SPRINT CAR STAR BRYAN CLAUSON DIES AT 27

RELATED: NASCAR Nation offers condolences to Clauson family

Bryan Clauson, a sprint-car specialist who made 26 career starts in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, died Sunday. He was 27 years old.

Clauson crashed Saturday night during a U.S. Auto Club (USAC) midget car race at the Belleville High Banks, a half-mile dirt track in Belleville, Kansas. Amateur video showed his open-wheel sprint car flipping in Turn 4, where it was struck by another vehicle.

Clauson was airlifted to a hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he was pronounced dead late Sunday. His death was confirmed on Monday morning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where a statement from the family was read.

"NASCAR extends its sincere condolences to the family and friends of Bryan Clauson, a passionate competitor whose love for racing fueled his unmatched positive spirit," NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer Steve O'Donnell said in a statement. "He was a dear friend to many in the racing community, and he was loved and respected by all who knew him. He touched the lives of so many in our motorsports family, and his warm presence and relentless enthusiasm will be missed."

Three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Tony Stewart was a longtime team owner for Clauson's sprint-car efforts. He extended his condolences and thoughts to Clauson's family after finishing fifth in Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International.

"Yeah, terrible thoughts. It's a tragedy," Stewart said. "That kid drove for us for a long time and did a great job and never went anywhere, I don't care what happened, no matter how bad his day was, he always found a way to smile with it. Him and Lauren being engaged, the kid had such a bright future, and it's just ... it was hard to start the day today in the car. It sucks when it's anybody in racing. It's hard when you lose them, but it's even worse when they’re somebody as close to you as Bryan was."

Clauson made the majority of his XFINITY Series starts for team owner Chip Ganassi in 2008. He had one pole position (Daytona in July 2008) and one top-five finish (fifth place, Kentucky in June 2008) in his NASCAR career.

Clauson had set a preseason goal of competing in 200 open-wheel races this year. That ambitious schedule included a start in the 100th Indianapolis 500, where he placed 23rd in his third effort at the famed Brickyard. According to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Clauson had accumulated 27 wins in 116 races this season.

Clauson, a native of California and a resident of Noblesville, Indiana, was a seven-time champion across three divisions of USAC racing. He also was champion of the prestigious Chili Bowl Nationals in 2014 and scored a win in the ARCA stock-car series in 2007 at Gateway Motorsports Park.

"Short-track racing has always been the heart and soul of auto racing in America," Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles said in a release. "Bryan Clauson combined his passion and enthusiasm for grassroots racing with a God-given talent that made him the favorite to win every time he got in a midget or sprint car. 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.

"More importantly, he possessed a humility and character out of the race car that made him a person that fellow competitors and fans alike enjoyed being around. His spirit, his positive outlook and his thrilling talent will be missed by the entire racing community. The thoughts and prayers of everyone at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are with the Clauson family in this difficult time."

USAC President Kevin Miller added that, "This is truly one of the darkest days in the history of the U.S. Auto Club."

Donations in memory of Clauson can be made through the USAC Benevolent Foundation at USACBF.org.

RACE START TIMES FOR 2017 SCHEDULE UNVEILED

NASCAR has released the starting times for 2017 races in all three national series.

Among the biggest changes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the first night race for next year will be May 13 at Kansas Speedway. The spring race at Texas Motor Speedway -- typically run under the lights -- moves to an afternoon green flag (1:30 p.m. ET).

Eight races from the first half of the season will move their afternoon starting times from 1 p.m. ET to 2 p.m. ET or later, including the season-opening Daytona 500 with a 2 p.m. ET start on Feb. 26, 2017.

The four races at Pocono Raceway and Michigan International Speedway move from 1 p.m. ET starts to 3 p.m. ET green flags.

The later starting time is also the case for most of the second half of the season. The green flag will drop at 3 p.m. ET next year at Watkins Glen International and the Chase opener at Chicagoland. The rest of the Chase looks more similar to 2015 with 2 p.m. ET starts at New Hampshire, Dover and Talladega, and a slightly later 3 p.m. start at Kansas Speedway.

The season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway will again begin at 2:30 p.m.

As for the XFINITY Series, there will be seven night races including a three-race swing from Iowa Speedway (June 24) to Daytona (June 30) and Kentucky (July 7).

Its two stand-alone road course races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Road America in Wisconsin will start at 3:30 p.m. ET and 3 p.m. ET, respectively.

Both its season-opening race at Daytona and finale at Homestead will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will have a decidedly night-time look with 14 of its 23 races held under the lights.

The season opens with a 7:30 p.m. ET green flag at Daytona. There is an eight-race swing of starts at 5 p.m. ET or later between the May 12 race at Kansas (8:30 p.m.) and culminating with the hugely popular event at Eldora Speedway (9 p.m.) on July 19.

See the full schedules below.

Note: All times listed are ET. Subject to change.

