9/15/2015
Cole Wood
MWR/Bryan Clauson – Another Busy Weekend!
MWR/Bryan Clauson – Another Busy Weekend!
(Bill W) September 15, 2015 – Bryan Clauson and the Matt Wood Racing/Elk Grove Ford #17w team just finished up a busy weekend on a trio of bullrings. It was capped by a fourth place finish in the last race ever at Huset’s Speedway (the track will change management in 2016 and be known as Badlands Motor Speedway). This weekend, the team is looking at weather with an eye towards possible runs in Iowa and Minnesota with the World of Outlaws, or the Fall Brawl at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska.
Things started last Friday night for the FVP National Sprint League with the Nebraska Cup at Eagle Raceway. Bryan timed in fourth quick. “We went out in the middle there, and I think the track did get better as qualifying went on, so it was a good effort,” he says. “Unfortunately, we had an issue with the master cylinder going into the heat and it locked our brakes up in all three corners.”
Not being able to start the heat, meant Bryan would start last and finish eleventh in the feature.
“It was one of those things,” he says. “We had the issue in the heat, and that put us starting on the tail. The track was pretty narrow and rough and we were happy to get out of there in one piece.”
Thirty-nine cars signed in for the Jerry Richert Memorial Saturday at Cedar Lake Speedway near New Richmond, Wisconsin. The event was sanctioned by the IRA and the NSL. “It was a cool place,” says Bryan. “It was pretty fast, and it was a lot of fun to run. Being eleventh quick…we needed to be a little better or a little worse. With the IRA format, you either want to be in the first row or the third row. We were in the middle.”
After finishing fourth in his heat, Bryan would start 15th in the main event and move up six spots to finish ninth. “We were really good come feature time,” he says. “We were able to take advantage getting by some guys early. We battled hard for the last couple. It felt like we moved forward and we were with the group that was sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth at the end.”
The last event at Huset’s Speedway saw Bryan time in sixth quick on Sunday. “We had a decent effort qualifying,” he says. “We went out early, and they had watered the track right before we went out. It got better as qualifying went on, but we were right there with fourth and fifth. Being a little better would have set us up for a better night.”
He would start fourth in the heat and finish third. “We had a decent start and got battling,” says Bryan. “We were able to get by Austin (McCarl) for third and battled with Ryan Bickett for second the rest of the race.”
The feature saw an invert of four, which put Bryan outside row three. “I really didn’t get the greatest start,” he says. “I actually fell back to ninth at one point. We were able to get going around the bottom and the car really came in. We had a yellow with three or four laps to go that we probably didn’t want. We had made some gains in traffic. We battled with Tim (Kaeding) and Dusty (Zomer) for second and third, and came up just a little short in fourth.”
Matt Wood Racing would like to thank: Elk Grove Ford, Quick Lane, Fuel Safe, Schoenfeld and Vortex Wings!
To follow the Matt Wood Racing’s progress online, visit www.ColeWoodRacing.com!
Follow Bryan Clauson online at www.BryanClauson.com!
Photo: Bryan races between Tasker Phillips (7TAZ) and Mike Reinke (02) at Cedar Lake (Rob Kocak Photo)
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Monroe, IA USA