 years … or suffer a setback that rapidly progresses.

As of late Thursday, Edwards wasn’t sure whether he would attend Super Bowl 58. He said doctors have ruled out air travel due to the potential for developing blood clots, leaving the possibility of driving to Las Vegas. He is content with the notion of watching on the 105-inch screen at his East Bay home, yet will leave the final decision to his wife of 54 years, Sandra Boze.

Standing on the sideline Sunday during pregame warmups for the NFC title game at Levi’s Stadium, he said Boze was moved as she stood with him during an on-the-field tribute from the 49ers before the NFC divisional playoff game. The 49ers honored Edwards for his lifelong commitment to social justice and education. It would not surprise Edwards if Boze wants to be on hand at Allegiant Stadium. 

Regardless, he insists he will not stress over his condition.

‘You know what? Like I’ve said before, I did not expect to live to be 30,’ said Edwards, who grew up in East St. Louis, Illinois. ‘People were dying all around me. I think about 39 years old, Malcolm X. Dr. King, 39. Some of the young people who were in the movement with me, and the Black Panther Party, 20, 21. Fred Hampton was 21. When I was out there, I was 24.

‘To live to be 81 years old, man, what do I have to be whining about?’

No, it is Edwards’ style at whatever age to carry on with purpose. Despite this adversity, that spirit hasn’t waned.

‘What I look at is how much can I get done with whatever amount of time I have left,’ Edwards said. ‘To do some things that will amount to a contribution. And the rest of it, you know what? I look at it like my (three) children, my two grandsons, my former students, athletes here that I know and have talked to – like K.T. (Keena Turner), Ronnie (Lott), Joe (Montana), Roger Craig – all of these people are also watching.

‘They need to know that even this stage of life can be handled with dignity, grace and even a sense of humor.’

He mentions that when he decided to pursue a career in academia, he signed up for life. And that includes now.

‘I can still be teaching on my deathbed,’ Edwards said. ‘And if that’s the case, I’ve made a contribution. Even in this context.’

It’s about contribution, not legacy

It was striking to hear this icon of social activism express desire to make more contributions. Is he kidding? Throughout his life, Edwards has been such a major-impact player, so to speak. He created an entirely new academic discipline linking sports and society. Over several decades, he has been the preeminent voice for the plight of Black athletes. Yet this is arguably Edwards’ great gift continuing to operate.

In recent months, Edwards completed two important projects he feels will make lasting contributions: a 12-part video series, ‘The Last Lectures,’ that covers the history of activism over a span of more than 150 years; and a six-part documentary, ‘The Struggle and the Power,’ with a similar theme intersecting sports, race and activism. While talks for the distribution of the projects are ongoing, Edwards is also aiming to complete a documentary on Joe Frazier and has narrated a three-hour oral history on sports activism.

‘At some point, I’m going to sit down,’ he said.

Why has he been so busy? Is Edwards driven to cement his legacy?

‘Legacy is something that somebody else is going to write,’ he fires back. ‘Because I won’t be here. I don’t concern myself with things that I’m never going to be able to experience. What I’m interested in, in terms of these pieces, is not legacy. I’m interested in contribution. I want to make sure that people will look back on these films, along with a scholar-athlete life, and say, ‘I learned something.’ 

‘Somebody asked me how I would assess the contributions of Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Elgin Baylor and Arthur Ashe. I said I always ask one question, and one question only: Did they make a contribution? That’s the key question. Not legacy.

‘Legacies can be phony-ed up. Legacies can depend on who’s writing the book. Contributions depend on what you actually do. Not what somebody said about you. What did you actually do? So that’s where I come down on that.’

This reminds Edwards of something that fellow activist H. Rap Brown told him that he has found to be true. Brown said only the people and the struggle survive.

‘Individuals never survive and very, very few are truly ever remembered,’ Edwards said. ‘We have a tendency, and social media has made it even worse, to reduce people to characters. To reduce them to sound bites.

‘I mean, Malcolm X is, ‘By any means necessary.’ Dr. King is, ‘I have a dream.’ Rap Brown is, ‘Burn, baby, burn.’ Stokely Carmichael is, ‘Black Power.’ But when you ask what contributions they made, you have to go much deeper.’

