Tanner Swanson keeps Turkey Night Grand Prix championship in the family

The 71st running of the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale didn't start out very clean.
A five-car crash at the start of the USAC Sprint Car race took out the leader in the Western Sprint Car standings and a former Turkey Night Grand Prix champion.
Tanner Swanson spun out before the start of the 40-lap Sprint Car race. Audra Sasselli, who entered the race with a 20-point lead in the Western Sprint Car standings, had her car overturned in the crash.
Tracy Hines, who won the Sprint Car race at the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 2008, was also collected in the crash.
Cody Gearhardt was taken to a nearby hospital for observation. Jo Jo Helberg and Bobby East also crashed at the start of the race and did not return.
Tanner Swanson escaped the crash and went on to win the Sprint Car race. He was followed by his brother, Kody Swanson, in second. Kody Swanson won the Turkey Night Grand Prix Sprint Car race last year.
Caleb Armstrong from New Castle, Ind., won the 98-lap, crash-filled USAC Midget race.
Bryan Clauson, who won the previous two Midget races at the Turkey Night Grand Prix, was third.
Ross Rankine won the USAC Ford Focus Midgets race, the first of his career. Nick Drake was second, followed by Garrett Peterson in third.
Jessica Clark, a senior at Westlake High School, won the USAC Ford Focus Western Pavement and Southern California championship. She finished in 13th place in the 23-car Turkey Night Grand Prix field.

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Clauson wins USAC Midget race at Turkey Night Grand Prix in Irwindale

Bryan Clauson of Noblesville, Ind., capped a championship season by winning the USAC National Midget portion of the Turkey Night Grand Prix at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale on Saturday night.
Clauson took the lead on lap 9 and held it for the last 89 laps of the race. He finished well ahead of Caleb Armstrong in second and Dalton Armstrong in third.
Clauson came into the Turkey Night Grand Prix with the USAC National Midget championship wrapped up. He had a 100-point lead over Jerry Coons Jr., who could only earn 66 points in the final race of the year.
Clauson had the fourth fastest qualifying time. Kody Swanson of Kingsburg, Calif., was the fastest qualifier and led the first lap of the race.
Dakoda Armstrong took the lead on lap 2 and held it for one lap. Cole Whitt passed Dakoda Armstrong on lap 4 and was out front until lap 8. Clauson took the lead on lap 9 and was out front for the rest of the race.
Swanson was pulling double duty and won the USAC Western Sprint Car race of the Turkey Night Grand Prix. He was the second-fastest qualifier and took the lead on lap 6. Swanson was out front for the remaining 34 laps of the race.
Tony Hunt from Lincoln, Calif., was second, followed by Bobby East from Brownsburg, Ind., in third.
Hunt won the USAC Western Sprint Car championship by 58 points over Luis Ramos III of Clovis.
Jake Blackhurst of Mapleton, Ill., won the USAC Ford Focus Midgets race, taking the lead from Nick Drake on lap 19.
The Ford Focus Midget race was red-flagged twice because of crashes. Michael Steele, Winn Frazin and Guy Sainsbury were involved in a three-car crash on lap 6. Two laps later, Taylor Ferns, Garrett Peterson and Cody Gerhardt collided. Peterson was running in seventh and Gerhardt was in eighth when they crashed.
Both red flags delayed the race for 20 minutes.
Michael Lewis from Laguna Beach was second in the Ford Focus Midgets race. Drake, who was the fastest qualifier, was third.

Photo: Bryan Clauson won the USAC Midget race of the Turkey Night Grand Prix and the National Midget championship at Toyota Speedway at Irwindale.