By Lonnie Wheatley
ROSSBURG, Ohio (May 12, 2016) – Surging past the quarter pole of the “Circular Insanity Tour” pursuit of 200 races in 2016, Bryan Clauson added his 12th win of the season at last weekend’s #LetsRaceTwo event at Eldora Speedway.
With the race count climbing to 52, Clauson finally captured his first USAC Sprint Car victory atop the storied Eldora oval on Friday night. Clauson rounded out the weekend with a sixth-place USAC run on Saturday with a pair of strong World of Outlaws outing at Eldora as well.
In a month that will culminate with Clauson’s third Indianapolis 500 effort, another four events are on tap over the course of three nights this weekend beginning with Friday night’s World of Outlaws card at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway that also includes USAC Indiana Midget action.
Action resumes with more WoO competition at Haubstadt’s Tri-State Speedway on Saturday before shedding the wings for Sunday night’s King of Kokomo event at Kokomo Speedway.
Race 49
Eldora’s #LetsRaceTwo double-double began with USAC Sprint Cars on Friday night. While Clauson had reached Eldora victory lane in Midgets and Silver Crown cars, Friday’s triumph aboard the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant & Hospitality Group No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car was his first in USAC Sprint Car competition.
“It was good to get that monkey off my back, we had been close several times before. It was also a big win career-wise reaching 75 overall USAC National wins, that’s a big milestone win to reach.”
Race 50
Clauson reached 25% complete of Circular Insanity with Friday’s World of Outlaws feature in the Elk Grove Ford/Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 17w Sprint Car. Slipping back from the 13th starting position early on, Clauson gained ground late to claim 11th at the line.
“We started 13th, fell back a little early and drove back up to 11th. We drove by some good cars on the way. We probably could have used a caution to get some more spots. We went forward at Eldora which is always good, the car had good balance, we could go wherever we needed to go.”
Race 51
Saturday’s portion of #LetsRaceTwo at Eldora found Clauson recovering from early issues to post a sixth-place finish in the USAC Sprint Car portion of the evening in the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car.
“We went to a backup straightaway, that threw a little kink in the night. We started eighth and moved forward, then we got caught in someone else’s mess and had to go to the tail. We were able to get back up to sixth. It was one we just had to grind out, seemed like a caution came out every time I passed a car.”
Race 52
#LetsRaceTwo wrapped up with Saturday’s World of Outlaws portion of the card with Clauson working his way forward from 22nd to finish 12th in the Elk Grove Ford/Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 17w Sprint Car.
“We started 22nd and got to 12th, it was a good night going forward. The second half of the race we really got going well, hopefully it’s something we can build on for Kings Royal.”
Another four races in three nights this weekend leads into a busy slate of Indy 500 preparation over the remainder of the month with other races mixed along the way.
2016 Circular Insanity Tour Quick Stats: 52 races, 12 wins, 25 top-fives, 37 top-tens.
Up Next:
Friday – World of Outlaws Sprint Cars and USAC Indiana Midgets at Indiana’s Plymouth Speedway (Elk Grove Ford/Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 17w Sprint Car and Dooling Machine/Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Midget)
Saturday – World of Outlaws Sprint Cars at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN (Elk Grove Ford/Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 17w Sprint Car)
Sunday – King of Kokomo at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car)
Keep Track: Keep track of Bryan Clauson’s 2016 Circular Insanity Tour at www.bryanclauson.com, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bryanclausonracing/?fref=ts and on Twitter at @bryanclausoninc.
If you would like Bryan Clauson “Circular Insanity Tour” press releases e-mailed directly to you, send your e-mail address to Lonnie Wheatley at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.
Penning the recurring series of “The Wheatley Chronicles” articles on www.sprintcarmania.com, Lonnie Wheatley provides media, public relations and more for select tracks, drivers and events. For more information, Wheatley may be contacted at lonniewheatley@gmail.com.