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October 18, 2006

Trackside: Serious injuries derail rise of young open-wheel racer

By Joe Buckles

TERRE HAUTE — When a young Brian Clauson emerged on the open-wheel racing scene, he quickly earned the reputation of being fast, fearless and first on race day.

Using a driving style that rapidly won over the fans, he often drew the ire of his fellow competitors and the eye of talent-seeking NASCAR car owners.

The 17-year-old appeared to have the proverbial tiger by the tail and a promising future ahead of him — until a scary USAC sprint-car crash at Wheatland, Mo., last month literally turned his life upside down.

Serious neck injuries suddenly put him on the sidelines and temporarily grounded a rocket ride to stardom. Many within the sport who had predicted stardom for Clauson were soon casting doubts regarding his future.

Such are the ways in racing, where anything but running up front and winning is totally unacceptable.

The personable driver visited the Terre Haute Action Track during the recent Fall Harvest Classic weekend and, in between spending time with his Kunz-Willoughby Team, spoke of his recovery and what the future holds for him.

Sporting a very restrictive-looking neck brace, Clauson was upbeat and eager to get back behind the wheel of a race car.

“I’m doing fine. I went to see the doctor last week. Everything seem to be healing OK. It’s just sitting and waiting. I get my neck brace off in two weeks. Then we’ll start rehab,” Clauson said moments following the Hulman Classic.

The frightening crash in Missouri, his second major accident of the year, remains vivid in the mind of the Noblesville driver.

“I’ve watched the tape a couple of times. I have a pretty good idea what happened. I was very fortunate everything safety-wise did its job. Without the Hans device, I’d probably be in a wheelchair today,” said Clauson.

“I got upside down at Eldora last year and hurt my lungs, but nothing like this. I blew out a couple ligaments in the neck this time around. I was a pretty lucky kid that it wasn’t worse.”

He quickly dispels talk that his days in open-wheel racing are over.

“Oh, no-no! We’re actually making plans for our first race back. It will probably be in a midget at the Chili Bowl over the winter,” Clauson mentioned without the slightest hint of hesitation.

“The dirt stuff will be very, very limited. I may do 3-5 sprints shows at the most — just to be able to go out and do some things on my own.”

As driver of the high-profile Ganassi Racing driver development program, Clauson was expected to jump into the stock cars in ’07. Although his injuries might alter that timetable, most of those plans remain intact.

“Next year, the plan is to do some ASA races at the beginning of the year. About four ARCA short-track races. Once I turn 18, we’re going to do five or six ARCA races on the big tracks, like Michigan and Kentucky. At the end of the year, tentatively seven NASCAR Busch races,” revealed Clauson.

“That was our schedule for ‘07 anyway. What the accident has done has kinda allowed me to come back and do a little more than we planned on doing. They are going to take me off the Salems, the Winchesters, the Terre Hautes and Eldoras, the big tracks because of the risk factor,” he said.

With Clauson on the sidelines, the Kunz team has gone with another touted youngster in 16-year-old Brady Bacon, also part of the Ganassi development program.

“It’s tough being out of the race car, especially anytime you’re a part of something we had going this year with Keith [Kunz],” Clauson said. “We were in tight point battles in both the sprints and midgets.

“To sit back and wonder what could have been if we had finished out the year, it’s really hard. They found a great guy in Brady [Bacon] to fill the slot for me. I look forward to working with him.”



Joe Buckles can be reached at jbuckles@verizon.net.

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Ethan Page is the race director for the Terre Haute Triathlon.

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Consultation: Rex manager Brian Dorsett talks with his pitcher and players during a time-out Sunday, July 15, at Sycamore Field. (Tribune-Star file/Bob Poynter)

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