Lifelong educator also taught life lessons

Edwards has been reminded in recent months of some of his contributions, as word about his condition spread. He’s heard from hundreds of his former students at Cal-Berkeley and San Jose State, expressing appreciation for the impact he’s had on their lives.

‘That’s what a teacher really lives for,’ he said. ‘For a student to say, ‘You made a difference. You changed the way I looked at the world.’ That’s what really matters to me.’

Having picked Edwards’ brain dozens of times over the years, for formal interviews, background perspective or just during general conversation, I can imagine what it would have been like to have been one of his college students, exploring sports and society. That would have been lit, as the kids say today. When I told him that, he laughed.

‘Don’t feel bad about not going to Cal and taking my class,’ he said. ‘You probably wouldn’t have been able to get into my class. They would have an enrollment for 550 and 1,100 people would show up. And they would stick around, even after the deadline for enrolling, hoping that somebody would drop the class, that they’d be able to just go and get a seat one day.’

Edwards recalled being told by a fellow sociology professor there was a problem. Edwards would attract roughly 700 students for his classes, while other classes in the same window would have fewer than 20 students, he explained.

‘They tried moving my class to lunchtime,’ he remembered. ‘Didn’t make a difference. They tried 4-5 p.m., dinner time. Same thing. There would be 600 to 700 students in my class.’

When Walsh brought Edwards to the 49ers in 1985, a large part of the purpose was to teach players life lessons. ‘What I had to say, Bill realized that he didn’t have the time nor capacity to teach,’ Edwards said.

It was a different setting in one sense — Walsh told him his office was ‘the building’ and ‘the locker room’ — yet completely familiar territory for a man who to this day is the only captain of two teams (basketball, track and field) at San Jose State. He connects.

I saw it during the early ’90s, when the talented team included the likes of Jerry Rice, Tom Rathman, Harris Barton and Jesse Sapolu. And I saw it recently, too, walking with Edwards at the 49ers compound after players had just bolted from a meeting. George Kittle waved and spoke. Deebo Samuel stopped, served up a bro-hug and engaged in quick chit-chat with Edwards. The respect was palpable.

Keena Turner, who played his entire 11-year NFL career as a 49ers linebacker from 1980-90, is Edwards’ point man with the 49ers these days. A vice president and senior adviser to GM John Lynch, Turner has been in the team’s front office for 27 years. 

‘He can go anywhere he wants to in the building,’ Turner told USA TODAY Sports. ‘We just want to know he’s here.’

During an exchange with Turner in the parking lot, Edwards couldn’t contain his excitement about Brock Purdy, the young quarterback who has emerged since being the last player drafted in 2022. Edwards is so impressed that he maintains Purdy could become one of the greatest 49ers ever — which is a mouthful when considering legends including Montana, Lott, Rice and Steve Young.

Turner stopped him.

‘That’s a statement to be made in hindsight,’ Turner told Edwards. ‘You taught me that.’

With that, Edwards let out a hearty bellow.

‘Harry, don’t get my daughter killed’

There is no shortage of compelling reflections from Edwards. Why did he come to California in the first place? Edwards wanted to play football at USC.

‘I had read about this college coach at USC who had named a Jewish kid, Ron Mix, and a Black kid, Willie Wood, co-captains of the team,’ Edwards said. ‘He got much blowback. Threats. His response was to name them co-captains again the next year. So I said, that’s where I wanted to go.’

The coach was Al Davis, who coordinated the Trojans’ offense from 1957-59. USC arranged for Edwards to begin with a year at a feeder school, Fresno City College. After one semester (and with a national junior college record in the discus), he transferred to San Jose State – which is where his academic career took off.

When Edwards wound up at Cornell as a prestigious Woodrow Wilson fellow, he was told that on average, it took 8 1/2 years to earn a doctorate degree. He proceeded to finish his classwork in two years, took two years off as he delved into the Olympic protest project, then wrote a 1,105-page dissertation he said is the longest in Cornell history. That morphed into an integrated textbook, ‘The Sociology of Sport.’ He earned his Ph.D. in five years.

‘They thought I was a big, dumb ex-jock looking for an easy way out,’ he said.

