Oilpressure

It has now been a couple of days since it was announced that Bryan Clauson succumbed to the injuries he sustained in a crash last Saturday night. Since Doug Boles and Kevin Miller announced his passing early Monday morning, tributes and accolades have been pouring in from all corners of the racing world.

Some of the kind words refer to his outstanding abilities as a racer, and rightfully so. Those that have celebrated his racing prowess have used words and phrases like old school, throwback, would and could drive anything and so forth. That’s because Clauson was like some of the drivers I idolized growing up in the sixties. Drivers like AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Parnelli Jones and others in that day could drive and win in just about any type of car out there.

In this age of specialization and strict contract limitations, most of today’s drivers pick a certain discipline of racing and stick with it for their entire career – but not Bryan Clauson. As Tony Stewart, one of the few of today’s racers that will regularly jump from one type of car to another, is about to retire from his NASCAR Sprint Cup duties; Bryan Clauson was seen as a younger version of Stewart.

Since 2007, Clauson had driven in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Indy Lights and of course, he was a three-time starter in the Indianapolis 500 – having his best finish less than three months ago by finishing twenty-third driving for Dale Coyne, when he also led three laps. Bryan Clauson has the distinction of being the only driver in history to lead laps in the Indianapolis 500 and then win a Sprint Car race that same night.

It was in USAC Midgets and Sprints where Clauson made his mark. He won the Midget championship in 2010 and 2011; and the Sprint Car championship in 2012 and 2013.

Normally, Clauson ran about 150 racing events per year – adding to his reputation as an old-school throwback. This season, Clauson was attempting to run in 200 races in what became known as “The Chasing 200 Tour, Circular Insanity”. His 2016 season included USAC Midgets and Sprints, World of Outlaws sprint cars and wingless sprint cars; as well as the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500.

This past weekend, Clauson was driving in the Belleville Nationals in Belleville, Kansas on a one-half mile dirt track. It was the 116th race this season in Clauson’s bid for two-hundred. He picked up his twenty-seventh win last Wednesday night at Beloit, Kansas and seemed to be on track for his quest for two-hundred before tragedy struck Saturday night.

But the most poignant tributes for Bryan Clauson over the last couple of days had nothing to do with his on-track skills, his racing statistics or his multiple championships. They focused on Bryan Clauson – the man and the kind of person he was.

I will not claim that I knew Bryan Clauson. I never met him. But I know several people that knew him and loved him – not for what he did on the track, but how he lived his life away from the track. There are those that say Clauson was happiest when he was behind the wheel of a race car. That may be true, but the lives he touched were those that he knew out of the car.

He was not merely liked by his fans and fellow competitors – he was adored by them. There have been countless stories of Bryan Clauson going out of his way to sign an autograph for a wide-eyed kid. He was a great ambassador for the sport of racing – not just USAC, but all of motor racing as a whole. He was passionate about the sport beyond belief and was extremely competitive, but those closest to him say that he never lost his smile – even in his worst days at the track.

The twenty-seven year old resident of Noblesville, Indiana had a strong following and was close friends with racers across the spectrum of motorsports. He was highly respected for his driving abilities, as well as his character.

My heart goes out to his parents Tim and Di, and his sister Taylor. Bryan Clauson was less than three months older than my own son and I cannot imagine what they must be going through right now. Even more heartbreaking is the fact that Bryan Clauson was engaged to be married to his fiancée Lauren Stewart. They were scheduled to be married next February. They are all left to pick up the pieces after having a life snuffed out in the blink of an eye – way too early.

In less than five years, we’ve witnessed three popular drivers taken from us before our very eyes – Dan Wheldon, Justin Wilson and now Bryan Clauson. They say that it’s a part of racing, and it’s true to some extent. I’ve followed this sport for a lot of years. When I was young, I saw seasons where the sport would lose six or seven drivers every year. Now that things are much safer, it is far less common to lose a driver. But whether we lose six or seven a year or one every five years – it never gets any easier. Young or old, superstar or obscure driver – every racing fatality is tough to take.

This sport is not for everyone, whether you are a fan or a participant. It is weeks like this week that makes you question why you still follow a sport that continues to shorten the lives of so many fine men and women. There is no question that racing can be a cruel sport. It can deliver the highest of highs, but also the lowest of lows. But we fans know this and all of the participants know it. For the drivers, the reward is worth the risk. For the fans, we must learn to appreciate every moment we have watching these drivers and getting to know them from afar. Most of them are extraordinary people. That’s what makes it so hard to lose them.

But the sport will continue and most of us will continue to follow it. It’s what we do.

May God provide comfort to the friends and family of Bryan Clauson in the coming weeks, months and years. Their lives have been shattered. After we have mourned, we will not forget Bryan Clauson, but we will move on with our lives. Theirs will never be the same.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 10, 2016 at 4:04 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.