Fishers, IN | June 5, 2018 - Tyler Courtney's climb to consistency and success in building a career in midget and sprint car racing along with Zeb Wise's recent meteoric rise to contention in the USAC National Midget ranks are two of the most well-known stories related to the Clauson family when it comes to ushering in the next generation of talent. Now, as the Clauson-Marshall Racing group loads up and prepares to head to Illinois, the next chapter of that story is set to be written. Cole Bodine, a 19-year old native of Rossville, Indiana, has been an accomplished racer at the micro sprint level for several years, and now after earning his opportunity in the shop, the young racer has been granted a chance to compete with the team in hopes of expanding and skyrocketing his career.
To grasp the full story of Cole's opportunity to race with Clauson-Marshall this week, we have to go back to last September when the young man approached Tim Clauson at the shop. Curious to know how he could become relevant at the next level, Clauson shared the stories of "Sunshine" Tyler Courtney and how they went about things with him. Bodine quickly jumped on the chance and with no real promises to even drive, came to work for CMR in the shop and at the track. Now, after eight months of working his butt off and impressing all those around him, a five-race package with the potential for more, has been built for Bodine to get behind the wheel of a midget and begin furthering his career.
"Getting to work with Cole on this opportunity is the exact reason I do this," stated Tim Clauson. "To work with kids who want to be in the racing industry, who aren't afraid to work, this is the way we want to try and reward them. Sadly, it takes money, to do this, we all know that. Like a lot of young talented racers, the financial side isn't always there to just write a check whenever. But all Cole has done in the time he has been here has learned, met new people, networked, and gained the respect of everyone associated with our team from sponsors, ownership, drivers and fellow crew."
Tackling the opening two nights of POWRi Speedweek, Bodine will be joined by Zeb Wise in the Priority Aviation, Vision Collision No. 39BC. Making his first appearance on Wednesday night at Belle-Clair Speedway, Bodine will hit familiar dirt as he has previous experience in a micro sprint. Thursday night will see a new facility, however, as Bodine goes to Fayette County Speedway in Brownstown, IL. On Friday and Saturday, he will head to Nebraska and Iowa as he returns to working on Tyler Courtney's Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing No. 7BC with the USAC National Sprint Cars. Bodine will have a few more chances behind the wheel following that as a five-race deal has been pieced together.
"I'm hoping this will sort of be the jumpstart to my career and show what people I'm capable of," noted Bodine. "I'm beyond comfortable with the team after working with them for so long, so that kind of takes away some pressure. Hopefully this just creates more opportunities in the future. It'll be cool to run alongside Zeb all week, we've been buddies for several years in the micros and always bounced ideas off each other, so I'm glad I'll have him there to kind of lean on and get pointers from. I really can't thank Tim and everyone involved with Clauson-Marshall Racing enough for allowing me this opportunity.
Stay tuned to the Clauson-Marshall Racing social media accounts this week as we cover CMR's trip to Illinois and highlight Zeb's performance with POWRi, along with Cole's debut with the team!
MEDIA LINKS:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClausonMarshall/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClausonMarshall
Website: http://www.clausonmarshallracing.com/
CLAUSON-MARSHALL RACING:
Race on. A saying that Bryan Clauson always related to his father Tim when our sport faced its darkest moments. It's what racers do, we continue to race on. Following Bryan's tragic passing in August of 2016, Tim Clauson and Richard Marshall never wavered when they formed Clauson-Marshall Racing. After unveiling a dream team at the 2017 Chili Bowl, CMR shifted focus to USAC. With a trio of Tyler Courtney, Justin Grant and Zeb Wise competing on the national level, the outstanding group will be chasing their first title together in season two. After a successful freshman campaign, the team will also be expanding to sprint cars in 2018 as Ryan Newman joined in an ownership role to form Clauson-Marshall-Newman Racing.
- Tim Clauson on Jun 05, 2018
- Article Date: 6/5/2018 by Brian Walker