Lonnie Wheatley
KOKOMO, Ind. (June 7, 2016) – It was an unprecedented eight-day stretch in auto racing history. But, then again, Bryan Clauson’s entire “Circular Insanity” Tour pursuit of 200 races is unprecedented, so little surprise that unheard of feats are accomplished along the way.
Over the course of eight days, Clauson led laps at the Indianapolis 500, racked up five non-wing Sprint Car feature wins and collected his third USAC Indiana Midget Week championship. Not too bad for a week’s work.
“It’s been a really cool eight days,” Clauson commented. “I haven’t really had time to sit down and think about it yet but it has been special to have the opportunity to do what we’ve been doing.”
Now, after a Monday off to regroup, it’s back at it with another nine races over six nights beginning with Tuesday night’s USAC National Sprint Car “Eastern Storm” opener at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, PA.
With 18 wins already amongst the mix, “Circular Insanity” is at 69 races and counting. And counting quite quickly. Now to pick up the race-by-race narrative where we last left off after Race 56…
Race 57
The final race before Clauson’s third Indianapolis 500 was the Thursday night, May 26, USAC Silver Crown “Hoosier Hundred” at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/ Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 6 Silver Crown car. Clauson notched his first USAC Silver Crown top-five of the season by racing to a fourth-place finish.
“We had a strong car and actually got up to second at one point. A gremlin crept up in the middle of the race and slowed us down, fortunately we had an open red with about 30 laps to go and the guys were able to get it patched up. We had fallen back to seventh and clawed our way back up to fourth.”
Race 58
Next up was the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 29, where Clauson led several mid-race laps aboard the Dale Coyne/Jonathan Byrd’s Racing No. 88 Cancer Treatment Centers of America entry before finishing the day out in 23rd.
“Overall it was a pretty solid day for us. It was cool to lead a few laps, I was as confident going into the 500 as I have ever been there. We just had one big hiccup in the pits that trapped us there late and put us a lap down. It was good to be there at the end and have a solid day. We had really good speed and were able to stay on the lead lap while racing.”
Race 59
Clauson finished off “The Double” in style by hustling up to Kokomo Speedway on Sunday night after the 500 and driving the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant & Hospitality Group No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car to victory lane.
“That really is how you dream it up, to run the Indianapolis 500 in the day and then go win a Sprint Car feature that night. It was a cool opportunity to follow up our best 500 run with a group of people that are close to me, the fans at Kokomo.”
Race 60
After one day off, action picked up with the opening night of USAC’s Indiana Midget Week at Montpelier Motor Speedway on Tuesday night, May 31, where Clauson kicked things off on a strong note with a runner-up finish in the Dooling Machine/Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant & Hospitality Group No. 63 Midget.
“We started on the front row with Kyle (Larson) and kinda settled in. We were racing with him and Tanner (Thorson) for the lead, I made a bid and about fell off the track in one. I was able to get back by Tanner, then I took a shot at Kyle but couldn’t capitalize. It was a lot of fun racing with those guys, it felt like 2011 again racing with Kyle like that.”
Race 61
Clauson finished off Tuesday night at Montpelier by racing to his 15th win of the year and second in a row in the Non-Wing Sprint Car.
“We were able to get out front and cruise. It was pretty technical so I had to make sure not to overdrive it, we were able to do what we needed to get the win.”
Race 62
Indiana Midget Week Round Two was at Gas City I-69 Speedway on Wednesday night, June 1, with Clauson racing to a runner-up finish for the second night in a row.
“They reworked the track before the feature and made it a little more one lane. We were able to get to second, taking advantage of some mistakes. Kyle was a little better than us, we were able to hold on for second. We were hoping for a little better, but happy to start the week with a couple of good finishes.”
Race 63
The Gas City night finished the same as Montpelier the previous night with Clauson driving the non-wing Sprint Car to victory lane after the runner-up Midget finish.
“We had a good racecar and got to racing Brady (Bacon) and Scotty (Weir) for the lead. I was trying to be patient, working the bottom. We finally got by Brady to seal the deal.”
Race 64
Action shifted to Putnamville’s Lincoln Park Speedway on Thursday night with Clauson reeling off a third consecutive USAC Indiana Midget Week runner-up finish.
“The car was a little tight early, it took a little bit to get going. We got Rico (Abreu) for second with about five or six to go and then started chasing Tanner (Thorson) down but ran out of laps.”
Race 65
The recurring theme of placing second in Midget Week action and then finishing out the night with the Sprint Car in victory lane continued at Lincoln Park Speedway with Clauson reeling off his fourth consecutive non-wing Sprint Car feature win.
“We were racing pretty hard early with (Shane) Cockrum and KT (Kevin Thomas, Jr.). We were good enough on the bottom to sneak by five or six laps in. Once we got up top, we were able to get away.”
Race 66
Friday night at Bloomington Speedway proved to be the biggest test of Indiana Midget Week for Clauson and crew. After early problems, Clauson rallied from the tail of the “B” Main to earn a transfer position and then raced to a third-place finish in the feature to maintain the Midget Week points lead.
“We had some early gremlins and had to start last in the “B”. We were able to go 19th to fifth; that was huge to save our week. We were able to get third in the feature then, we were just trying to be sure that we didn’t throw away what we had worked for all week.”
Race 67
Friday’s Sprint Car feature at Bloomington finally ended Clauson’s streak of victories with a sixth-place finish.
“We started eighth and never really got going. There were guys two-wide in front of us and no real place to go. We were just kind of mired back there.”
Race 68
After a Saturday rainout at Lawrenceburg, Clauson put the finishing touches on his third USAC Indiana Midget Week championship by driving the Dooling Machine/Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Midget to a sixth-place finish in Sunday night’s finale at Kokomo Speedway.
“It wasn’t really my cup of tea, it was super heavy and super rough. We didn’t want to throw away Midget Week, we just needed to finish. I just tried to be careful and manage the race and we got what we needed out of it.”
Race 69
With the Indiana Midget Week title in the bank, Clauson put an exclamation point on the week by adding his 18th win of the season in Sunday night’s Sprint Car feature at Kokomo Speedway aboard the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car.
“We redrew the two but fell back to third early. We started working the bottom in a little bit and then got the lead. It’s definitely a good way to head into Eastern Storm.”
Five wins in the last six non-wing Sprint Car starts, not a bad way to go into Eastern Storm at all with a couple of ARDC Midget events and a USAC Silver Crown outing mixed in along the way as well.
2016 Circular Insanity Tour Quick Stats: 69 races, 18 wins, 37 top-fives, 52 top-tens.
Up Next:
Tuesday – USAC Sprint Car “Eastern Storm” at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, PA (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car )
Wednesday – USAC Sprint Car “Eastern Storm” at Lincoln Speedway Abbottstown, PA plus makeup feature from 2015 (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car )
Thursday – USAC Sprint Car “Eastern Storm” at New Egypt Speedway in New Egypt, NJ (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car )
Friday – USAC Silver Crown and ARDC Midgets at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, PA (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/ Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 6 Silver Crown car and Dooling Machine/Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Midget)
Saturday – USAC Sprint Car “Eastern Storm” at Port Royal Speedway in Port Royal, PA (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car )
Sunday – USAC Sprint Car “Eastern Storm” and ARDC Midgets at Susquehanna Speedway Park in Newberrytown, PA (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Non-Wing Sprint Car and Dooling Machine/Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s No. 63 Midget )
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.