Bryan Clauson
Daytona International Speedway Advance Notes
Race: Daytona 500 on Sunday, February 17
Track: Daytona International Speedway (2.5-mile superspeedway)
Location: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Bryan Clauson and No. 41 Texaco/Havoline Team (NNS)
NOTES
Sixth Start on Saturday for Clauson: When Clauson takes the green flag Saturday, Feb. 16 in the Camping World 300, it will mark the 18-year-old rookie’s sixth start in Nationwide Series competition. Clauson made his NASCAR debut late last year at Richmond International Raceway (RIR), where he raced as high as 21st before a left-front tire rub relegated him into a four-lap deficit to finish the night in 36th place. He went on to make four additional starts in NNS competition, grabbing a career-best finish of 18th place in a collision-filled NNS race at Memphis in late October and a career-best start of 10th at Texas Motor Speedway in early November.
Clauson’s Last Superspeedway Run: The last time 18-year-old Clauson climbed behind the wheel of a stock car to take to a superspeedway was in the ARCA RE/MAX 250 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway this past October. It was his sixth ARCA start and resulted in a career pole position, which he earned after lapping the 2.66-mile superspeedway at 184.84 mph in 51.807 seconds. He went on to finish the race 11th. That run marked his first superspeedway race but final ARCA competition of 2007. In just six career ARCA starts he earned one win (at Gateway International Raceway in August), one pole and four top-five finishes, always finishing inside the top 15 during each effort.
Clauson Still No. 1: Clauson is still ranked number one on the David Smith Motorsports top 75 list of young aspiring NASCAR Sprint Cup stars. Clauson has been number one on that list since mid 2006. According to Smith, president and head talent scout for DSM…“It doesn’t take a scout to see that Bryan has talent,” Smith said. “He’s winning races at the national USAC level and at a young age, like Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne did. He’s beating legendary drivers.” Clauson’s success in his short stock car career has also caught Smith’s eye. “Bryan has a lot of untapped potential and that’s something that can be very special. He’s making the most of his opportunities and he has lived up to every expectation put before him.”
Racing Close to Home: Three members of the No. 41 Texaco/Havoline NNS team will be racing close to home this weekend in the Sunshine State. Crew chief Brian Pattie hails from Zephyrhills, Fla., along with the team’s shock specialist and front tire carrier, Adam Cooke. The two grew up together in the Florida town. Bruce Jones, a team mechanic, is also from Florida. He calls Lakeland his hometown and still has many family and friends who reside in the area.
QUOTES
Bryan Clauson: “We had a really good test in January. I had never even seen Daytona until we came here to test so all of this has really been a whole new experience for me. When I think about this track I always think about Dale Earnhardt winning in 2001, which I think I was only eight-years old then. I can remember watching that with my dad and thinking how cool it was when he won especially how the entire sport seemed to come together to congratulate him.
“Looking ahead to what is to come for me this year, there are a lot of uncertainties right now because of sponsorship. I know Chip, Felix and everyone are working to make sure I am on the track but it is hard coming into this deal not having a lot of stock car experience and then throwing on top of that not running every week. It’s tough. They are piecing things together and I am confident they will do the best they can and make the right decisions as we move forward. It’s about continuing that learning process we started last year that went pretty well between the ARCA and Nationwide races. We have a good start lined up right now. Definitely not being in the car adds a few more hurdles to overcome but all you can do when you aren’t out there on the track is go, watch and listen to learn as much as you can to keep the momentum you’ve started going.
“I’m also very fortunate to have guys like Brian Pattie and Brad Parrott to guide me, as well as Dario, Juan and Reed. Reed has been especially helpful here lately. He stuck around at the Las Vegas test and got in the car, told me what he felt so we could compare notes. I really appreciated that and it really did help a lot.”
CHASSIS INFO
No. 41 Texaco/Havoline Dodge (NNS): The No. 41 Texaco/Havoline Dodge—chassis #551—made three starts in 2007, including two runs at Daytona International Speedway and one at Talladega Superspeedway. Sorenson raced the same car in the 2006 Daytona Nationwide race during which he and the No. 41 CGRFS team took two early-race setbacks and turned them into a second-half comeback. The team maintained a top-10 run the remainder of the race and survived a last-lap colossal collision to grab a ninth-place finish (started 13th).
