6/9/2015
Cole Wood
MWR/Bryan Clauson – Top Ten with the WoO at Kokomo!
MWR/Bryan Clauson – Top Ten with the WoO at Kokomo!
(Bill W) June 9, 2015 – Driver Bryan Clauson and the Matt Wood Racing #17w team got three events in last week, beginning with a ninth place finish with the World of Outlaws at Kokomo Speedway in Indiana. The Noblesville, Indiana driver also placed seventh with the MOWA series in Jacksonville, Illinois Friday before competing at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa on Saturday. He also mixed in three midget shows in Illinois as he prepares for Indiana Midget Week, which begins tomorrow night.
Bryan times in 11th quick in the 39-car field at Kokomo last Wednesday. “It was a good qualifying effort,” he says. “That was the most technical qualifying session we’ve had all year. You had to really commit and hit it just right to run a good lap. We were able to run a couple good ones.”
He would start outside row one in his heat. A win meant a trip to the Dash. “I knew it would be tough with Kyle (Larson) inside us,” says Bryan. “We got a good start, probably as good as anyone who started out there. We just kind of lost the battle of sliders there that we had for a lap or so. I got another shot on a restart and got close, but we didn’t have quite enough.”
The second place finish meant Bryan would start 13th in the feature. He would advance to ninth at the checkers. “Anytime you’ve had laps at a track it helps, especially in getting through the corners,” he says. “You run different lines in a wing car. We had a really good car. We had a really good run. We should have ran seventh or eighth, but we hit a tire on the last lap. We were really happy to come away with a top ten with the Outlaws.”
Next up was Jacksonville on Friday. Starting eighth, Bryan would charge to second in his heat race. “We were really strong in the heat race,” he says. “We were able to carve through some guys, and came up a little short on the last lap of sliding (Joey) Moughan. It was a strong run, and that put us in a good spot for the fast Dash.”
The Dash did not go as well and he would finish sixth. “We didn’t get the greatest of starts and got out of position,” says Bryan. “We kind of got eaten alive. From there, the track was really slick at that point. We fell a little bit behind on it.”
The track would rubber up quickly in the main event and Bryan would checker seventh. “We had a decent start and got to fourth or fifth,” he says. “I didn’t get down soon enough. I went up top and got shuffled back to seventh. From there, we were riding around trying to stay out of trouble.”
With forty-two cars signing in at Knoxville including eight World of Outlaws regulars, Bryan would time in 24th after drawing a late pill for qualifying. “Certainly, going out late didn’t help but the track was still there to do it,” he says. “A couple guys went out after us that were in the top ten. We seem to be missing a little in qualifying the last couple times we’ve been there. It’s something we’ll be working on here in the middle of summer. Luckily, we were able to catch the (heat) invert.”
Starting on the pole, he would lock into the main event with a fourth place finish. “We didn’t get the greatest start,” says Bryan. “You needed to get to the top of one and get your speed up and we were pinned on the bottom. That put us in the middle of the pack. Once we got going, we were decent. We were right there with the top three.”
Great racing ensued throughout the pack, and Bryan would move forward four spots. “The track was really wide,” he says. “In three and four, there were actually three lanes you could run. When you start back in 22nd, even with that many lanes, it’s hard to find clean air to make something work. We were able to pick some guys off and go forward. Obviously, we didn’t have much choice back where we were starting! We’re definitely not as good as we need to be heading into the middle of the Knoxville season, but we got better as the night went on. We were able to try some things that will help us later in the year.”
As for Illinois Midget Week, things went fair in Joe Dooling’s #63. “We ran second at Quincy on Thursday,” says Bryan. “We were leading Jacksonville on Friday and popped a tire. At little Belleville Sunday, we were leading our Qualifier and had a battery issue. That cost us the second starting spot. We ended up going 22nd to fifth. We had good speed all week, we just had a little bad luck. We used Illinois Midget Week to get ready for USAC this week in Indiana. I’m excited to get going tomorrow!”
Indiana Midget week begins tomorrow night at Gas City, before moving to Putnamville Thursday, Bloomington Friday, Lawrenceburg Saturday and Kokomo on Sunday. Bryan will return to the #17w next week.
Matt Wood Racing would like to thank: Elk Grove Ford, Quick Lane, Fuel Safe, Schoenfeld and Vortex Wings!
To follow the Matt Wood Racing’s progress online, visit www.ColeWoodRacing.com!
Follow Bryan Clauson online at www.BryanClauson.com!
Photo: Bryan in WoO action at Kokomo (Rob Kocak Photo)
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