Bryan Clauson

Bryan Timothy Clauson (June 15, 1989 – August 7, 2016) was an American professional auto racing driver, best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Clauson was increasingly seen competing with the World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint cars in his last couple of years. Clauson also competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Indy Lights, and IndyCar Series and was a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Bryan Clauson
Clauson with his dog Chevy at the 2015 Indianapolis 500
Born	Bryan Clauson (1989-06-15)June 15, 1989 Carmichael, California, U.S.
Died	August 7, 2016(2016-08-07) (aged 27) Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S.
Achievements	3-time USAC National Midget Series Champion (2010, 2011, 2015) 3-time USAC National Drivers Champion (2010, 2011, 2012) 2-time Turkey Night Grand Prix Winner (2009, 2010) 2-time USAC National Sprint Car Series Champion (2012, 2013) Non-winged Driver of the Year (2013) Chili Bowl winner (2014) 3 time Belleville Midget Nationals Champion (2009, 2010, 2015) Indycar Series Nation Fan Favorite driver (2016) National Sprint Car Hall of Fame (2018)
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
26 races run over 2 years
2008 position	27th
Best finish	27th (2008)
First race	2007 Emerson Radio 250 (Richmond)
Last race	2008 Ford 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 2 1
IndyCar Series career
3 races run over 3 years
2015 position	39th
Best finish	33rd (2012)
First race	2012 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Last race	2016 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 0 0 0
Statistics current as of August 8, 2016.

In 2016, Clauson attempted to compete in 200 races including the Indianapolis 500, World of Outlaws sprint cars, wingless sprint cars, and midget cars. On August 6, 2016, Clauson was involved in a midget car crash at Belleville High Banks Speedway in Belleville, Kansas, and died the following night.

In 2018, Clauson was elected into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. The facility also built the Bryan Clauson Tower with fan donations overlooking turn 2 at the famed Knoxville Raceway. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway's new infield dirt track conducts a 39-lap USAC Midget race in his memory starting in 2018.

Racing career

Born in Sacramento, California, Clauson made his USAC National Sprint Series debut just two days after his 16th birthday on June 17, 2005, at Limaland Motorsports Park, Ohio, garnering a third place podium finish. On October 8, 2005, Clauson won the Open Wheel Oktoberfest Midget race at Columbus Motor Speedway, Ohio, becoming the youngest driver in USAC history to win a National feature event, aged 16 years, 3 months and 23 days. On August 12, 2006, Clauson recorded a historic USAC Sprint/Midget doubleheader "sweep" at Salem Speedway, Indiana, winning both the 30-lap Midget race and 50-lap Sprint race held the same night, only the 24th such sweep in USAC history.

On August 31, Clauson scored his first career ARCA win at the Gateway International Raceway. Two months later he began competing in the NASCAR Busch Series, driving the No. 41 Memorex Dodge Charger for Chip Ganassi. He competed full-time during the 2007 season in the USAC National Sprint and Midget Series as part of the Keith Kunz Motorsports stable.

Clauson (40) racing Marcos Ambrose at Nashville in 2008

Despite his move to NASCAR, Clauson returned to his dirt-track roots on January 12, racing in the Chili Bowl, an indoor Midget race in Tulsa, Oklahoma, featuring some of the top names in racing, such as Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Jason Leffler, Gary Scelzi, Cruz Pedregon, Bobby Santos III, Brett Hearn and Tim McCreadie. After starting the feature mid-pack, he finished fourth overall.

In 2008, Clauson started the season in the No. 41 Polaroid/Texaco Havoline Dodge for Ganassi in the Nationwide Series, but was replaced by Kyle Krisiloff. He then drove the No. 40 Fastenal entry for Ganassi, filling in for Dario Franchitti in select races. He won his 1st pole at Daytona in July, but was replaced full-time by Franchitti the week after.

He was set to make his Cup debut at the Bank of America 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway driving the No. 40 Target/MotorStorm: Pacific Rift Dodge but qualifying was rained out and the team, which did not have enough owner points, did not qualify. His second attempt at his Cup Series debut ended the same way at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Qualifying was rained out for the race on October 26, 2008; he would have driven the No. 40 Guitar Hero World Tour Dodge. In his first actual attempt at Texas, Clauson failed to qualify.

