INDYCAR: Clauson's 200-race slate shifts to Indy

Bryan Clauson will be in his fourth different car in four days when he steps into Dale Coyne's Dallara-Honda on Monday as practice begins for the 100th Indianapolis 500.

The 26-year-old open-wheel star from Noblesville, Ind. opened the weekend by winning a midget race in Plymouth, Ind. and then finished ninth in the World of Outlaws' sprint feature at the same dirt track. On Saturday evening he was in Haubstadt, Ind. for the next WoO show, where he ran 17th in the A Main after being involved in a tangle early in the race. Then it was on to Kokomo Speedway for the weekly Sunday night feature for 410, non-wing sprinters on the fast quarter mile.

The multi-time USAC champion then leaves the dirt for the pavement on Monday, where he'll be at IMS taking his refresher test for his third try at the Indianapolis 500 – thanks to sponsorship from the Byrd family.

In his quest to run 200 races in 2016, Clauson has already run 55 times across the country – racking up 13 wins in midgets and sprints – while contesting USAC, All-Star Sprints, California Racing Association, POWRi, Southwest Sprints, Knoxville and the Chili Bowl (right, Boyd Adams photo).

"It's challenging but it's been a fun process for the most part and I love what I do," said Clauson, who pretty much lives in his motorhome and is a throwback to the old days when drivers raced four or five nights a week to make a living.

"Slogging through the first 25 was the hard part because a lot of it was California, but by the end of June I should be at 98 and fairly on pace. I think 200 is attainable, just need some cooperation from the weather."

Clauson, who along with his dad Tim maintains the midget and non-wing sprinter owned by Joe Dooling and Brodie Hayward in their garage at home, says going from a winged sprinter back to the traditional USAC car takes a reset.

"There's an adjustment because you can get yourself in trouble pretty quick, because you don't feel like you're going that fast into the corners," he said with a chuckle. "The non-wing car is a little more fun because the winged car is so intense.

"Qualifying is so important in a WoO race and if you don't qualify well, forget it. But we seem to get better every week and you can tell a big difference if we go back to a track rather than running one for the first time."

Scoring a winged win at Knoxville for owner Matt Wood earlier this year was a highlight but now it's time to think fast and smooth.

In his rookie debut at Indy in 2012, Clauson was four corners away from qualifying in the middle of Row 4 when he lost control and hit the wall. That set him and Sarah Fisher's team back and he wound up 31st. Last May, he had a wheel come loose on his first hot lap of practice and never seemed comfortable, finishing 31st after crashing on lap 61.

This month he's with his third different IndyCar team and was going to meet his engineer and mechanics on Sunday afternoon before heading to Kokomo Speedway.

"Indy cars are a different animal – I might be able to find a half a mile-an-hour but I can't find 2-3 and you just have to have your s**t together," he said. "It's not easy to show up once a year, especially with today's competition in IndyCar, but I enjoy it and I'm lucky enough to have the support of the Byrd family."

Indianapolis will occupy most of Bryan's month, although he's going to run a sprinter at Terre Haute on May 25 and a Silver Crown car May 26 in the Hoosier 100 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

What? No Little 500 at Anderson the night before Indy?

"Oh no, that's a lot more physically demanding than the Indy 500," he replied of the 500-lap sprint show on the banked, quarter-mile oval featuring 33 cars. "But maybe go run Kokomo that night after Indy."

That daily double would put a big smile on the faces of Troy Ruttman, Don Branson and Jud Larson.