CLAUSON, JONES, JOHNSON, MENZIES & CADDELL TOP HONOREES AT DECEMBER 9 USAC AWARDS BANQUET IN INDIANAPOLIS

By Dick Jordan

The 2011 “Night of Champions” USAC National Awards Dinner is scheduled for Friday night, December 9, at the Indiana Roof Ballroom in downtown Indianapolis, Ind. Champions of USAC’s 2011 racing series will be honored during the gala evening.

Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind. locked up his second consecutive USAC National Drivers Championship last month in California. Among his championship awards are a $40,000 cash bonus and a yet-to-be-announced scholarship from INDYCAR. Clauson also leads the Mopar National Midget standings entering this Thursday night’s finale at Irwindale, Calif.

Levi Jones of Olney, Ill. will again be celebrated as USAC’s Traxxas Silver Crown and AMSOIL National Sprint Car Champion. It’s the second consecutive year he has swept both titles.

Ricky Johnson of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Bryce Menzies of Las Vegas, Nev. and Andrew Caddell of Graham, Wash. will also be honored as 2011 USAC TORC Off-Road Truck Champions. Johnson claimed the Pro 4×4 title, while Menzies won the Pro 2WD crown and Caddell is the Pro Light 2WD titlist.

The affair will be held again this year in conjunction with the International Motorsports Industry Show (IMIS), which will be held December 8-10 at the Indiana Convention Center, located just one block south of the banquet facility.

In addition to the various series championship awards, numerous other performance awards are part of the ceremonies as well as special recognition awards.

USAC’s Mopar .25 Midget “Generation Next” Champions will also be featured at the banquet, which gets under way with a cocktail hour at 6:30 pm and dinner to follow at 7.

Reservations for this special evening are being accepted until November 30 by Nikki Wilke at the USAC headquarters at nikki@usacracing.com or by calling 317-247-5151 (Ext. 214). Tickets for the banquet are priced at $60 each. Discounted hotel reservations are available through the IMIS website at www.imis-indy.com or by contacting the housing bureau at 317-684-2573 and mentioning IMIS.

Emcees for the affair are renowned broadcasters Jim Tretow, Robin Miller and Meghan Kolb.

The Indiana Roof Ballroom is located at 140 W. Washington Street in downtown Indianapolis.