Another vivid memory was the day he met Boze’s family during the latter half of the 1960s in Los Angeles. By then, as the 1968 Olympics approached, Edwards had a very high profile as an activist.

‘She came home with a big Afro, big earrings, and her folks said, ‘Wait a minute,’ ‘ Edwards recalled.

Boze introduced Edwards and revealed their plans to marry. She wanted her parents’ blessing.

Her father flatly told Edwards: ‘Harry, don’t get my daughter killed.’

‘What he was really telling me was, ‘If you get my daughter killed, I’m coming for you,’ ‘ Edwards reflected. ‘And he was a non-violent guy, a schoolteacher.’

‘No sir, I’m not going to do that,’ Edwards replied.

Edwards and Boze have endured for well over a half-century, facing a series of private challenges on top of the public issues Edwards is known for.

‘You know who my real source of courage, vision and insight is for this? My wife,’ Edwards said. ‘Double mastectomy. Melanoma. High blood pressure. And she has never stopped smiling. Never stopped laughing. The same lady for 54 years. And she’s handled it. I wish I had the level of courage that she has.’

Edwards believes that the situations where he supported his wife with her health challenges helped prepare him to manage his current condition. Undoubtedly, that works both ways.

‘She worries too much about me,’ he said. ‘But that’s her make-up. This nurturer who wants to take care of this.’

The key to everything

The 49ers have provided more teaching moments. And reflections. Edwards sees the dynamic between coach Kyle Shanahan and Lynch, and it reminds him of how Walsh interacted with his GM, John McVay. He thinks Walsh would be proud of the culture that is seemingly well-established with the current team.

‘One of the things Bill Walsh said when asked about the greatest characteristic of his best teams was that they cared and respected each other,’ said Edwards, who delivered the eulogy at Walsh’s funeral in 2007.

‘And when I look at this team and I see what Fred Warner thinks about (Nick) Bosa, and what Bosa thinks about Trent Williams, and what Christian McCaffrey thinks about Purdy, and what Purdy thinks about (Brandon) Aiyuk, (Jauan) Jennings and Deebo, and the way they interact and how they embrace each other’s challenges, it reminds me of Joe and Steve, and Jerry and John Taylor. It reminds me of Tom Rathman and Roger Craig …

‘Not because of the winning and productivity, because they didn’t always win. But they were always together on it.’

Edwards sees society at large when he ponders the 49ers, past and present. Society, he insists, can heed lessons that include honoring diversity.

‘This team, there’s a magic to them because they care about each other,’ he said. ‘That is the key to everything. I think sports recapitulates society. The key to dealing with almost every major problem we have in this country – the economy, the divisions between us, the international posture of the United States – it’s going to have to begin with the simple fact that we care about each other on a very human level. And if we don’t do that, we’re doomed.’

And that’s a lesson for the ages.

The entire Joel Embiid situation is unfortunate.

That’s the best word for it.

Unfortunate that Embiid, the Philadelphia 76ers star, is injured, first and foremost.

Unfortunate that Embiid’s injury puts him in the middle of a controversy surrounding a new rule tying games played to eligibility for regular-season awards and honors such as MVP and All-NBA.

Unfortunate that Embiid was slammed with over-the-top hot takes when he didn’t play against Denver because of a legitimate injury as opposed to him “ducking” Nuggets star Nikola Jokic.

Unfortunate that injuries have been conflated with load management – sitting out with an injury is not the same as taking a game off for no good reason.

The NBA knew this would happen, a situation where an All-Star caliber player would be ineligible for a major award because he didn’t play in at least 65 of 82 games.

No one could’ve predicted it would happen so soon in the first season with the new rule in place, adopted by the league and players in the 2023 collective bargaining agreement.

It’s a fascinating topic with tight curves and steep slopes – and a slew of opinions.

Embiid, the 2022-23 MVP, is having another dominant season, averaging a career-high 35.3 points and 5.7 assists. He also can be counted on for 11.3 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.1 steals and shoots 53.3% from the field, 36.6% on 3-pointers and 88.3% on free throws.

