This message was edited on
June 09, 2016 at
02:46:51 PM by SpcJay
CLAUSON STORMS TO THE FRONT AND GOES BACK TO BACK IN THE EASTERN STORM
PA Sprint Car News | Justin Snyder
Abbotstown, PA | June 8, 2016
Climbing from his car after winning the 30-lap AMSOIL USAC Sprint Car Eastern Storm event at Lincoln Speedway, Bryan Clauson went right to work with his crew preparing for a second feature.
With a big smile beaming through his dirty face and a giant cardboard check sitting behind him in the trailer, it was obvious that he was pleased with his performance. But there would be time to celebrate later.
While unique in structure due to a make-up feature event being raced, another opportunity to hit the track was just what the doctor ordered for the ambitious driver of the Cancer Treatment Centers of America No. 63.
“There will be plenty of time later to savor the win,” said Clauson to a fan in between wrenches and handshakes. “I’ll let you know how it feels in about 25 laps.”
About a quarter the way through what he has dubbed the “Chasing 200 Tour: Circular Insanity”, Clauson took care of business and battled a slick race surface to best Chris Windom and Chase Stockton at Lincoln Speedway for his second win in as many nights.
“These races are tough,” said Clauson, who picked up $6,000 for his efforts. “The competition is so deep in USAC right now. I just feel lucky to be able to drive a racecar as nice as this.”
Shane Golobic of California and local Pennsylvania driver Joey Biasi led the field to the line, with Golobic taking the early lead out the gate.
Third row starter and the nights Fast Qualifier, Stockon, began his charge through the field and caught Biasi for second by lap four. Two laps later, he was able pull even with Golobic coming out of turn two to take the lead.
“We were fast right out the box, “said Stockon.“We kind of knew the track was going to go away and there wasn’t anything to lean against up top, so we kind of set up for that. I was able to roll the middle and get around a few guys early and get to the lead.”
One lap later, Clauson used the middle and high lines to slide into second and set his sights on the leader. While Clauson searched the track for grip and attempted to make ground, Stockton took to the high line and held his position firmly.
“(The track) got slick early on and they watered it right before the feature, so it kind of brought the top back in,” said Clauson, who began the night 6th in the feature. “I didn’t really think it was going to bring it back as much as it did, but that ended up being the fastest way around for most the feature there.”
With 10 laps to go, the leaders began to approach lapped traffic. Laps 23 and 24 saw them dead even at the flag stand and on lap 25, Clauson threw a slider into turn two and was able to slow the momentum of Stockon and pull away for good.
“We knew we just needed to bide our time and get to the second half of the race,” said Clauson. “We were able to pounce there in lap traffic and take advantage of him slowing down a little bit and once we got out front we were able to set sail.”
It turns out that Stockon was suffering from brake issues late in the race that halted any momentum he had.
“Once we got out front, we actually started to pull away from Clauson there for a little while,” said Stockon. “But with about 10 or 12 laps to go we lost our brakes.”
“I was going into (turn) one and (the pedal) just went to the floor board and never pumped back up. After that I just cheated the cushion a little bit, slid up to it and tried to keep the most speed up that I could and hopefully hang on for a solid finish,” he added.
One lap later Chris Windom capitalized on his issues and took the second spot. However, he would be a match for Clauson as he pulled away nearly by a full straightaway to take the checkered flag.
“The track was pretty slick and most everyone was around the bottom all night,” said Windom. “I really didn’t know where to go the first few laps of the race and unfortunately I let those guys get around me on the top early. I tried to run them back down, but by then Clauson had gotten to the lead already and it was just too much to try and run him down.”
For Clauson, it was his 39th career USAC National Sprint Car victory, which pulled him within one of Gary Bettenhausen for seventh on the all-time list. It was his fifth AMSOIL National Sprint Car victory of the season and 11th overall USAC triumph.
In his quest to run 200 races this season, he has committed to 36 races in the month of June specifically. Clauson does not take any win for granted and is just grateful to be doing what he loves on a regular basis.
The USAC Eastern Storm tour will continue to New Egypt Speedway Thursday night followed by stops at Port Royal ON Saturday and conclude at Susquehanna Sunday night.
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