3/3/2016
Bryan Clauson
Circular Insanity Kicks into High Gear after WoO Top Ten
Lonnie Wheatley, LAS VEGAS, Nev. (March 3, 2016) – With a pair of strong World of Outlaws runs in the books including a seventh-place showing at Royal Purple Raceway on Saturday, Bryan Clauson’s “Circular Insanity Tour” kicks into high gear this weekend.
And in a big way, with five races over the next four nights beginning with tonight’s World of Outlaws tilt at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas.
“It’s kind of a preview of the rest of the year,” Clauson commented of the flurry of racing activity this weekend as the chase for 200 races continues. The count currently stands at 22 races after last weekend’s World of Outlaws double.
The weekend frenzy includes three nights of World of Outlaws competition aboard the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w Sprint Car beginning with tonight’s Las Vegas action followed up by another Vegas card on Friday and then the WoO series debut at Queen Creek’s Arizona Speedway on Sunday.
The Noblesville, IN, racer fills out the weekend with a pair of wingless Sprint Car events aboard Mike Martin’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 16b including Friday’s USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast Sprint Car “Sin City Showdown” at Las Vegas and then Saturday’s USAC/CRA season-opening “Sokola Shootout” at California’s Perris Auto Speedway.
It all begins with two nights at the Las Vegas dirt oval, a place Clauson is anxious to make a return to.
“It’s a place that’s been really good to me,” Clauson says of The Dirt Track at Las Vegas. “We were really good in the winged car with the 82 two years ago and won the wingless show three years ago.”
Clauson has enjoyed success at Perris Auto Speedway as well, capturing last November’s Oval Nationals crown to go along with a Sokola Shootout score in 2013.
Clauson extended his season total to 22 races this past weekend with an 11th-place run at Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige, TX, on Friday night and then a seventh-place showing on Saturday night at Baytown’s Royal Purple Raceway in World of Outlaws action.
The Friday card marked the first WoO event at the Cotton Bowl Speedway. “It put us all on a level playing field since hardly anyone had ever been there,” Clauson commented.
The night started out in promising fashion with Clauson stopping the clocks with the third quickest time of the night.
“We qualified good but then a couple of mistakes in the heat race really cost us,” Clauson said of a fourth-place heat race finish that put him 15th in the feature starting grid.
Clauson ultimately worked his way up to 11th in the final rundown, commenting that, “We just buried ourselves too much and couldn’t really overcome it.”
Action shifted to Royal Purple Raceway on Saturday night where a rare timing and scoring system failure worked to Clauson’s advantage.
“That really was a blessing for us because we didn’t qualify very well,” Clauson said of the circumstance that reverted to heat races lined up according to the draw after the timing system crashed out.
As a result, Clauson started on the front row of his heat and raced into the Dash with a second place finish.
Gridding the 40-lap feature sixth, Clauson battled near the top five all the way before crossing the stripe in seventh.
“On paper, it doesn’t look like much to start sixth and finish seventh,” Clauson comments. “We battled for top five a lot of the way though.”
“The car was good, I was just a little late making some of the adjustments I needed to make,” Clauson explains. “We were just a little too late going to the bottom early in the race and then a little too late getting off the bottom later in the race.”
Clauson keeps the seventh-place finish in perspective. “Anytime you have a ho-hum kinda night and it’s a top-ten with the World of Outlaws, you know you’re not doing too bad.”
Now, in the bright lights of Las Vegas, Clauson looks to add to his win total that is already at five as Circular Insanity continues on.
2016 Circular Insanity Tour Quick Stats: 22 races, 5 wins, 12 top-fives, 17 top-tens.
Up Next:
Thursday – World of Outlaws at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w Sprint Car)
Friday – World of Outlaws at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w Sprint Car) and USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast (Mike Martin’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 16b non-wing Sprint Car)
Saturday – USAC/CRA at California’s Perris Auto Speedway (Mike Martin’s Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 16b non-wing Sprint Car)
Sunday – World of Outlaws at Queen Creek’s Arizona Speedway (Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Elk Grove Ford No. 17w 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.
(Photo courtesy of Jay Hallas)
Article Credit: Lonnie Wheatley
Submitted By: Bryan Clauson
