1/11/2011
Chili Bowl Nationals
Clauson Top Warren CAT Qualifier in Chili Bowl Opener!
Lonnie Wheatley, TULSA, Okla. (January 11, 2011) – Only 21 years old, Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, IN, has already topped nearly every major Midget racing event. About the only trophy missing from his mantel is a Golden Driller from the Chili Bowl Nationals.
Clauson put himself in prime contention to claim one of those coveted Golden Drillers by racing to victory lane in Tuesday night’s 25-lap Warren CAT Qualifying main event to kick off the 25th Anniversary of the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at the QuikTrip Center’s Tulsa Expo Raceway.
“It’s awesome, this place has kind of had my number over the six or seven years I’ve been here,” Clauson explained. “It’s frustrating to go about anywhere else in the country and feel like we’re the dominant car and then come here and struggle like we’ve done in the past.”
There were no struggles on Tuesday night, as after posting heat and qualifying race wins Clauson swept past New Zealand’s Michael Pickens for second on the fourth round of the feature event and led the rest of the way aboard the Corey Tucker Racing/Mike Curb Esslinger-powered NOS Energy Drink/Curb Records No. 39c Spike to lock into his second career Chili Bowl championship finale after a fourth-place run in 2008.
“This year we were finally able to stay out of trouble and not make any mistakes,” Clauson stated. “Really, what it comes down to, I did my job this year.”
Pickens held the runner-up slot the rest of the way to secure a spot in the Saturday finale for the third time in as many Chili Bowl efforts, with Indiana Sprint Car ace Jon Stanbrough fending off some bids for the third and final lock-in position to what will be his sixth Saturday finale.
While Clauson took top honors over the night’s 65-car field, it was Sammy Swindell taking his second Vacuworx International Race of Champions victory in three ties with a wire-to-wire run over Dave Darland Jason Leffler.
The first effort from the five-car Loyet Motorsports stable, Pickens earned the pole position for the feature by accumulating the most points and heat race and qualifying race action with Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Jonathan Beason alongside on the front row.
After the initial start was waved off for an Eric Todd miscue, Pickens gunned into the lead with fourth-starter Clauson quickly moving into second on the opening circuit.
With Pickens working uncharacteristically low on the ¼-mile clay oval, Clauson swept by in the middle of turns one and two and raced into the lead down the backstretch for ducking back down low in three and four on the fourth lap.
With Pickens and Stanbrough chasing, Clauson worked both top and bottom as traffic came into play after a dozen circuits. Clauson found open track soon after though when the caution flew for Kevin Bayer’s spun mount in turn three with 14 laps in the books, negating a Brad Kuhn pass of Stanbrough for third.
Clauson went virtually unchallenged the remaining distance, not letting one last quick yellow for Chad Boat’s stalled mount in turn four just four laps shy of the checkered flag deter his pace.
Clauson took the checkered flag with a 1.083-second advantage over Pickens, who settled for runner-up honors in the Loyet Motorsports Esslinger-powered Loyet Landscape Maintenance/Meramec Heights Collision No. 05p Spike.
Pickens explained of his first outing in one of the familiar No. 05 Midgets, “To begin with, you’re uncomfortable because it’s unfamiliar, but you just have to get a few laps under your belt. We got that in hot laps and I was more comfortable.”
Kuhn and then Beason both pressured for that critical third position, but Stanbrough proved to be up to the task in Spike-powered F&F Mechanical/DMS No. 51x Spike wrenched by Rusty Kunz.
“I don’t run the Midgets very often at all throughout the year,” Stanbrough explained. “So to come here and be with a guy like Kunz that knows what he’s doing obviously gives me a lot of confidence. It showed tonight, we’re in the show.”
Beason just missed out on locking into his first Chili Bowl finale by finishing fourth in the BA Lawn & Garden No. 36, with Kuhn rounding out the top five in the Rotondo Weirich No. 17b.
Caleb Armstrong crossed the stripe sixth, with 15th-starter Tony Roney, Mike Hess, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., and Jac Haudenschild completing the top ten. Mike Goodman turned in the feature’s top passing performance by climbing from 22nd to 12th.
Brady Bacon, Hess, Beason, Roney, Kuhn, Pickens, Clauson and Stanbrough topped the night’s heat race action, with Beason, Clauson, Armstrong and Andy Shouse winning the qualifying races.
Chris Coker and J.T, Imperial topped “C” Mains, with Boat and Josh Wise winning the “B” Mains.
After winning the first race of the week, Broken Arrow’s Bacon was leading his qualifier when engine woes occurred as the white flag flew. Bacon bounced back to transfer from a “B” Main and then finished 14th in the main event.
California’s Kyle Larson had the night’s eighth and final heat race well in hand until he tripped over the turn one cushion and flipped just as the yellow lights flickered for a Chad Frewaldt tumble in turn three. Rather than a solid position in a qualifying race, Larson punched a quick ticket to a Saturday “K” Main when forced to scratch for the rest of the night.
Choctaw, Oklahoma’s Cody Brewer was the week’s first official flip victim when he got upside down entering turn one in the second heat race. Mario Clouser also flipped in the second heat, Nick Chivello tumbled in the first “C” Main, Sean Dodenhoff went for a wild ride down the backstretch in the first qualifier and Dean Franklin tipped over in the second “B” Main.
In VIROC III, the Third Annual Vacuworx International Race of Champions, five-time Chili Bowl champion Sammy Swindell drew the pole position and made the most of it by leading all the way in the non-stop 20-lapper aboard the Swindell Motorsports Esslinger-powered John Christner Trucking No. 1 Spike.
Swindell was joined on the VIROC podium by Wilke-Pak rep Dave Darland and Kasey Kahne Racing shoe Jason Leffler, with J.J. Yeley and Clauson rounding out the top five. Clauson was the only of the 16 VIROC competitors to also mix it up in the Tuesday qualifying portion of the event.
Submitted By: Admin Account