2017 SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

DATE LOCATION NETWORK RACE START RADIO

2/18 The Unlimited at Daytona International Speedway FS1 8 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
2/19 Daytona 500 Qualifying at Daytona International Speedway FOX 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
2/23 Can-Am Duel at Daytona International Speedway FS1 7 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
2/26 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway FOX 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/5 Atlanta Motor Speedway FOX 2:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/12 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FOX 3:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/19 Phoenix International Raceway FOX 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/26 Auto Club Speedway FOX 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
4/2 Martinsville Speedway FS1 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
4/9 Texas Motor Speedway FOX 1:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/23 Bristol Motor Speedway FOX 2 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/30 Richmond International Raceway FOX 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/7 Talladega Superspeedway FOX 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/13 Kansas Speedway FS1 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/20 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway FS1 6 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/28 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway FOX 6 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
6/4 Dover International Speedway FS1 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/11 Pocono Raceway FS1 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/18 Michigan International Speedway FS1 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/25 Sonoma Raceway FS1 3 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/1 Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola at Daytona International Speedway NBC 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
7/8 Kentucky Speedway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/16 New Hampshire Motor Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/23 Indianapolis Motor Speedway NBC 3 p.m. IMS/Sirius XM
7/30 Pocono Raceway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/6 Watkins Glen International NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/13 Michigan International Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/19 Bristol Motor Speedway NBC 7:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
9/3 Darlington Raceway NBCSN 6 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/9 Richmond International Raceway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/17 Chicagoland Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/24 New Hampshire Motor Speedway NBCSN 2 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
10/1 Dover International Speedway NBCSN 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/7 Charlotte Motor Speedway NBCSN 7 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
10/15 Talladega Superspeedway NBC 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/22 Kansas Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/29 Martinsville Speedway NBCSN 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/5 Texas Motor Speedway NBC 2 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
11/12 Phoenix International Raceway NBC 2:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/19 Homestead-Miami Speedway NBC 2:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM

2017 NASCAR XFINITY SERIES SCHEDULE DATE LOCATION NETWORK RACE START RADIO

2/25 Daytona International Speedway FS1 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/4 Atlanta Motor Speedway FS1 1:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/11 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FS1 4 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
3/18 Phoenix International Raceway FOX 4 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/25 Auto Club Speedway FS1 4 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
4/8 Texas Motor Speedway FOX 1:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/22 Bristol Motor Speedway FS1 12:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
4/29 Richmond International Raceway FS1 12:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/6 Talladega Superspeedway FOX 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/27 Charlotte Motor Speedway FS1 1 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
6/3 Dover International Speedway FS1 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/10 Pocono Raceway FOX 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/17 Michigan International Speedway FS1 1:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/24 Iowa Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/30 Daytona International Speedway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
7/7 Kentucky Speedway NBCSN 8 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/15 New Hampshire Motor Speedway NBCSN 4 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
7/22 Indianapolis Motor Speedway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. IMS/Sirius XM
7/29 Iowa Speedway NBC 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/5 Watkins Glen International NBCSN 2 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/12 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/18 Bristol Motor Speedway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
8/27 Road America NBC 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/2 Darlington Raceway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/8 Richmond International Raceway NBCSN 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/16 Chicagoland Speedway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/23 Kentucky Speedway NBCSN 8 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
9/30 Dover International Speedway NBCSN 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/6 Charlotte Motor Speedway NBCSN 8 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
10/21 Kansas Speedway NBC 3 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/4 Texas Motor Speedway NBCSN 8:30 p.m. PRN/Sirius XM
11/11 Phoenix International Raceway NBC 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/18 Homestead-Miami Speedway NBCSN 3:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM

2017 CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES SCHEDULE

DATE LOCATION NETWORK RACE START RADIO

2/24 Daytona International Speedway FS1 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
3/4 Atlanta Motor Speedway FS1 4:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
4/1 Martinsville Speedway FS1 2:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/12 Kansas Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
5/19 Charlotte Motor Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/2 Dover International Speedway FS1 5:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/9 Texas Motor Speedway FS1 8 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/17 Gateway Motorsports Park FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
6/23 Iowa Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
7/6 Kentucky Speedway FS1 7:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
7/19 Eldora Speedway FS1 9 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
7/29 Pocono Raceway FS1 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/12 Michigan International Speedway FS1 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
8/16 Bristol Motor Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/3 Canadian Tire Motorsport Park FS1 2:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/15 Chicagoland Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/23 New Hampshire Motor Speedway FS1 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
9/30 Las Vegas Motor Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/14 Talladega Superspeedway FOX 1 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
10/28 Martinsville Speedway FS1 1:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/3 Texas Motor Speedway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/10 Phoenix International Raceway FS1 8:30 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM
11/17 Homestead-Miami Speedway FS1 8 p.m. MRN/Sirius XM

NASCAR'S EARLIEST DAYS FOREVER CONNECTED TO BOOTLEGGING

NASCAR'S EARLIEST DAYS FOREVER CONNECTED TO BOOTLEGGING

The stories would be very nearly clichéd, if they weren't at the same time oh-so true.

