Clauson & Roa are Western World Champions
TUCSON, Ariz. (November 21, 2015) – The 48th Western World Championships came down to a pair of epic USAC Sprint Car feature events with Bryan Clauson and Brody Roa taking title honors in Saturday night’s finale atop the 3/8-mile USA Raceway clay oval.
Clauson outlasted USAC National Sprint Car champion Robert Ballou to claim his fourth Western World title in the USAC vs. USAC/CRA finale while Roa held off the likes of Brady Bacon and C.J. Leary throughout the USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast 360-ci Sprint Car main event to add his name to the list of Western World champions.
Posting finishes of second in the USAC National feature and third in the 360-ci feature, Brady Bacon came away with the “Rocket” Jesse Hockett Award for best-combined finishes in the two main events as 11 drivers pulled double duty in the weekend that featured 69 competitors.
USAC National vs. USAC/CRA
The battle for the $7,500 winner’s share in the USAC National vs. USAC/CRA ranks came down to an epic duel between Bryan Clauson and Robert Ballou over the final half of Saturday night’s 30-lap finale atop the USA Raceway clay oval.
When the checkered flag flew, it was Clauson taking his second big win in as many Saturday nights aboard the Fisher-powered B&H Contractors/Dooling Machine No. 63 Spike as Ballou finished off his USAC National championship campaign with a runner-up finish.
“It was fun to race like that,” Clauson commented afterward. “When he got out front, I thought it would be tough to do anything.”
But with Ballou committed to the upper tier of the racetrack, Clauson made the bottom work to his advantage to take command for keeps on the 24th round though he had to fend off challenges from Ballou all the way to the stripe.
“We were battling for every inch, he biked once and let us get away some,” Clauson said. “I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes there at the end.”
After Dave Darland paced the early rounds, Thursday night winner Ballou rallied past for the lead on the ninth circuit with Clauson moving into second by the halfway point. Clauson closed in and the battle was on over the final dozen circuits.
Ballou settled for a close second with Brady Bacon rounding out the podium in third. Darland crossed the stripe fourth with Richard Vander Weerd rounding out the top five. C.J. Leary was sixth while Justin Grant charged through the field from 22nd to capture seventh. Tracy Hines, Jerry Coons, Jr., and Chris Windom completed the top ten.
After a pair of early interruptions including a red flag for a Danny Faria, Jr., flip in turn two after three laps, the final 27 rounds ran off in non-stop fashion.
USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast
Buena Park, California’s Brody Roa entered Saturday night’s USAC Southwest vs. USAC West Coast finale as the top point earner through two nights of Western World Championship preliminary competition at the USA Raceway.
And when his rivals handed him the front row outside starting position for the Dash in the “Revenge Draw”, the 24-year-old took full advantage of it by winning the Dash to earn the pole position for the main event and then leading all 30-laps of the $3,000-to-win main event.
It was anything but easy, though, as Roa had company throughout with Brady Bacon and C.J. Leary stalking him throughout and then Justin Grant joining in on the lead fray over the closing laps.
“I saw Brady’s nose under me a couple of times there, I knew I didn’t have any room for error,” Roa commented afterward.
While Roa gunned into the early lead from the pole, fellow front row starter Leary nipped at his heels in the early going until Bacon slid into second soon after the race’s only caution flew after nine laps for Chris Bonneau’s spin in turn two.
Working through traffic with a dozen laps to go, Bacon worked on Roa for the point only to have Leary briefly race back into second. Bacon rallied back into second in short order though as Bryan Clauson and Justin Grant caught up to the lead trio.
The battle for the top position narrowed down to Roa and Bacon over the final handful of laps, with Roa fending off all challenges to take the win aboard the BR Performance No. 91r.
Bacon settled for runner-up honors with Grant capturing the show position. Leary crossed the stripe fourth with USAC Southwest champion R.J. Johnson rounding out the top five. Clauson was sixth ahead of Friday night winner Josh Hodges, with Stevie Sussex rallying from 17th to claim eighth. Chris Windom and USAC West Coast champ Danny Faria, Jr., completed the top ten.
