Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

wonder whats up....who'll be tabbed for that #20 TSR Sprint Car Seat???....http://sprintcarmania.com/
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Brucer':32:

Don't think there is going to be a seat???

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

The rumor is stewart is pulling out of usac...

Not good for non wingers in my opinion.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

This is one that I did not see coming.

Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

Thank's Fred.. from way up North!!.....
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Brucer':32:

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

If it was true or not, I have no idea, But I heard a few years back that TSR was only going to stay in USAC as long as the Trophy remained with them.

Id love to see someone like Stockon or another up and comer get the ride and TSR continue. I have no idea what will happen.

As for BC. I wish him well in his endevors. I kinda had a feeling he would stick it out there and try other venues. Wish he'd at least try again for the Silver crown title as well. No matter what, They aren't going to find a more determined, focused and talented shoe. Hope to see the #7 at at least several races :)

Heard through the grapevine that clauson was running wings this season. Can't blame him if it's true look at the money. Also heard a few others that ran usac last year was considering a move to a different series. Guess we will see but sounds like usac might Just struggle this year outside of indiana

Honestly I thought after Knoxville they were grooming BC for the open seat kinser was supposed to be departing... Looks like that is not happening... Good luck Clauson

No more USAC for TSR

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

There is not a empty Kinser seat. Schatz and Kinsers cars are not even housed in the same shop. Steve owns all the cars and motors. Its "Tony Stewart Racing" by name only.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

You forgot one part, it's Tony Stewart money. As for the surprise to many, it wasn't for me. Bigger question is will TSR run USAC?

One other is steve kinser didn't completely retire. Just not running the complete woo schedule. He is already schedule to be at the winter heat

Bryan wants to make a good living and if he can secure a WoO ride for 2015; he will do just that! I wish him the best!

Hopefully tsr will continue to support the non wing racing fans and teams. If that is not the intended results thanks tony for all the great things that you do for us racing families and wish all your teams the best for 2015.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

If the rumors/pit chatter are true that also means Silver Crown is losing a solid mainstay team as well as the sprint series. A bummer of a situation for all involved if TSR really does pull out.

As for Bryan I wish him all the luck. I just hope I can continue to watch him here in Indiana on dirt, never been a huge fan but he's a wheelman any way you spin it.

Any chance this has a little to do w/ the J.Byrd Indy deal he has starting this year?

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

It may, also, he missed races last time he was preparing for the 500 but I still have a feeling this is part of a bigger picture both for Bryan and TSR.

Bryan did miss a few races in 2012 when he ran Indy and still won the USAC championship!

Who could blame TSR for shutting down a money pit? The team cannot support itself like the Outlaw teams do. Wing racing is where the money is at, even on a weekly level. Don't be surprised to see even more Indiana local and USAC teams bolt the wing on and head to Illinois and Ohio.

Good luck to Bryan at Indy, and hope to see him run some more wing races in 2015.

Seems pretty simple to me. One of USAC's last big money supporters doesn't see the value in supporting it anymore.

Could it be TSR just doesn't want to deal with USAC anymore?
What has happened to the midget series since TSR pulled out?
What has happened is POWRI has taken over

I've had a conversation with a member of the Byrd family over dinner several months back and they're huge supporters of whatever he wants to do. Especially midgets.

They had some sponsorship on the #71 Indy Race Parts WoO car, the #63 Rusty Kuntz midget, and the #7 non wing car he ran.

Per IBRacin.com, TSR is shutting down the non-wing program in its entirety. I know there are going to be some who'll say "it's just one team" but a loss is still a loss. Say what you will, but the fact is that Tony owning the team got non-wing racing mentioned in media outlets that ordinarily would never do so. Sure, USAC sprint and Silver Crown. Racing will survive this, but it is another setback.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

In the inner circles of the pit area this departure has been known for a while now. It's no secret that some teams are not pleased with USAC. Unfortunately, a BIG player in USAC is puling out all together and that alone has to tell everyone something isn't right. USAC is losing one of its major teams and quit possibly one of it's most recognizable drivers. I'm not going to speculate why it happened, but it does not make USAC look very good right now. Just Saying. I hope someone downtown is paying attention, but I doubt it..:15:

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

Reading the IBracn site does make it sound like the entire USAC program is being shut down. One of the big debates/mysteries was how much money does Tony and Kasey get for their personal service contracts with the sponsors. Did Chevy ever actually have a line item on a budget that said "USAC sponsorship" or did they have a personal service contract with Tony and he funneled that money to the USAC team?

While it has been mentioned above by others, the way I read it is that the silver crown operation is done as well.

I think that this is just part of the 800 pound gorrilla that is surrounding Tony Stewart right now. If you/your business manager was worried about a civil suit by the Ward family, or at least defending a Civil suit by the Ward family, you would want to be as careful with your money as possible.

Finally, on the Winged side, for many years Steve ran his own program out of his own shop and was independent of the TSR main shop. However, it has been reported that this year that since he is not running the full WOO tour that the car will be ran out of the main TSR shop.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

Don't look for this to be the only team and/or driver "doing other things" next year (be that running no USAC or part-time). I don't know what the solution is for USAC in general, but not addressing issues (whatever they are) isn't going to help the future. Obviously there are issues going on right now.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

Didn't surprise me that Clauson departed TSR. Agree that I thought he would be in the #11 in 2015 but the Buffalo Wild Wings #82 is a good car and I can see Clauson wheeling that one in the upcoming year. Should be interesting to see if Tony's USAC team continues this year. Sure hope so. Would love to see Stockon or Leary behind the wheel. We will see!

