Bryan Clauson dies following injuries suffered in sprint car wreck

Clauson has competed in the last two Indianapolis 500s (Getty Images).

 

UPDATED 9 a.m. ET Monday

Former NASCAR driver Bryan Clauson, 27, died Sunday night after sustaining injuries in a midget sprint car crash at Belleview High Banks Speedway Fairgrounds in Kansas on Saturday.

Clauson, leading the race at the time, flipped multiple times while coming on lapped traffic. Not long after his car stopped flipping, another car ran into Clauson’s car as it was upside down.

His family issued a statement about his passing Monday morning. Clauson, a native of Noblesville, Indiana, is survived by his parents and his fiancé.

Last night, the 7th of August, we said goodbye to our son, my fiancé, our friend, Bryan Clauson. He was surrounded by family and friends and we were grateful that we could experience his final moments with him.

Our Bryan fought to the end with the same desire that he demonstrated behind the wheel of all the various race cars he would park in victory lane. However, we were more proud of our Bryan that took a moment to make a young fans day, or demonstrated his uncommon kindness and appreciation toward his friends, family and fans.

We would like to thank everybody who has shown their concern toward us and kept us in their prayers. We will never be able to truly thank you. We would also like to thank the staff at Bryan Medical Center who stood and fought with our Bryan since he arrived here early yesterday morning.

The family’s statement asked that any donations be made to the USAC Benevolent Fund in Clauson’s name.

Video of the accident is posted to YouTube. In the grainy and shaky video, you can see Clauson’s car flip multiple times before it’s impacted by another car. It reportedly took emergency workers over 20 minutes to extricate Clauson from his car and he was airlifted to a medical center in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Belleview Kansas is located in north-central Kansas.

Clauson has competed in the past two Indianapolis 500s. In three career starts in the Indy 500, his best finish is 23rd, which he achieved in May.

A former development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing, Clauson made 26 starts in 2007 and 2008 in the Xfinity Series. His best finish came at Kentucky in 2008 when he finished fifth.

He’s the second 2015 Indianapolis 500 participant to die in the past year. Justin Wilson was killed at Pocono in August 2015 in an IndyCar Series race when he was hit in the helmet by a piece of flying debris from an accident.