Bryan Clauson, who raced practically anything with four wheels but was most accomplished as a champion driver of light, powerful cars on treacherous dirt tracks, has died in Lincoln, Nebraska, after being severely injured in a crash. He was 27.
His death was confirmed by his agent, Jeff Dickerson.
The crash occurred shortly after Clauson took the lead during a race in Belleville, Kansas, on Saturday night. He was pushed into a fence as he lapped another car, and his car rolled several times before landing on its side. An oncoming car struck his cockpit at high speed.
Clauson had walked away from a crash at the Belleville track on Friday night.
He was trying to race in 200 events this season. Saturday's race was his 117th, according to the Bryan Clauson Racing website, and he had already amassed 27 victories, most recently last Wednesday.
Most drivers specialise in one style of car, but Clauson competed in IndyCar, NASCAR, sprint and midget races, among others, and he enjoyed his greatest successes in the last two.
Both midget and sprint cars are open-wheeled and have tremendous power-to-weight ratios that allow them to zip around short tracks, often made of dirt. Modern versions often appear to be little more than a motor and roll cage with wheels, though some sprint cars sport large wings to increase downforce.
Clauson was a four-time US Auto Club champion, twice in sprint and twice in midget, and his victory on Wednesday was his 112th career auto club win. The club's president, Kevin Miller, said in a statement that Clauson was "on pace to be USAC's all-time winningest driver".
He also raced in the Indianapolis 500 three times, most recently in May.
"Bryan Clauson combined his passion and enthusiasm for grass-roots racing with a God-given talent that made him the favourite to win every time he got in a midget or sprint car," Doug Boles, president of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said in a statement. "And he proved on the world's largest racing stage – by leading three laps in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 – that he could use that talent in just about anything with wheels."
But Clauson was not done when the chequered flag waved at Indianapolis in May. He competed in a sprint car race that night.
Bryan Timothy Clauson was born on June 15, 1989, in Carmichael, California, and grew up around the track. His father, Tim, was a sprint car racer.
Clauson lived in Noblesville, Indiana, but spent much of his time on the road in a mobile home.
He is survived by his father; his mother, Diana; his fiance, Lauren Stewart; and a sister, Taylor McLean.