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

The 82 BWW car has a hired gun in Dusty Zomer and committed to the NSL. As always subject to change given the team. If Clausen were to drive for them it would be a second car as that was the case for most of last year.

Steve will be running a program based from TSR. The cars will be J/J and Kistler under the hood. It appears to me that the equipment is most likely Tony's stuff and just relettered with 11 from 14. I beleive Steve will not own cars going foward and not sure about the future of Kraig's team.

There was an ad a few weeks ago about Steve selling eveything from hauler to tires and said call the shop.
http://www.hoseheadforums.com/forum....2#thread454366

Has anyone said there is a problem with USAC's Sprint Cars? From what I hear, more teams are joining the fray, not less. If there are issues, what are they?

It sounds like TSR lost a sponsor at the WoO level and needed to pull Chevy up to support Schatz. Clauson was looking to do something different anyway. This all seemed pretty obvious.

And I'd bet Clauson still finds a way to run a lot of USAC races, along with whatever else his little heart desires that day. More power to him.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

Kind of unrelated...but you know what I think is awesome?

In the many years since I first heard of Bryan Clauson I have never ever not once seen or heard one bad comment about him.

I saw him win an open class micro race in a stock class legal car at Pittsfield, IL just minutes after he almost won the feature in the stock class....he was probably a 12-13 year old kid that day racing against a field full of adults who were some of the fastest in a micro in the Midwest at the time. Watching him work traffic that night made me think he was something special. Talking to him and Tim in the pits that night confirmed it.

I was at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, MO the night he went cage first into the catchfence and had his neck injury at a USAC sprint show. He was in Keith Kunz cars that season. Before the races started I told Keith that he had a heckuva shoe in that car. Keith said "I have a bunch of good shoes in my cars, but yeah this kid is something special." The fact that he not only came back from that injury, but came back possibly faster than he was before it speaks volumes about the talent and desire he has.

Tell me how many racers out there have been as successful as BC without ruffling lots of feathers of other drivers and fans. Tell me how many youngsters have come on the scene at that level without having hordes of people screaming about daddys money being the reason he is successful. I can't think of very many that fit either case, and until Larson and Bell popped up I darn sure can't think of anybody who fit both.

The fact that BC has done as much as he has and we still never see any keyboard commandos talking smack about him is something rare.

Hey Tim....you've done a great job raising that boy.

I hope BC has a Indy car ride. Would love to see him on pavement!

Donny's car is in the same shop with all usac and Tony's cars. Steve is the only one not in the Brownsburg shop.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

It is interesting to see all of this go down. Just in the last week I have seen pictures from Tony Stewart's twitter account of him at the TSR Christmas party. In fact, in one of them BC was standing right behind him. This may have all gone down in the last week, possibly. The accident with Kevin Ward this summer has calmed down a lot, as time has passed. I'm happy for Tony, in that sense. He seems to be getting back to his old self. I'm sure any kind of civil suit will be done quietly without anyone really knowing. I can only hope that is not affecting is open wheel operations, but who knows!

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

According to interviews with Steve Kinser all his TSR equipment has been moved to the TSR shop and in 2015 the TSR shop will prepare and maintain the #11 winged car. I don't work there but just what I have heard.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

I would think (and hope) that if Tony had a big enough beef with USAC to make him just drop out of the series, that he would have said something to them. Then, if they were not responsive to him, he would have been a little more vocal about why he would leave USAC instead of just leaving without a word to anyone.

Re: Clauson Departs TSR!!!!!....WOW..
 

Meat: You actually think an Outlaw team can support itself. It takes at least a million dollars to fund a good outlaw team. That would mean they would have to win 100 races to break even. They can not do it without sponsors. Why do you think Kinser stop running his own team. They are all money pits without sponsors.

But from a marketing standpoint you can get sponsors easier for a wing car and you get more exposure. Makes it easier to get the bigger sponsors. Then you have more merchandise sales with the outlaws etc etc. I traveled with an outlaw team. Makes more sense to go outlaw racing from a financial and marketing standpoint if you can acquire the funding.

Mark, I was referring to TSR's Outlaw teams. Based upon sponsorship dollars, purse money, the Outlaw platinum agreement, the Outlaw point fund, and other benefits involved with TSR and their Outlaw teams, I would say the 11 and 15 are in a better fiscal position than the 20 USAC team. I don't think the USAC operation was getting near the sponsor dollars that the Outlaw teams were to begin with, in addition to a third of the races for half the money and very little help from the sanctioning body and a point fund that doesn't cover the tire bill.

All these cup guys who own dirt teams; Stewart, Kahne, Dillons, and Bowyer all have a lot of smart people around them managing their money and brokering sponsors. I am sure if they were hemorrhaging money year in and year out the fun would stop. They all have some pretty significant marketing partners involved though that keep those cars running up and down the road in their rolling billboards without too much exposure to the owner.

Now, if you want to talk Outlaw teams in general, I would agree with you. However, Bobby Allen's grandkids busted their ass all year and went to all the shows on I am sure a lot less than a million dollars. I admire what those guys did with a couple cars and motors and a lot of heart. I hope they inspire others to take a chance.

Amen to that!! Scruffy, Logan, and Jacob were dedicated to running 100 plus shows this season counting the WoO shows and other open shows! They are great, down to earth people! I wish them the best in 2015!