Bryan Clauson: 1989-2016
Monday, 08 August 2016
Robin Miller / Images by IMS Photo, Boyd Adams
Bryan Clauson, who will go down in USAC history as one of its most prolific performers, succumbed to injuries suffered in a devastating accident in Saturday night's Belleville Nationals midget race in Belleville, Kansas. He was 27.
Clauson, who started ninth, had just taken the lead from Chad Boat and was starting to pull away when he encountered lapped traffic on the lightning-quick, high-banked half-mile dirt track. He got stuffed into the fence by a lapped car and went into a series of snap rolls before landing on his side, at which point he was struck in the cockpit by an oncoming car at a high rate of speed. Clauson was airlifted to Bryan Medical Center West in Lincoln, Nebraska.
He is survived by his parents, Tim and Diana, sister Taylor and fiancée Lauren Stewart.
"Last night, the 7th of August, we said goodbye to our son, my fiancé, our friend, Bryan Clauson," Clauson's family and fiancée said in a statement. "He was surrounded by family and friends and we were grateful that we could experience his final moments with him.
"Our Bryan fought to the end with the same desire that he demonstrated behind the wheel of all the various race cars he would park in victory lane. However, we were more proud of our Bryan that took a moment to make a young fan's day, or demonstrated his uncommon kindness and appreciation toward his friends, family and fans.
"We would like to thank everybody who has shown their concern toward us and kept us in their prayers. We will never be able to truly thank you. We would also like to thank the staff at Bryan Medical Center who stood and fought with our Bryan since he arrived here early yesterday morning."
"We know that our Bryan is also your Bryan and that you would like to participate in honoring him. A service will be held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at a date and time to be announced soon. In lieu of flowers, or to make a donation, people may direct their contributions to the USAC Benevolent Fund website at
http://usacbf.org/cash-donation/ or checks should be made out to the USAC Benevolent Foundation in the name of Bryan Clauson. The address is 124 E Northfield Drive, Suite F #129, Brownsburg, IN 46112.
Thank you for being a part of our Bryan's life."
The Noblesville, Indiana, resident captured 40 sprint features, 39 midget main events and a pair of Silver Crown races to go with his four USAC titles and three all-around USAC championships in a career that started in 2005.
That tied him with the great Gary Bettenhausen for No. 5 on the all-time USAC sprint list and put him No. 7 in the midgets – in between Chuck Rodee and Jimmy Davies. And his 112 total wins put him No. 5 on the overall USAC ladder.
"This is one of the darkest days in the 60-year history of USAC," USAC president Kevin Miller said in a statement. "Not only was Bryan on pace to be USAC's all-time winningest driver, he was a great ambassador to the sport. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and fiancée."
At age 16, Clauson became USAC's youngest-ever victor with a midget triumph at Columbus Motor Speedway in 2005 – two years after he began running sprint cars around the Indiana outlaw circuit.
When he was 17, B.C. swept the USAC midget/sprint doubleheader at Salem Speedway to join an exclusive club that included Pancho Carter, Jeff Gordon and Dave Steele.
He was signed to Chip Ganassi's driver development program in 2006 and began racing stock cars, winning at the ARCA race at Gateway in 2007 in addition to the pole at Talladega. He made 21 starts in NASCAR's Nationwide series in 2008 and won the pole at Daytona, but his ride evaporated before the '09 campaign began.
So it was back to open wheel and USAC, where Clauson developed into one of the drivers to beat in any discipline or any surface. He swept the three biggest outdoor midget shows at Indianapolis Raceway Park, the Belleville Nationals and Turkey Night Grand Prix and racked up 19 feature wins.
In 2010, he scored 19 more victories, including the Hut Hundred at Terre Haute, and in 2011 he earned his initial USAC midget title and the overall USAC championship, which earned him a ride in the 2012 Indianapolis 500.
In May 2012, after practicing in or around the top 10 most of the month for Sarah Fisher's team despite having no previous IndyCar experience, Clauson began his fourth and final lap of qualifying when he hit the Turn 1 wall. He made the race, but the team's budget and his confidence took a shot.
But he bounced back to capture the 2012 USAC sprint championship and began a roll like few drivers have ever experienced. From 2012 through 2015 he won 90 midget and sprint races all over the country – scoring another USAC midget and sprint crown in the process.
He also qualified at Indy in 2015 and this past May, but admitted he wasn't as comfortable as he wanted to be and it was difficult just running an IndyCar once a year.
The family of Jonathan Byrd, longtime owner and sponsor at the Indy 500, took a liking to B.C. and put his last two Indy programs together in addition to this year's "Circular Insanity Tour" – Clauson's attempt to run 200 races.
Going into Saturday night's race in Kansas, Clauson had been to victory lane 27 times in 115 starts and was leading the Belleville Nationals when he lost his life.
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Tim Clausen's memorial speeech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XV3b9Bxhgg
The celebration of racer Bryan Clauson's life was interrupted by stormy weather Wednesday afternoon at Kokomo Speedway but not before Tim Clauson delivered an emotional and compelling speech about his 27-year-old son to the packed house at the track where he began his sprint car career 14 years ago.