American speedway star Bryan Clauson drove from the rear of the field to win his third consecutive international midget series event at WxC Speedway - Western Springs on New Year's Day, with tonight's World 50-lap Classic looming as an incredible target.
The 25-year-old was forced to come through the lastchance B-main race after striking trouble in the heats. He won that before storming through the entire field in the feature race, taking the lead on a caution restart with three laps to go and winning, ahead of Californian Darren Hagen and Kiwi Michael Pickens.
"I definitely needed that yellow flag, we weren't going to get to the leaders without that, but this cars been unbelievable ever since we took it out of the box on Boxing Night; it was an absolute joy to drive," said Clauson.
"We had a little hiccup in the heats, a little altercation, but I knew we had the car to do it in the feature as long as things went our way.
"These guys here at Western Springs have given us a fantastic racetrack two nights in a row now. I probably ran 100 different [racing] lines out there trying to find my way through traffic."
Clauson will now aim to complete an international midget series four-peat tonight in the biggest race in Southern Hemisphere speedway, a feat only ever achieved once before by now-NASCAR professional Kyle Larson two years ago.
"Every race you win makes the next one harder and of course we've got the big one in the 50-lapper next so it's going to be tough, but I can't wait," said Clauson.
Auckland's Daniel Eggleton won the first sprint car feature of 2015, while Ryan Baker and Stephen Wilson also picked up victories in their classes.
A stellar crowd is expected at WxC Speedway - Western Springs tonight to witness more than 40 drivers from America, Australia and New Zealand vie for the prestigious World 50-lap Classic title. Sprint cars, TQ's, F2 midgets and Kiwi Kidz will also be on show; gates open at 4pm with racing from 6:15pm.