Clauson was supposed to drive the No. 40 in the Nationwide Series full-time in 2009, but the team shut down after the team merged with Dale Earnhardt, Inc. and CGR's Nationwide program was shut down, The No. 40 car's sponsor, Fastenal, would also leave the team for JR Motorsports. Clauson was not able to find a ride with another NASCAR team for 2009, and he did not end up returning to the sport at all after his release from Earnhardt Ganassi, so he returned to dirt racing. He won the Turkey Night Grand Prix in November.

Clauson joined the Tony Stewart Racing Silver Crown team in USAC 2010. During this season he was successful in winning the USAC National Midget championship for his own team, as well as the first-ever USAC National Drivers championship. Clauson earned a $300,000 scholarship to compete in all six Indy Lights oval races in 2011.

Clauson ran the 2012 Indianapolis 500 with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, but finished 30th with mechanical problems.

Clauson won the USAC Sprint Car Championship in 2012, and repeated in 2013.

Following the 2013 season, Clauson replaced Jerry Coons Jr. in the Joe Dooling/Rusty Kunz number 63 Westin Packaged Meats Esslinger powered Midget. On January 18, 2014, he won the Chili Bowl Nationals at the Tulsa Expo Center, while teammate Michael Pickens, driving the number 63 Dooling Machine, Esslinger powered midget, flipped with 11 to go. Later that year, the Gold Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway were postponed after a 5-hour rain delay, the next day they resumed racing and he led all 25 laps of the race for his first Gold Crown Midget win, holding off Christopher Bell in the No. 71 KKM midget.

Clauson's damaged car returning to the garage, at the 2015 Indianapolis 500

Clauson returned to the Indy 500 in 2015, driving for the KV Racing Technology/Jonathan Byrd's Racing team, finishing 31st after an accident while moving out of the way for a faster car. He also competed in the "Kokomo Classic" at Kokomo Speedway later that evening, where he finished 2nd to Kevin Thomas, Jr. in a photo finish.

Clauson was attempting to compete in 200 races in 2016 which is being billed as "The Chasing 200 Tour, Circular Insanity". The tour included the 100th Indianapolis 500, USAC Midget and Sprint cars, World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint cars, and wingless sprint cars. He normally ran about 150 shows per year; he hoped to double up by racing some 360 wingless sprint car class cars at 410 (WoO / USAC) winged sprint car events. Clauson traveled the country living out of a mobile home. The IndyCar Series announced during its series banquet on October 4, 2016, that Clauson was named INDYCAR Nation Fan Favorite driver as voted on by the fans.

Death and legacy

Death

On August 6, 2016, Clauson was competing in the Belleville Nationals midget race – his 116th race of the year – when he was involved in an accident in which he flipped his car after making contact with a lapped car and was hit by another. He was taken to Bryan Medical Center West and was in critical condition upon arrival. Clauson died at the hospital the following evening.

Tony Stewart remarked, "It sucks when it's anybody in racing. It's hard when you lose them, but it's even worse when they're somebody as close to you as Bryan was. I feel for Bryan's parents and his sister, and I hope to be able to see them soon, but just thinking about them more than anything right now."

Clauson was a registered organ donor, which contributed to five lives being saved. Shortly after his death, Clauson's parents established an organ donation registration campaign. Named 'Chasing 200,' by the time of Clauson's memorial service on August 24, more than 750 people had registered, after which the campaign expanded its goal to 2000 registrants. A month after Clauson's passing, more than 3750 people had registered, making it one of the largest donation campaigns in recorded history; at that time, it was believed their future donations would contribute to saving an estimated 18,800 lives.

Various tributes from the racing community were made in honor of Clauson. For the Xfinity Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, drivers ran a BC decal on the A-post of their cars, while race winner Justin Marks dedicated his victory to Clauson. The following week, at the Cup Series' Bass Pro Shops NRA Night Race, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ran a Fastenal scheme modeled after Clauson's 2008 Nationwide Series car, Stenhouse finished in a then career-best 2nd place. And on May 28, 2017, at the 100 lap of the Indianapolis 500 race, the video board located at the start-finish line displayed a commemorative green image with the legend #BCFOREVER on it.

Legacy

The Bryan Clauson Classic, known as the Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by NOS Energy for commercial reasons, is held during the NASCAR meeting at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This event promotes organ donation through registration, and carries his car number, 39, as the race distance. It is a two-night United States Auto Club NOS Midget Championship race. Originally run for the 25th Brickyard 400, the event was moved to the week after the NASCAR meeting in 2021 in order to avoid a date clash with the Knoxville Nationals. The race is now a September race.