48th Western World Championships Saturday Night Results – USA Raceway:
USAC National and USAC/CRA Sprint Cars:
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Richard Vander Weerd (#10 Vander Weerd), 2. C.J. Leary (#30 Leary), 3. Mike Spencer (#50 Chaffin), 4. Jon Stanbrough (#81 Stanbrough), 5. Justin Grant (#5 Baldwin), 6. Chad Boespflug (#04G Cook), 7. Austin Williams (#2 Jory), 8. Nick Parker (#94 Morales). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Chase Stockon (#32 32/TBI), 2. R.J. Johnson (#51 Martin), 3. Ryan Bernal (#56 Phulps), 4. Danny Faria Jr. (#17V Bowman), 5. Jake Swanson (#92 Sertich), 6. Brady Short (#19 Underwood), 7. Logan Williams (#5X Jory), 8. Robert Bell (#71 Bell). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jerry Coons Jr. (#20N Nolen), 2. Chris Windom (#21X Pollock), 3. Thomas Meseraull (#66 Amati), 4. Matt Rossi (#02 Rossi), 5. Brody Roa (#48 Leonard), 6. Cody Williams (#44 Jory), 7. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 8. Colby Copeland (#74 Williams). NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Tracy Hines (#4X Hines), 2. Dave Darland (#71P Phillips/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Robert Ballou (#1 Ballou), 4. Aaron Farney (#15F Farney), 5. Brady Bacon (#69 Dynamics), 6. Bryan Clauson (#63 Dooling/Hayward), 7. Kevin Thomas Jr. (#17RW Dutcher), 8. Damion Gardner (#4 Alexander). NT
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Stanbrough, 2. Short, 3. Faria, 4. Roa, 5. Grant, 6. Swanson, 7. Boespflug, 8. Rossi, 9. A.Williams, 10. Copeland, 11. L.Williams, 12. Bell, 13. C.Williams, 14. Martin. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Bryan Clauson, 2. Robert Ballou, 3. Brady Bacon, 4. Dave Darland, 5. Richard Vander Weerd, 6. C.J. Leary, 7. Justin Grant, 8. Tracy Hines, 9. Jerry Coons Jr., 10. Chris Windom, 11. Ryan Bernal, 12. Damion Gardner, 13. R.J. Johnson, 14. Brody Roa, 15. Chase Stockon, 16. Brady Short, 17. Kevin Thomas Jr., 18. Jon Stanbrough, 19. Aaron Farney, 20. Mike Spencer, 21. Austin Williams, 22. Jake Swanson, 23. Thomas Meseraull, 24. Danny Faria Jr. NT
**Parker flipped during the first heat. C.Williams flipped during the semi. Faria flipped during the feature.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Hines, Laps 2-8 Darland, Laps 9-18 Ballou, Laps 19-20 Clauson, Laps 21-23 Ballou, Laps 24-30 Clauson
USAC Southwest vs. West Coast 360 Sprint Cars:
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Andy Reinbold (#19 Underwood), 2. Nick Aiuto (#27 Aiuto), 3. Matt Rossi (#02 Rossi), 4. Dennis Gile (#13 Gile), 5. Terry Schank Jr. (#1 Gleeson), 6. Tristan Guardino (#80 Watt), 7. Jordan Stetson (#8AZ Stetson), 8. Jeff Sibley (#42N Sibley). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Chris Windom (#22B Weber), 2. Gary Taylor (Burkhart/White), 3. Danny Faria Jr. (#17V Bowman), 4. Ronnie Clark (#6 Clark), 5. Brian Hosford (#32B Weber), 6. Jace Vander Weerd (#88 Vander Weerd), 7. Kyle Smith (#55 Smith). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Trey Marcham (#73 Ford), 2. Chris Bonneau (#78 Bonneau), 3. Stevie Sussex (#21AZ Burkhart), 4. Rick Ziehl (#20Z Ziehl), 5. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 6. Tye Mihocko (#5X Mihocko), 7. Larry Gibson (#2X Gibson). NT
DASH: (6 laps) 1. Brody Roa (#91R BR), 2. C.J. Leary (#30 Leary), 3. Brady Bacon (#73X Ford), 4. R.J. Johnson (#77M Michael), 5. Bryan Clauson (#16B Martin), 6. Charles Davis Jr. (#50 Massey), 7. Justin Grant (#5 Baldwin), 8. Josh Hodges (#74X Hodges). NT
ALSO AT TRACK: Ryan Bernal (#56 Phulps)
SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Clark, 2. Ziehl, 3. Schank, 4. Martin, 5. Vander Weerd, 6. Hosford, 7. Mihocko, 8. Guardino, 9. Smith, 10. Gile, 11. Sibley, 12. Gibson, 13. Stetson. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brody Roa, 2. Brady Bacon, 3. Justin Grant, 4. C.J. Leary, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Bryan Clauson, 7. Josh Hodges, 8. Stevie Sussex, 9. Chris Windom, 10. Danny Faria Jr., 11. Nick Aiuto, 12. Charles Davis Jr., 13. Trey Marcham, 14. Matt Rossi, 15. Jace Vander Weerd, 16. Mike Martin, 17. Ronnie Clark, 18. Chris Bonneau, 19. Andy Reinbold, 20. Rick Ziehl, 21. Gary Taylor, 22. Terry Schank Jr. NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-30 Roa
Sources: Lonnie Wheatley/USA Raceway PR