Bryan Clauson and Jason Johnson were two of the most successful sprint car racers of the early to mid 2000s.
Johnson made his name in winged sprint car racing, first with the American Sprint Car Series and later with the World of Outlaws.
Clauson, meanwhile, became a star racing USAC midgets and sprint cars and competed in three Indianapolis 500s before transitioning into winged sprint cars.
The two are pictured together at the 2016 Kings Royal at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. Johnson finished eighth and Clauson was 24th in the 40-lap main event won by Donny Schatz.
Both drivers were killed in racing accidents less than two years apart.
Clauson died from injuries suffered in a midget race at the Belleville (Kan.) High Banks on Aug. 8, 2016. Clauson was 27. Johnson, who won the 2016 Knoxville Nationals only days after Clauson’s death, died in a crash at Wisconsin’s Beaver Dam Raceway on June 25, 2018. He was 41.
This story appeared in the Nov. 8 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
