CLAUSON CLAIMS SPRINT CAR DEBUT AT EAGLE
Eagle, Nebraska…….Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Indiana picked up his fourth AMSOIL National Sprint Car win of the season in impressive fashion as he rode the rim of Eagle Raceway en route to the checkers in the first-ever USAC Sprint Car race contested not only at the track but in the state of Nebraska. Clauson backed up his Track Record run in qualifying early in the night by winning the 30-lap Feature in the Curb Records – R&B Trucker’s #7 Maxim/Fisher.
Dave Darland took off from the pole and guided his way around the tricky bottom line of the 1/3-mile oval. As everyone searched for their own real estate, Clauson wasted no time in jumping to the top and working in a pronounced cushion around the high-banked track. Darland and Jon Stanbrough could only watch as Clauson pounded the cushion and flashed by to take the lead on lap 11 and never be challenged again.
After a caution just before halfway, Clauson ran off and hid while Kevin Thomas, Jr. jumped up top as well and, after he cleared traffic, moved to second quickly. He was no match for Clauson, however, as the 15th National Sprint Car win of his career came by a margin of 5.73 seconds.
“I saw rolling around that the bottom looked pretty decent. Luckily, everybody kinda dove for that and we had clear track up high. It took a bit to get it rolling, but we were really coming up high. This is just a really neat track. It was right up against the fence off turn-two and was tough getting into three just right, but it was fun to run up there,” Clauson said.
Thomas ripped off another podium finish in what is becoming his breakout season aboard the Black Jack Oil – Indy Metal Finishings #9K Spike/Kistler.
“I wasn’t totally comfortable to run the top at the beginning. I got shuffled back a couple spots, and after the caution I decided to go up there and stick with it. Our car was working great up there – (Crew Chief) Bubby Jones helped us with it over the phone tonight. The top here is just a blast to run,” Thomas said.
Stanbrough eventually came out on top of a battle with Darland that saw the lead slice and dice for the final podium spot. With his good run, Stanbrough’s National point lead grew slightly to 12 points in the Roberts/Tate Racing – Leer Racing #21x DRC/Speedway.
“We were able to get up to second there after Clauson got by us, and the yellow came out. It was just bad timing for us. If we could have stayed up there, maybe I could have done something a little different to try to get him. But back in third, I was committed to the bottom to try to get by Darland for third,” Stanbrough said.
Dave Darland came home fourth in the Jeff’s Jam-It-In Storage – Parker Store of Phoenix #11 Maxim/Claxton, while Levi Jones rounded out the top-five in the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing – Chevy Performance #20 Maxim/Kistler.
AMSOIL USAC NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE RESULTS: August 3, 2012 – Eagle, NE – Eagle Raceway – “Rumble in the Bull Ring”
QUALIFYING: 1. Bryan Clauson, 7, Tucker/BCI/Curb-Agajanian-13.293; 2. Justin Grant, 71P, Phillips-13.376; 3. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 9K, BlackJack-13.449; 4. Jon Stanbrough, 21x, Roberts/Tate-13.461; 5. Chase Stockon, 32, Stockon-13.475; 6. Dave Darland, 11, Walker-13.487; 7. Hunter Schuerenberg, 35, Byram-13.506; 8. Robert Ballou, 81, MPHG-13.553; 9. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart/Curb-Agajanian-13.593; 10. Tracy Hines, 4, Hines-13.616; 11. Chad Boespflug, 69, Dynamics-13.658; 12. Stu Snyder, 21s, RHS-13.967; 13. Jeff Lowery, 45, Lowery-14.186; 14. Roger Sluka, x29, Sluka-14.433; 15. Brandon Stevenson, 0, Stevenson-14.465; 16. Joe Boyles, 4F, Boyles-15.240.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jones, 2. Thomas, 3. Clauson, 4. Boespflug, 5. Stockon, 6. Schuerenberg, 7. Lowery, 8. Stevenson. 1:53.44
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Hines, 2. Stanbrough, 3. Ballou, 4. Darland, 5. Grant, 6. Snyder, 7. Sluka, 8. Boyles. 1:53.00
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Kevin Thomas, Jr., 3. Jon Stanbrough, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Levi Jones, 6. Chase Stockon, 7. Tracy Hines, 8. Robert Ballou, 9. Hunter Schuerenberg, 10. Justin Grant, 11. Chad Boespflug, 12. Brandon Stevenson, 13. Jeff Lowery, 14. Roger Sluka, 15. Stu Snyder, 16. Joe Boyles. NT
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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-10 Darland, Laps 11-30 Clauson.
NEW AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT POINTS: 1-Stanbrough-1,262; 2-Jones-1,248; 3-Darland-1,172; 4-Clauson-1,084; 5-Damion Gardner-1,010; 6-Hines-995; 7-Thomas-945; 8-Schuerenberg-932; 9-Ballou-929; 10-Stockon-927.
NEXT AMSOIL NATIONAL SPRINT RACE: August 4 – Grain Valley, MO – Valley Speedway