Even before his latest injury – a meniscus issue in his left knee sustained Tuesday against Golden State – Embiid was headed for a potential season with less than 65 games played. He has missed 13 games and will miss Saturday’s against Brooklyn as the team, Embiid and knee specialists determine the best treatment plan. He’s sure to miss even more.

It’s difficult to envision Embiid playing 65 games and being a part of the MVP conversation the rest of the season.

Why did the NBA and players implement this rule? Was it necessary to tie games played to awards and honors? Why was 65 the magic number?

The league has made a dedicated effort to get its best players on the court for as many games as possible, including the implementation of a Player Participation Policy which encourages teams to play healthy star players or risk a fine. The NBA is an entertainment business, too, and paying customers (fans, TV partners, sponsors) want to see the best product possible. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Since the league can’t fine a player – just the team – when he misses a game, the NBA wanted an incentive for players. That’s why there’s a minimum games played required for those awards and honors.

For the most part, the media has policed games played in relation to awards throughout the years. Bill Walton has the fewest games played for any MVP at 58 games in 1977-78, but that’s when players voted for MVP. Since 1980-81, media has voted for MVP.

When Embiid won the award last season and played in 66 games, it was the fewest games played for an MVP since 1980-81. Allen Iverson is the next MVP with the fewest games played in a season at 71 in 2000-2001. Every other MVP since 1980-81 has played in at least 72 games.

But this gives the media a hard line. There’s no arbitrary number from one voter to the next. For example, some people didn’t vote for LeBron James as an All-NBA selection last season because they didn’t think he played in enough games (55). But other voters did, and he made the team. Now, there’s no confusion on what it takes to be considered.

But why 65 games? That’s essentially 80% of games (79.268% to be exact), and it is reasonable to think a player should play in 80% of games to be MVP or All-NBA. Could it have been 60 or 62 games? Sure. But the league and players settled on 65, and there doesn’t seem to be a movement, at least right now, for revisiting that number.

This may impact a small percentage of players but it has an outsized importance based on those involved, especially when you include Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton who is having an All-NBA season. He averages 23.0 points and a league-best 12.3 assists while shooting 49.2% from the field and 39.5% on 3-pointers.

In the offseason, Haliburton signed a five-year, $205.9 million designated max extension, but if he were to make All-NBA this season, the amount would grow to $246 million. Because of a hamstring injury, he has missed 13 games. The stakes are significant.

There’s not much recourse for Embiid or Haliburton. There is a grievance process, but those are aimed at extraordinary circumstances which force a player to miss games (birth, death) or a team possibly limiting minutes and games played in an effort to suppress a player’s chances to earn a higher salary.

Embiid, who has an extensive injury history and has played in 65 or more games just twice in seven seasons, wants to play and win. He has said his goal is to win an NBA title, and the Sixers are just 4-9 without him this season. He knows they need him on the court.

And his desire to be on the court – for a variety of reasons – when perhaps he should have been sidelined led to an injury.

And an unfortunate situation all the way around.

Follow Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

Lionel Messi wore Inter Miami gear, but was not in uniform sitting on the bench at the start of the club’s match in Hong Kong on Sunday. 

Messi was not listed on Inter Miami’s roster as available to play, the club posted on social media before the match. 

One day after captivating a sold-out crowd in Hong Kong Stadium for just a practice, Messi will not play and get some rest in the club’s fifth preseason match before the 2024 MLS season. 

Inter Miami standouts Luis Suárez, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and goalie Drake Callendar were listed as substitutes against a group of Hong Kong all-stars.

How much Messi would play was a question after the Argentine World Cup champion and eight-time Ballon d’Or winner experienced injury discomfort during the week in Saudi Arabia. 

Messi started in the first three Inter Miami preseason matches, but came on in the 83rd minute Thursday against Saudi powerhouse Al Nassr to conservatively finish the second of two matches at the Riyadh Season Cup. 

Messi experienced injury discomfort during Inter Miami’s 4-3 loss to Al Hilal on Monday, and during a training session Tuesday. He took an MRI to evaluate the injury. He was not initially expected to play against Al Nassr. 

How to watch Messi match today: Inter Miami in Hong Kong

Inter Miami will face Hong Kong XI inside Hong Kong Stadium at 3 a.m. ET Sunday, on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV, looking for their first win in five preseason contests.

