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Clauson, Jeffrey Help Set the Final Field for the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store

Bryan Clauson wins the non-qualifier and Lynton Jeffrey wins the SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge

KNOXVILLE, Iowa - Aug. 13, 2015 - Bryan Clauson and Lynton Jeffrey helped set the final field of the 55th Annual FVP Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey's General Stores on Friday night as they won their respective features in the non-qualifier and the SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge.

Clauson, who started the Knoxville Nationals non-qualifier feature in the third position, battled past Danny Dietrich early on to take over the second position and ran down Billy Alley a few laps later. Dietrich tried to run down Clauson in the closing laps but was not able to close the sizable lead Clauson had built.

"I told these guys after Wednesday night I thought we had the car to get it done," Clauson said in victory lane. "We honestly felt like if we were in the fourth or fifth row of the B we would think about coming back.

"Man, I just can't say enough for those guys. They've been busting their butts all year… We talked about getting a win here and how special it would be and how special to do it during the Knoxville Nationals."

With his win, Clauson will start 17th in the A main tomorrow night followed by Dietrich, Brent Marks and Alley.

Jeffrey was the beneficiary of being in the right place at the right time during the SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge which immediately followed the non-qualifier feature.

After starting on the front row, Jeffrey led early on in the 25-lap main event. Farther back, James McFadden was charging from eighth, picking up positions lap after lap. On lap four, the Australian driver threw a big slider on Kraig Kinser into turn three to take over the third spot.

As Jeffrey built a lead, McFadden continued his run forward battling with Randy Hannagan through the middle part of the feature. He finally got around for second after a caution on lap nine. He ran down Jeffrey a few laps later and got around him with another big slider in turns three and four.

The path looked paved for McFadden until his car went up in smoke with two laps to go. Jeffrey retook the lead and scored the SPEED SPORT Knoxville World Challenge victory which locked him into the A main tomorrow night.

"For this little team to get a win and put this in the A main of the Nationals! I knew when (McFadden) went by I never quit," said Jeffrey who dedicated the night's win to Kevin Swindell. "We came off of two over there, I didn't miss much, I was right past him. That's life. Sometimes things don't go your way in racing and tonight things went our way. I'm really grateful."

"We had a great car, a great team. We've had a little bit of bad luck this year in America. This team's worked hard all year and they deserve this."

Jeffrey will start 25th in Saturday night's final feature.

With the A main field mostly set and the remaining main events lined up, just four more drivers will have a chance to compete for the Knoxville Nationals title on Saturday night. To find out more information and to learn how to buy tickets, visit http://www.woosprint.com/knoxville-nationals.

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