Short-track superstar Bryan Clauson enters POWRi Midgets Battle at the Center
DU QUOIN, Ill. (Dec. 3, 2014)—Short-track superstar Bryan Clauson will race in the 5th annual Great Clips Battle at the Center presented by K & N Filters on Dec. 20, a POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series non-points event which features at all-star field on the Mini-Magic Mile at the Southern Illinois Center on the grounds of the Du Quoin State Fair.
“It’s a tough event to win, a race that is kind of young and is growing every year,” Clauson said. “Obviously, it is a tune-up for the Chili Bowl.”
The 25-year-old Clauson has two wins on the one-sixth mile Southern Illinois Center track, the Battle at the Center in 2011 and a regular season POWRi feature in 2012. He was running second and challenging eventual winner Tony Stewart for the lead with seven laps remaining at the 2012 Battle at the Center when contact from behind took him out of contention. He finished eighth.
Clauson of Noblesville, Ind., had five feature victories in POWRi Midgets this year and has 27, second on the all-time list to Brad Loyet’s 33, in 64 starts in his career. Clauson had 21 victories this year in POWRi and USAC National Midgets and Sprint Cars and has 66 USAC National wins in his career. He’s been USAC National Driver of the Year three times and twice champion of USAC’s National Midgets and Sprint Cars.
Clauson’s greatest triumph in midgets was the 2013 Chili Bowl, a prestigious five-day event that brings together short track drivers from all forms of dirt racing to the Tulsa, Okla., Expo Center. It had nearly 300 entries last year.
“It was a big win, maybe the biggest of my career,” Clauson said. “It’s something that people don’t realize how hard it is to win. I’m excited about going back in January (12-17) and trying to win it again.”
Clauson has vast experience on dirt. He also drove selected events in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series, the American Sprint Car Lucas Oil National Series and the Midwest Open Wheel Association’s Sprint Cars this year. Clauson also has experience in NASCAR’s XFINITY (formerly Nationwide) Series.
Clauson will be returning to the Indianapolis 500 in May driving for Jonathan Byrd’s Racing. He raced at Indianapolis in 2012, finishing 30th as a rookie.
General admission tickets are $20 and children ages 12-and-under are free. Tickets will be sold only on the day of the event. Spectator doors open at 3:00 p.m., hot laps begin at 5 with racing immediately following. The feature will be 40 laps.