If you're even remotely familiar with NASCAR lore, you know the tales. A bunch of dirt poor good ol' boys who lived anywhere from Virginia on down to Georgia had no other choice to survive than the illegal whiskey business. They souped up their cars to haul their bounty, and then ran from the law like their behinds were on fire.

"It gave me so much advantage over other people that had to train and learn how to drive."

JUNIOR JOHNSON

And because, well, heck, boys will be boys, they wound up racing each other on the local highways and byways. Then, somebody got the bright idea to cut a crude track out of some cow pasture somewhere, and the rest, as they say, is history. Junior Johnson was the most famous bootlegger to make a name for himself in NASCAR, of course, but he darn sure wasn't the only one.

No, back in those days, back before there even was a NASCAR, it would have been easier to name the racing folks who weren't involved in moonshining in some shape, form or fashion than those who were. Drivers, mechanics, track owners ... you name it, and they were into it.

Johnson was a member of the first class of inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and when it came time to set up a still for display, Junior showed up ready to work. He had, after all, quite a bit of experience in that particular area.

"It gave me so much advantage over other people that had to train and learn how to drive," Johnson once said of hauling liquor. "When I sat down in that seat the first race I ever ran, it was a backseat to what I'd already been through. I had did all them spinning deals sideways and stuff like that. It just made my job so much easier than anybody I had seen come along and go into it. Never, ever, did I see a guy who could take a car any deeper than I could and save it, as long as I raced."

Really, there's no way around it. NASCAR's roots are soaked to the very tips in moonshine, and in the last few years, the connection has been examined in at least two excellent books --Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR (Broadway 2007) by Neal Thompson, and Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France (The University of North Carolina Press 2010) by Daniel S. Pierce.

An associate professor and chair of the history department at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, Pierce was at best disinterested in the sport before his 1994 baptism at Bristol. It was then and only then that the academic started investigating the phenomenon that is NASCAR. He, too, discovered the myths and mysteries of the sport's moonshine-fueled birth and found them fascinating.

"I started doing research on NASCAR, and obviously one of the important questions I wanted to look at was the whole role of moonshine," Pierce said. "I pretty much assumed that what I was going to find was that it was something that had been mythologized and overblown, that there was Junior Johnson and a few other people that were involved in the early days.

"That was my expectation, but the deeper I looked into the whole thing and the more research I did, the more liquor I found. It was just so foundational. I knew it played a role, but the thing that surprised me was that it was so much a part of the foundation of the sport."

Pierce's list of pre and early NASCAR participants who'd been involved in bootlegging to at least some extent grew almost daily.

Pierce's list of pre and early NASCAR participants who'd been involved in bootlegging to at least some extent grew almost daily.

"The thing that started to hit me was that all the great drivers from the early days -- all of them -- were," Pierce said. "People look at Junior Johnson, and he's really kind of the end of the line. Going beyond that, I was looking at people who were early mechanics. Those guys weren't necessarily involved in bootlegging, but a lot of them made their living working on bootleggers' cars.

"Early car owners, Raymond Parks being the most famous of them, they were bootleggers. The thing that really surprised me was one of those things that was hiding in plain sight, that nobody talked about, was how many of the early promoters and track owners were people involved in bootlegging."

It's almost quaint these days to be associated with the sport's infamous past. There's even a reunion featuring retired moonshiners and the former federal agents who once chased them that's hosted every year by Terri Parsons, widow of the late, great Benny, at their winery in Wilkes County, N.C.

Parsons was never involved in the moonshine trade, but the same most definitely cannot be said of Wilkes County, Johnson's old stomping grounds.

Such backwoods shenanigans have become an accepted part of NASCAR's history, but that wasn't always the case. Far from it, actually. Less than a month after V-J Day ended World War II once and for all, organizers put together a big extravaganza race at the old Lakewood Speedway in Atlanta.

No less than five drivers entered who had liquor-law violations on their records, causing some locals to pounce on the "hoodlums" and insist that the event be canceled. The Atlanta Constitution ran editorials denouncing it, and Atlanta's mayor showed up on race day with law enforcement officials at his side.

The promoter relented, and initially banned three of the five -- two didn't bother showing up -- from racing that day. But when crowd of 30,000 was left in a near riot over the possibility of not getting to see the popular Roy Hall race, the promoter again reversed course and allowed everybody to take the green flag. Of course, Hall won the race and flamed the flames of controversy even more. Eventually, the ban did go into effect .

The fiasco, according to Pierce, helped open the door for a new up-and-coming promoter.

The new guy's name?

Bill France.

Big Bill.

Bill Sr.

And, eventually, NASCAR founder.

"This is actually how Bill France really got going as a promoter," Pierce concluded. "He'd been promoting in Daytona Beach, but there was really a void there because the best drivers in stock-car racing at the time couldn't race at Lakewood Speedway. Bill France knew all these guys. They trusted him. He was good friends with them, and so he was able to get these guys to come and then he started promoting races in the Carolinas and Virginia.

"That really gave Bill France a big boost, because he could deliver these bootlegger drivers. I think it's one of the most important stories in the history of NASCAR, because really, that makes possible what Bill France did. It created an opening for him.".