Nationwide driver Clauson qualifies for Chili main race

TULSA, Okla. -- It had been almost a year-and-a-half since Bryan Clauson climbed behind the wheel of a dirt midget. After all, he suffered a severe neck injury during a September 2006 wreck that sidelined him from racing for five months. A transition to stock-car racing in 2007 has warranted most of his racing-devoted time, but on Wednesday in the first qualifying night of the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, Clauson was a dirt midget-racer once more.

The 18 year-old Noblesville, Ind. native ripped off a picture perfect slide job on Davey Ray for the fourth and final transfer spot in the fourth and final corner of Wednesday's feature event. Piloting an entry for open-wheel stalwart Keith Kunz Motorsports, Clauson carved a place for himself in Saturday's Chili Bowl feature, his best showing in the event to-date.

Clauson enjoyed re-living the final pass on Ray, a winner in the Wednesday night feature in 2007.

"I caught him with about two to go and wanted to throw [the pass] then," said Clauson, whose day job consists of navigating a Nationwide Series car for Chip Ganassi Racing. "I knew I had to be patient for that pass to work. I had a perfect setup coming off of [Turn] 2 on the last lap and at that point it was all or nothing."

Clauson intends to make his entry in Saturday's feature, televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View, a good one. He's already scheming up a game plan.

"That race is 50 laps, there's lots of time, but a mistake early can cost you late," Clauson continued. "As long as I can get the car to maintain and put myself in position with 10 laps to go, I'm right there for the win."

California's Josh Ford took home the win followed by Wisconsin's Aaron Fiscus and Arizona's Jerry Coons Jr., the reigning USAC National Midget champion. All three will advance to Saturday's A-Main along with Clauson.

NASCAR was well represented in Wednesday's main event: Nationwide Series driver Bobby East captured a sixth-place feature finish, Richard Childress Racing driver (and 2006 Chili Bowl winner) Tim McCreadie finished ninth, 2007 USAC Sprint Car champion Levi Jones, driving a Tony Stewart-owned entry, finished 18th, and Michael Waltrip Racing's Josh Wise finished 19th.

World of Outlaws stars Danny Lasoski and Joey Saldana finished 14th and 22nd respectively. Saldana was behind the wheel of one of four Kasey Kahne Racing entries that are slated to compete this week.

The Chili Bowl semifinals will be streamed on NASCAR.COM at 10:30 p.m. ET on Friday, Jan. 11.

Chili Bowl on HBO

HBO Pay-Per-View presents the live, with no commercials, television broadcast of the 2008 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday (Jan. 12). The HBO Pay-Per-View telecast has a suggested retail price of $24.95, and will be available to all cable and satellite homes throughout the U.S. and Canada. Order directly from your digital cable or satellite TV system or contact your provider's customer service for details. A subscription to HBO is not required. Visit http://www.hbo.com/events/chili.