4/26/2016
Bryan Clauson
Top Five at Knoxville Sets Up Outlaw Week
(Bill W) April 26, 2016 – The Matt Wood Racing #17w team and driver Bryan Clauson notched a fourth place finish last Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. The solid outing came with some effort as the team had to pull down the backup car after a crash Friday night in Jacksonville, Illinois. This week, the plan has three shows with the World of Outlaws weather pending. Tonight, the series visits I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Arkansas before moving on to the Salina (Oklahoma) Highbanks Friday and I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri on Saturday.
Last Friday, Bryan picked up the POWRi midget victory at Jacksonville Speedway, but he also had a shot at winning the MOWA sprint feature as well. “We started fourth in the feature, and we were able to get up into the lead,” he says. “I kind of drove off and got into traffic. They were three-wide in front of me. One of the lappers got into the fence. We knocked the front end out of the car and flipped. It was a bummer. I think we had a dominant car.”
The team went to work on Saturday to prepare for Knoxville. “We weren’t really that great early in the night,” says Bryan. “We had to work all morning to switch to the backup car. We were able to qualify seventh and run third in the heat, but we were a little off.”
The car was ready for the main event, however, and Bryan would start seventh, missing the invert by one spot. “By feature time, we were able to get where we needed to be,” he says. “The car was working well and we were able to move up to fourth. We were really maneuverable there. We were good in traffic and we were good in open air too.”
Twenty-six cars started the feature and that created a lot of traffic. “There were some sketchy times when we were all in a gaggle,” says Bryan. “I think we were good in traffic, but we were also good when we could just concentrate on getting by the car in front of us. With the traffic Saturday, there was quite a bit of speed differential at times. When you’re trying to use every part of the racetrack, it gets tight at times and you can’t always make the move you want to.”
Bryan and the team will be keeping an eye on Mother Nature this week. Though tonight looks good in Little Rock, the weekend is another story. “Unfortunately, the weather this weekend doesn’t look really good, so we’ll probably be waiting that out and seeing what happens,” he says.
Matt Wood Racing would like to thank: Elk Grove Ford, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Jonathan Byrd’s Hospitality and Restaurant Group, America’s Best Value Inn, Quick Lane and Impact Signs, Awnings & Wraps!
Photo: Bryan at Knoxville (Danny Howk Photo)
Bill W Media
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
Monroe, IA USA
Article Credit: Bill W
Submitted By: Bryan Clauson
