Race 2 Win: Nationwide Series Race Notes

Nationwide Series

Stater Bros. 300 - Bryan Clauson Notes

Bryan Clauson
California Speedway Advance Notes

Race: Stater Bros. 300 on Saturday, February 23 (NNS)
Track: California Speedway (2 miles)
Location: Fontana, Calif.

Bryan Clauson and No. 41 Energizer® e2® Lithium Dodge Team (NNS)

NOTES

Clauson’s Debonair Daytona Debut: Bryan Clauson, 18-year-old driver of the No. 41 CGRFS Dodge, left his mark on Daytona International Speedway last weekend during the NNS season opener, scoring a career-best sixth-place finish in only his sixth-career NNS start. Clauson, who just saw DIS for the first time last month during the NNS test session, also scored a career-best start of seventh place and was named the Raybestos Rookie of the Race.

Energizer Joins Clauson in Cali: Race fans may think they are seeing double this weekend in Fontana at California Speedway as the No. 41 CGRFS NNS Dodge and No. 41 CGRFS NSCS Dodge will both be adorned with the silver and blues colors of Energizer® e2® Lithium, which is the world’s longest lasting battery in high tech devices.

California Kids: Although Clauson now calls Cornelius, N.C., home, he was actually born in Carmichael, Calif., and resided in the northern California town until he and family moved to Noblesville, Ind., when he was just 10-years old. Energizer®e2® Lithium team rear-tire changer Daryl Lockyer is a native of the Los Angeles, Calif. area. He has been a tire changer for 14 years and a member of the CGRFS team for four years. Before joining the NASCAR ranks, he grew up 30 minutes from California Speedway and built cars for fellow California native and racer Ron Hornaday Jr.

Not Every Driver Can Say: Clauson’s initial step into the NASCAR world may be a slightly different story than most drivers as he got his start via a hall pass in high school. It was in late 2006 when he asked his teacher for a hall pass so he could be excused from class to meet with a potential sponsor that was interested in supporting him in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Just a few months later, in January 2007, it was announced he would pilot the No. 41 Dodge for CGRFS in the last few NASCAR Nationwide Series races of the season.

QUOTES
Topic: Clauson, you are originally from California, born in Carmichael. What would you consider your strongest memories about your childhood growing up there? What is up with you growing up as a Jeff Gordon fan?
Bryan Clauson: “I think about racing, mainly watching dad [Tim Clauson]. Watching him race as a little kid was really fun and that is all we did until I was five or six. We went every Saturday night and then I started my racing career in quarter midgets when I was five, but before I got in the car we spent a lot of time out at Placerville Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway, supporting dad. Dad ran sprint cars out there. That is how I got the racing bug for sure. He was a really good local racer, and raced with some of the best of them. He raced and worked with Jeff Gordon when they were both a little younger than they are now [Clauson smirks]. I think Jeff was probably six or seven and dad was in his early teens probably. So, growing up and following NASCAR, we always followed Jeff’s career and have all always been big fans of his because of his and dad’s history and how they helped each other out earlier in their racing careers.”

CHASSIS INFO
No. 41 Energizer® e2® Lithium (NNS): Clauson and team are racing chassis #756 this weekend in California. Its most notable run in 2007 was at Kentucky Speedway in June when David Stremme and team raced their way from a 27th-place starting position to a fourth-place finish. This weekend will mark the car’s fifth career start.