Lonnie Wheatley, TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (April 7, 2016) – Bryan Clauson added another pair of top-ten runs in his “Circular Insanity Tour” pursuit of 200 races over this past weekend.
The Noblesville, IN, racer had to work his way forward in both of them to achieve top-ten status and did it in a pair of drastically different cars.
With weather in play, “Circular Insanity” has now been directed towards Oklahoma and Missouri this weekend with ASCS Red River Region action at Creek County Speedway near Tulsa on Friday and then winged 410-ci competition at Farmington’s St. Francois County Raceway on Saturday.
This past weekend, Clauson raced from 13th to claim eighth on Saturday night in Matt Wood’s Elk Grove Ford/Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 17w Sprint Car in NSL Winged 360-ci competition at Moberly, Missouri’s Randolph County Speedway.
Then on Sunday, Clauson jumped into the Cancer Treatment Centers of America/Jonathan Byrd’s Restaurant and Hospitality Group No. 6 Silver Crown car at the Terre Haute Action Track, where he raced from 14th for yet another eighth place finish on the weekend.
In both cases, Clauson overcame early problems to salvage top-tens after critical engine problems in Saturday night heat race action and then clutch issues early in the day on Sunday.
This weekend’s now-scheduled Oklahoma-Missouri double comes after double-duty at the Kokomo Grand Prix was scratched by weather and then a pair of NSL cards in southeast Iowa suffered the same fate.
Race 35
After a blown engine in heat race competition, Clauson had his work cut out for himself in NSL Winged 360 action at Randolph County Raceway in Moberly, MO.
“We were going good in the heat and lost the motor, that really buried us for the rest of the evening. With the 360’s all being pretty equal, it’s hard to make up much ground. We worked our way up to eighth, so that was a decent run.
Race 36
Clutch problems early in the day limited Clauson to virtually no hot laps in the USAC Silver Crown season opener at the Terre Haute Action Track. Mired at 14th in the starting grid, Clauson worked his way up to fifth only to run short of fuel in the closing stages. Though he slipped to eighth at the finish, it was still good enough for Hard Charger honors.
“We had clutch issues in hot laps and didn’t get any practice. The guys did a great job thrashing to get it ready so we could take a shot at qualifying. We didn’t have time for any adjustments and still qualified 14th. We had a pretty good run going, we battled all day and were up to fifth late in the race and ran out of fuel with two or three laps to go. We finished eighth, but we really had a better day than what that finish shows.”
With the “Circular Insanity Tour” redirected to Oklahoma’s Creek County Speedway on Friday night, it will mark Clauson’s first outing atop the tight quarter-mile since a Sprint Bandits TNT event in 2008 in which he ran third in a heat race and won a qualifier before being credited with 18th in the “A” Main.
Clauson made a stop at St. Francois County Raceway last year in NSL competition.
2016 Circular Insanity Tour Quick Stats: 36 races, 8 wins, 15 top-fives, 26 top-tens.
Up Next:
Friday – ASCS Red River Region winged 360-ci Sprint Cars at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa OK (Elk Grove Ford/Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 17w)
Saturday – Winged 410-ci Sprint Cars at St. Francois County Raceway in Farmington, MO (Elk Grove Ford/Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 17w)
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 Dave Olson)