Inter Miami sells out Hong Kong Stadium for Saturday practice 

Messi and Inter Miami held a practice in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,000 fans at Hong Kong Stadium on Saturday, and expect the same turnout Sunday. 

David Beckham, a co-owner of Inter Miami, took to social media to describe the scene. 

“Amazing… a sold out stadium for our pre-season training session in Hong Kong,”  Beckham posted on Instagram. “Thank you for all your incredible support and love, see you all tomorrow.”

How has Inter Miami performed this preseason? 

Inter Miami has lost three preseason matches, and their other match finished in a draw. 

Inter Miami has scored three goals (all in one match) and allowed 11 goals total.

‘If there is a time when this has to happen and an alarm has to ring, it is better that it happens in preseason. We will try to improve and put the best team forward,” Martino said.

Inter Miami’s upcoming schedule

Inter Miami has two more preseason matches, but one will be played abroad.

Inter Miami will face Japanese champion Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on Wednesday, then return home to South Florida. A week later on Feb. 15, the club will face Newell’s Old Boys – the Argentine team from Messi’s hometown.

Inter Miami’s 2024 MLS season begins with two matches in the opening weekend: Inter Miami hosts Real Salt Lake on Feb. 21, and visits the L.A. Galaxy on Feb. 25.

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Denny Hamlin, who wasn’t even sure he’d be healed from offseason shoulder surgery in time to compete in the Clash at the Coliseum, won the Saturday night exhibition that NASCAR hurried into a one-day show to avoid a dangerous “Pineapple Express” storm headed toward California.

Hamlin, in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, started from the pole and led 59 of the 151 laps. But his teammate Ty Gibbs controlled a large portion of the race until a late caution set up a restart with 10 laps remaining.

Hamlin got the lead on the restart and was about to win until Gibbs crashed on the last lap to send the race into overtime. Hamlin then got a jump on reigning NASCAR champion Ryan Blaney, who needed a provisional to make the 23-car field, on the restart for the win.

“It’s just a great momentum boost,” said Hamlin, who will now move on to the season-opening Daytona 500, where he will seek a fourth win in “The Great American Race.”

“You know, I clean off all the trophies every January 1st in the entryway of the house and now we get to add another one pretty quick, so pretty happy about that.”

Hamlin then turned to the crowd – many of the spectators were booing him – and repeated his standard taunt: “You know I beat your favorite driver again, right?”

Hamlin has now won the Clash four times, but his other three wins came when the exhibition was held at Daytona International Speedway, including his rookie year. Joe Gibbs Racing has won the race a record 12 times, and now two years in a row following Martin Truex Jr.’s victory last season.

Kyle Busch finished second in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, and Blaney rallied to lead Team Penske teammate Joey Logano to finishes of third and fourth. Austin Cindric, their third teammate, missed the race after the field was set by speed instead of the scheduled heat races.

The top three finishers of the Clash receive medals in an Olympic-style podium ceremony.

Logano, winner of the inaugural Clash in 2022, and Gibbs had a heated exchange after the race over contact between their cars.

NASCAR had only planned to run heat races Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with the main event scheduled for Sunday. But with heavy rains and flooding expected, NASCAR eliminated the heats, set the field of 23 by practice speeds, and started the race just 30 minutes after qualifying.

A planned “halftime” performance by Machine Gun Kelly was canceled.

NASCAR about midday Saturday made the decision to run the Clash Saturday night out of concerns for the impending inclement weather. The decision was widely applauded by drivers, who saw the weather radar and worried the race would not happen before Wednesday if it was not moved up. Teams report to Daytona a week from now to begin preparations for the Feb. 18 season-opener.

“It’s one of the most logical decisions we’ve made as an industry, potentially ever,” driver Chase Elliott said.

Hamlin, the first driver to hint on social media that the race might be moved up a day, applauded the decision, calling it a “W” for NASCAR.

The NASCAR Mexico Series race was scheduled to follow for a doubleheader. Spectators on Saturday were already being admitted for free and seating was general admission.

NASCAR said it would contact Sunday ticket holders and prepaid parking will be fully refunded.