Bryan Clauson has been one of the most prolific drivers to come through USAC in his short career. Racking up 66 career USAC wins, and several championships, Clauson has cemented his place in USAC history in short time.
Clauson’s father, Tim, was a Sprint Car racer in and around the family’s hometown in Northern California – Carmichael. So it was no surprise that Bryan caught the racing bug at a very young age. He took to Quarter Midgets when he was 5, and also tried go-karts, becoming the youngest ever to be named Rookie of the Year in the Outlaw Go-Kart program. He won multiple championships in Quarter Midgets over the next few years, including a Western States Championship even after the family relocated to the Indianapolis area in 1999. In his six years running Quarter Midgets from 1994 to 2000, Clauson earned one national championship, two state championships (California and Indiana), two Northern California regional championships and four Western States championships. He also set a new track speed record during the Nationals in Pueblo, Colo., and surpassed the 20-win mark almost every year. In 1997, as an 8-year-old, Clauson won 30 times. He earned the Quarter Midget Light A Division National Championship in Apopka, Fla., to cap off his final Quarter Midget season of 2000.
With more than 200 Quarter Midget victories by his 10th birthday, next Clauson turned his attention to 600 Micro and North American Auto Racing Series (NAMARS) Kenyon Midgets. In 2001 and 2002, Clauson scored 26 A-Main event wins and earned Rookie of the Year honors at Camden (Ind.) Speedway. He started running the Kenyon Midgets in 2002, where he scored a national title and Rookie of the Year honors, as well as “First Year Driver” honors from the HARF organization, who in previous years have honored such notable drivers as Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman.
In 2003, Clauson became the youngest driver to win the Open Division of the Tulsa Shootout, and added six A-Main wins in Kenyon Midgets en route to his second consecutive national championship. Clauson took a shot at Sprint cars the latter part of 2003 and proved to be a natural, qualifying for all 10 events he entered at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway. His much-older peers nicknamed him “The Bullet” and Clauson was recognized as the track’s Rookie of the Year.
As a 14-year-old in 2004, Clauson achieved unprecedented numbers in Sprint Car competition. In 37 starts, he netted six wins, 20 podium finishes and 31 top-fives. He earned Rookie of the Year honors at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway and Bloomington (Ind.) Speedway, where he also finished second in the overall 2004 speedway points standings. The National Sprint Car Hall of Fame recognized Clauson’s outstanding efforts and presented him with the “Wildcard Award,’ which made him the youngest recipient of the award ever.
Clauson competed locally in Indiana the first half of the 2005 Sprint Car season, then moved up into the USAC ranks following his 16th birthday in June. His first start, at Limaland Speedway in Lima, Ohio, resulted in a third-place finish. He finished with five top-10 qualifying efforts and topped it off with a podium finish. Among those who took note of Clauson’s exploits was the ownership of Keith Kunz Motorsports, one of the nation’s premier USAC operations. KKM signed Clauson and opened the door for his participation on both dirt and pavement, in both Midgets and Sprints, and broadened his experience in a big way. He won the USAC Midget race at Columbus (Ohio) Motor Speedway in October of 2005 to become the youngest National Feature winner in USAC history. By season’s end, he had nine wins on dirt and pavement in three different divisions – Midgets, Sprints and Kenyon Midgets.
Clauson next caught the attention of Lorin Ranier, director of driver development for Ganassi, who wasted no time signing the youngster to the team’s development program. In 2006, Clauson collected wins in USAC Sprints and Midgets, including the April Sprint event at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway, making him the youngest winner ever at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile” and the youngest USAC Sprint Car feature winner to date.
Through that summer, Clauson netted 11 Top-5 and 18 Top-10 National Sprint Car finishes, in addition to eight Top-5 National Midget finishes. In August, as a 17-year-old, he became the youngest driver ever to sweep a Midget/Sprint doubleheader weekend by winning both USAC Midget and Sprint Car features at Salem (Ind.) Speedway. The sweep placed Clauson in the USAC history books alongside other notable drivers who had accomplished the same feat, including Jeff Gordon, Pancho Carter and Dave Steele. The wins at Salem and Winchester also meant Clauson had successfully swept the high-banked tracks on the 2006 USAC competition schedule. Even after an injury at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. sidelined him for the remainder of the year, Clauson still maintained a top-10 position in both the National Sprint and Midget series by season’s end. He finished fifth in the National Midget division and seventh in the National Sprint division. In addition to the outstanding final tally, Clauson again received freshman props by being named the 2006 Rookie of the Year in the National Midget division.
Clauson’s prowess in Midgets and Sprints at an early age caught the eye of Chip Ganassi, who signed the then-15-year-old as a development driver. That materialized into a ride in the Nationwide Series that began with five races in late 2007 and 21 races in 2008 in the No. 41 Ganassi Dodge. As the story goes, Clauson had to ask his high school teacher for a hall pass so he could take a moment to meet with his potential sponsor. Leading up to that fall slate of Nationwide races in 2007, Clauson embarked on a 26-race schedule competing in ARCA for the Ganassi team, and also running the American Speed Association (ASA) North, ASA Challenge, USAC and the Georgia Asphalt Series (GAS) with various car owners, including NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne.
In 2007, Clauson’s six starts in the Ganassi Racing ARCA Series entry netted a victory at Gateway International Raceway near St. Louis and runner-up finishes at USA Speedway in Lakeland, Fla., and Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway, as well as a pole position at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
In his 21 Nationwide Series starts in 2008, Clauson scored a fifth-place finish at Kentucky Speedway in June and a sixth-place finish in the season-opening event at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. He also qualified on the pole in the July race at Daytona.
In 2009 Clauson was slated to run full-time in the Nascar Nationwide Series. Early in the winter the deal fell through and he was left rideless. With nowhere to go Clauson returned to the place that made him a star, USAC, for the 2009 season. The 2009 season would prove to be a huge one for Bryan and his team as they racked up 19 feature wins. Among his many accomplishments in 2009 was the Indiana Midget Week Championship, the Belleville (Kan.) Midget Nationals Championship, winning the Hall Of Fame Classic and the Night Before the Brickyard at O’Reilly Raceway Park, winning the prestigious Turkey Night Grand Prix, and winning the Glenn Howard Memorial at Perris (Calif.) Auto Speedway. Clauson also received the yearlong honors of being named Hoosier Racing Fan Club (HARF) Driver of the Year and the National Midget Driver of the Year.
In 2010, Clauson turned his focus to making a run at all three USAC Championships. He joined forces with Tony Stewart Racing for the USAC Silver Crown Championship, RW Motorsports for the Sprint Car tour, and his family-owned Bryan Clauson Racing Inc. Midget for the USAC National Midget season. 2010 was another stellar year as Bryan captured 19 feature wins that included at least one in each division of USAC. Major wins on the year included the Hut 100, a second straight Belleville Midget Nationals, and a second straight Turkey Night Grand Prix.