Bryan Clauson and the 17w team in Victory Lane at I-80 Speedway (Rob Kocak Photo)
Knoxville, IA, October 2, 2015 – Bryan Clauson led from start to finish Friday night to win his first career FVP National Sprint League feature event. The win came at the “Fearless 410 Finale” at the I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska. The Noblesville, Indiana driver earned $3,000 for his 25-lap win aboard the Matt Wood Racing #17w.
Clauson jumped out to an early lead from his starting spot outside of row one. Fellow row one starter, Bill Balog, dogged him early. He pulled even with the leader on lap nine, when Mike Moore spun, bringing out one of two cautions in the event.
Clauson led Balog, Terry McCarl, Danny Lasoski and Ian Madsen back to green flag racing. McCarl used the low side to wrestle second from Balog on lap 12. Four laps later, Lasoski followed McCarl by Balog into third. Back in the pack, Brian Brown and Dominic Scelzi, who was making his first career NSL start, were exchanging sixth place.
Tasker Phillips slowed with seventeen laps complete, bringing the final caution flag. Clauson led a low-riding McCarl, Lasoski, Balog and Madsen back to green. McCarl hit the cushion to try to run down Clauson, but Lasoski used the low side to move by McCarl into second on lap 20. Brown had a good restart, moving by Madsen for fifth, and snatching fourth from Balog late.
Clauson was steady on the cushion. Lasoski made a late diving attempt at him, but fell short. McCarl was third, ahead of Brown and Balog. Madsen, hard-charger, Craig Dollansky, Scelzi, Tim Kaeding and Brad Loyet rounded out the top ten. Brown set quick time, and won his heat. Austin McCarl and Kaeding were other heat winners. Josh Baughman won the B main.
“I looked up and saw the ‘2’ up on the board,” said Clauson in Victory Lane. “If you win one of these races, you’re going to have to deal with him sooner or later. We were strong enough to hold him off. I can’t thank these guys behind me enough…Matt Wood for giving me an opportunity, and Shane Bowers taking a big leap of faith and coming over and taking this job. We’ve been in a bit of a slump the last two or three weeks, but what a way to break out of it with our first NSL victory.”
“(Clauson) was on the preferred line,” said Lasoski. “He wasn’t moving. I knew that. We had to go somewhere else. I’m very proud of our GoMuddy.com, MC Power team. We didn’t have a good car in the heat, but they worked their tails off on this thing.”
“I felt like I was catching (Clauson) a little bit on the top before the caution,” said McCarl. “I thought I needed to go up there. I knew Danny was back there and he might take second. The only way we were going to win was going up top. Running second or third doesn’t matter when you’re going for the win. It was a great racetrack again. It’s turning into one of my favorite tracks. I have to thank Joe (Kosiski) and his family for that.”
The FVP National Sprint League season comes to a close Saturday night, October 3 with its “Fearless 410 Finale” at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska. For more information on the FVP National Sprint League, visit www.NationalSprintLeague.com!
Results from I-80 Speedway
FVP A main (started), 25 laps: 1. 17w, Bryan Clauson, Noblesville, IN [2]; 2. 2, Danny Lasoski, Dover, MO [6]; 3. 24, Terry McCarl, Altoona, IA [4]; 4. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO [5]; 5. 17B, Bill Balog, Brookfield, WI [1]; 6. 18, Ian Madsen, St. Mary’s, NSW, Aust. [3]; 7. 2KS, Craig Dollansky, Elk River, MN [18]; 8. 33, Dominic Scelzi, Fresno, CA [10]; 9. 3, Tim Kaeding, San Jose, CA [7]; 10. o5, Brad Loyet, Sunset Hills, MO [13]; 11. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA [8]; 12. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD [11]; 13. 11, Steve Kinser, Bloomington, IN [21]; 14. 12, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA [12]; 15. 2L, Logan Forler, Boise, ID [14]; 16. 81, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE [23]; 17. 55, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aust. [16]; 18. 4, Dakota Hendrickson, Omaha, NE [22]; 19. 17, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX [20]; 20. 13, Mark Dobmeier, Grand Forks, ND [15]; 21. 1B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO [17]; 22. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA [9]; 23. 4A, Jon Agan, Knoxville, IA [19]; 24. 69, Michael Moore, Des Moines, IA [24]. Lap Leader: Clauson 1-25. KSE Hard-charger: Dollansky.
