MWR/Bryan Clauson – Podium Finish in First Time at Huset’s!
(Bill W) July 6, 2015 – It was a bit of a roller coaster weekend for Bryan Clauson and the Matt Wood Racing #17w team. The highlight of the weekend was a third place run with the FVP National Sprint League in the Noblesville, Indiana driver’s first visit to Huset’s Speedway near Brandon, South Dakota. A top ten run at Knoxville Raceway topped the weekend off on Saturday. This week finds the team competing with the NSL at Park Jefferson International Speedway near Jefferson, South Dakota Friday, and in weekly action Saturday at Knoxville.
Last Wednesday Bryan timed in twelfth quick with the World of Outlaws at Lakeside Speedway near Kansas City. “When you have a show with less cars and a shorter invert, you still have the fifteen Outlaws to beat,” he says. “It was a decent effort for us. For our first time there, it was a good start to the night.”
A heat win meant a trip to the Dash. Bryan would start on the pole, but finish second. “Heat race wins are so important (with the WoO),” he says. “We got beat by Danny (Lasoski) to turn one. There’s no shame in that. He’s rolling really well right now.”
In the end, he would start twelfth in the feature and checker in the 13th position. “Honestly, we felt we had a better car than where we finished,” says Bryan. “We just weren’t good enough to maneuver like we needed to move up. We had a lot of speed on the cushion, but we were dependent on it. We weren’t able to move down the track like some of the guys who moved forward.”
Despite coming out 24th in the 29-car field at Huset’s, Bryan timed in fourth quick on a new track. “It was a great qualifying effort for us,” he says. “It was another new track for us, which will continue to be our theme this season. It gave us a shot at the redraw heading into the heats.”
Unfortunately, he would finish sixth, one spot out of a transfer in his heat. “The track was really fast and fairly narrow, especially in the first heat,” says Bryan. “We were actually able to get to fifth. We just didn’t quite get in the right position. Terry (McCarl) got by and that was kind of the end of it.”
Bryan would finish second to Ian Madsen in the B, and start tenth in the feature. A number of caution periods slowed the action. “The lack of lapped traffic hurt us, I think,” he says. “We were the most maneuverable car, mostly because we had to be. It seemed we were moving around all race. The times we did get to traffic, we were able to get a couple cars. I was hoping to get a little deeper in traffic.”
Still, he charged forward and passed Madsen for third late in the race. “It seemed like we raced with Ian all night,” says Bryan. “We raced him in the B and then the feature. We both moved around quite a bit. Our car just got a little better at the end and we were able to get by him. It was a great run there. The car just got better as the race went on.”
Bryan timed in ninth quick at Knoxville Saturday in NSL action. “The track was really difficult,” he says. “You could run a lap in the top ten one lap, and be in the 20’s the second lap depending on how you bounced. It was a very technical track to start the night.”
Rough conditions continued in the heat when he was knocked out while in a transfer spot. “Our oil tank was hit by a huge mud clod,” says Bryan. “It crushed the oil tank and that put an end to the heat for us. We were buried in the B (third) a little deeper than we wanted to be, especially with the top two getting their time back. We were able to run down Dustin Selvage for second and get that done.”
Despite the long night, Bryan would finish tenth at the checkers. “It still had a little more character than Knoxville normally does, but it was one hundred times more race-able,” he says of the track conditions in the feature. “We were back in traffic and we were a little tight. We were really good over in three and four, but we weren’t able to keep that speed in one and two to capitalize. From what we had to overcome all night, we were able to salvage a decent run.”
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!
(Jeff Bylsma Photo) Bill W Media[email protected]Twitter: @BillWMedia
Monroe, IA USA
Are they running 360 stuff as well?