In 2018, Clauson was elected on the first ballot into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.

On May 19, 2021, the NTT IndyCar Series announced that the driver who qualifies on pole for the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tennessee, will receive the Bryan Clauson Trophy, awarded to highlight the event's partnership with Tennessee Donor Services to raise awareness for organ and tissue donation. The race sponsor, Big Machine Label Group, was Clauson's sponsor.

Personal life

Clauson attended Noblesville High School in Noblesville, Indiana. He is survived by his parents Tim and Diana Clauson and sister Taylor. He left behind his fiancée Lauren Stewart and their dogs, Chevy and Stewart.

Racing record

American open-wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Rank	Points
2011	Sam Schmidt Motorsports	STP	ALA	LBH	INDY 5	MIL 4	IOW 3	TOR	EDM1	EDM2	TRO	NHM 7	BAL	KTY 5	LVS 13	12th	170
2012	Fan Force United	STP	ALA	LBH	INDY	DET	MIL 10	IOW 10	TOR	EDM	TRO	BAL	FON			18th	40

IndyCar Series

Year	Team	Chassis	No.	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Rank	Points	Ref
2012	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing	Dallara DW12	39	Honda	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY 30	DET	TXS	MIL	IOW	TOR	EDM	MDO	SNM	BAL	FON		33rd	13
2015	Jonathan Byrd's Racing		88	Chevrolet	STP	NLA	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY 31	DET	DET	TXS	TOR	FON	MIL	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM	39th	10
2016				Honda	STP	PHX	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY 23	DET	DET	RDA	IOW	TOR	MDO	POC	TXS	WGL	SNM	33rd	21

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2012	Dallara	Honda	31	30	Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
2015	Dallara	Chevrolet	33	31	Jonathan Byrd's Racing
2016	Dallara	Honda	28	23	Dale Coyne Racing / Jonathan Byrd's Racing

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Sprint Cup Series

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Pts	Ref
2008	Chip Ganassi Racing	40	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LVS	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	POC	MCH	SON	NHA	DAY	CHI	IND	POC	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH	NHA	DOV	KAN	TAL	CLT DNQ	MAR	ATL DNQ	TEX DNQ	PHO	HOM	N/A	0

Nationwide Series

NASCAR Nationwide Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	NNSC	Pts	Ref
2007	Chip Ganassi Racing	41	Dodge	DAY	CAL	MXC	LVS	ATL	BRI	NSH	TEX	PHO	TAL	RCH	DAR	CLT	DOV	NSH	KEN	MLW	NHA	DAY	CHI	GTY	IRP	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL	RCH 35	DOV	KAN 23	CLT 20	MEM 18	TEX 28	PHO	HOM	76th	443
2008				DAY 6	CAL 34	LVS	ATL 29	BRI 35																															27th	1915
		40							NSH 17	TEX	PHO	MXC	TAL	RCH 21	DAR 18	CLT 31		NSH 22	KEN 5	MLW 20	NHA	DAY 19	CHI	GTY	IRP 32	CGV	GLN	MCH	BRI	CAL 18	RCH 38	DOV 33	KAN 21	CLT	MEM	TEX	PHO 16	HOM 34
	MacDonald Motorsports	81	Dodge														DOV 31

ARCA Re/Max Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Re/Max Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	ARSC	Pts	Ref
2007	Chip Ganassi Racing	40	Dodge	DAY	USA 2	NSH	SLM	KAN	WIN	KEN	TOL					KEN 14	POC	NSH 2	ISF	MIL	GTW 1	DSF	CHI	SLM	TAL 11	TOL	32nd	1245
	Cunningham Motorsports	4	Dodge									IOW 5	POC	MCH	BLN

Sprint Car & Midget Racing

Chili Bowl Results

			Prelim Night				Championship Night
Year	Team	Car #	Heat Start	Heat Finish	Feature Start	Feature Finish	Feature Start	Feature Finish
2011		39C		1		1	1	5
2012		39C		2	1	3	11	5
2013		39B	8	3	13	7	20	8
2014		63	3	1	2	1	3	1
2015		63	5	1	1	1	2	10
2016		63	6	1	1	1	1	2

External links

• Official website
• Bryan Clauson driver statistics at Racing-Reference