Clauson takes out King of the Springs

Clauson takes out King of the Springs

American Bryan Clauson has taken out the second round of the Crowne Plaza International Midget series, the 40-lap King of the Springs, after a gruelling battle with Kiwi Michael Pickens at Western Springs Speedway last night.

Clauson, 22, started the feature race on the outside of the front row but knew that to give himself the best chance, he had to get to turn one first on a circuit that proved difficult to overtake on. He did so, beating fellow young American Kyle Larson, who qualified on pole position, to turn one. Current New Zealand champion Pickens also got past Larson and he and Clauson entered into a battle that would go the duration of the race.

Larson spun on lap three, sending him to the rear of the field and promoting Australian Nathan Smee, to the final podium spot, although Smee was unable to match the pace of the leading duo. Larson eventually recovered from the back of the 20-car field up to sixth position.

So when the chequered flag flew, Clauson took the win ahead of Pickens with Smee rounding out a second consecutive podium represented by three nationalities. Kiwi’s Brad Mosen and Scott Buckley were fourth and fifth respectively ahead of Larson.

However the equally big news was who wasn’t in the feature when defending International Series champion Jerry Coons Jr. suffered mechanical problems all night and did not qualify for the main feature race.

The TQ Midget racing was, as always, incredibly close fought but in the end it was Jared Taylor who took his second feature win of the season after a torrid run of luck. He did well to fight off a late race charge from Shane Phillips, who perhaps may have got by on a different track surface. Steve Smith continued his consistent run with a third place.

Sprint car racing was the domain of Jonathan Allard, who adapted well to the tricky conditions and claimed a dominant victory. Behind him was where all the action was, with Ricky Logan holding down what seemed to be a rather comfortable second place, only to make a mistake that allowed Australian Peter Murphy through, then Logan was pipped in a drag race to the line by Ryan O’Connor for the final spot on the podium.

40-lap King of the Springs results

1. Bryan Clauson USA
2. Michael Pickens NZ
3. Nathan Smee AUS
Sprint Car feature results
1. Jonathan Allard USA
2. Peter Murphy AUS
3. Ryan O’Connor NZ
TQ results
1. Jared Taylor NZ
2. Shane Phillips NZ
3. Steve Smith NZ

ends

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