Clauson is King of Springs
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (January 1, 2015) – Bryan Clauson brought in the New Year much like he finished off the old one; by standing in victory lane.
This time, the American star rallied from the 17th starting position to win Thursday night’s 40-lap “King of the Springs” POWRi International Midget event at Western Springs Speedway to make it three wins in a row.
“We had a little hiccup in that heat race, but I still knew we had the car to do it,” Clauson explained in victory lane.
Clauson took the lead away from fellow American shoe Darren Hagen after a lap 35 restart and paced the final handful of laps to post the win after Hagen had led the way the opening 35 rounds from the front row outside starting position.
“I probably ran a hundred different lines trying to work my way through traffic,” the Noblesville, IN, racer quipped.
While Clauson went to work from the ninth row, Hagen outgunned pole starter Nathan Smee at the outset and led the way as the initial 34 laps ran off in non-stop fashion.
The caution finally flew with a half dozen rounds remaining when Brad Mosen got over the turn one cushion and upside down while trying to chase down Hagen for the lead.
With Clauson up to fourth by that time behind Hagen, Rico Abreu and Michael Pickens, the reigning Chili Bowl champ moved into second on the 35th lap then took quick advantage of a Hagen bobble getting into turn one on the 36th circuit.
Hagen settled for runner-up honors, while Jerry Coons, Jr., survived a lap 37 scrape with Abreu to claim the show position from the 11th starting position. Pickens was fourth ahead of Shayne Alach with Abreu sixth at the stripe.