Hooker Harness B main (started), 10 laps: 1. Josh Baughman [2]; 2. Logan Forler [1]; 3. Steve Kinser [3]; 4. Dakota Hendrickson [4]; 5. Jack Dover [9]; 6. Michael Moore [10] / 7. 9N, Wade Nygaard, Grand Forks, ND [5]; 8. 7R, Stacey Alexander, Lacona, IA [7]; 9. 8H, Jade Hastings, Grand Forks, ND [6]; 10. 20A, Jordan Adams, Reynolds, ND [8]; 11. 13JM, Jordan Martens, Harrisburg, SD [11]
Fuel Safe Heat one (started), 10 laps: 1. Austin McCarl [2]; 2. Craig Dollansky [1]; 3. Brad Loyet [3]; 4. Dominic Scelzi [4]; 5. Terry McCarl [5]; 6. Tasker Phillips [6] / 7. Steve Kinser [7]; 8. Jack Dover [9]; 9. Jade Hastings [8]
DMI Heat two (started), 10 laps: 1. Tim Kaeding [4]; 2. Mark Dobmeier [2]; 3. Bill Balog [6]; 4. Bryan Clauson [5]; 5. Lynton Jeffrey [3]; 6. Jake Bubak [1] / 7. Josh Baughman [7]; 8. Wade Nygaard [8]; 9. Jordan Adams [9]; 10. Jordan Martens [10]
Kaeding Performance Heat three (started), 10 laps: 1. Brian Brown [6]; 2. Brooke Tatnell [1]; 3. Ian Madsen [4]; 4. Danny Lasoski [5]; 5. Jon Agan [7]; 6. Matt Juhl [3] / 7. Dakota Hendrickson [8]; 8. Michael Moore [10]; 9. Stacey Alexander [9]; 10. Logan Forler [2]
The Minnesota Mafia Time Trials (Qualifying Order), 2 laps: 1. Brian Brown, 13.856 [28]; 2. Bill Balog, 13.860 [10]; 3. Tasker Phillips, 13.899 [18]; 4. Danny Lasoski, 13.923 [25]; 5. Bryan Clauson, 13.926 [23]; 6. Terry McCarl, 13.981 [11]; 7. Ian Madsen, 14.001 [22]; 8. Tim Kaeding, 14.043 [26]; 9. Dominic Scelzi, 14.053 [13]; 10. Matt Juhl, 14.087 [6]; 11. Lynton Jeffrey, 14.098 [2]; 12. Brad Loyet, 14.150 [27]; 13. Logan Forler, 14.157 [14]; 14. Mark Dobmeier, 14.179 [15]; 15. Austin McCarl, 14.188 [17]; 16. Brooke Tatnell, 14.209 [21]; 17. Jake Bubak, 14.212 [16]; 18. Craig Dollansky, 14.214 [8]; 19. Jon Agan, 14.216 [4]; 20. Josh Baughman, 14.265 [12]; 21. Steve Kinser, 14.312 [1]; 22. Dakota Hendrickson, 14.345 [7]; 23. Wade Nygaard, 14.356 [5]; 24. Jade Hastings, 14.543 [29]; 25. Stacey Alexander, 14.546 [19]; 26. Jordan Adams, 14.643 [20]; 27. Jack Dover, 14.679 [3]; 28. Michael Moore, 14.841 [24]; 29. Jordan Martens, 15.206 [9].