KVSH Racing partnering with Jonathan Byrd's Racing for 2015 Indy 500 - MotorSportsTalk

A familiar Verizon IndyCar Series team will help Jonathan Byrd’s Racing in its return to the Indianapolis 500 next year.

KVSH Racing has confirmed that they’ll partner with the Byrd’s camp in fielding a car at the 2015 Indy for short-track powerhouse and former ‘500’ starter Bryan Clauson.

“When we first began discussions for this entry with the Byrd family, what came to mind was the campaign the Indianapolis Motor Speedway recently launched: ‘We all have a story,’ KVSH partner James “Sulli” Sullivan said in a team release.

“The Byrd’s have a storied history at the Speedway and we’re pleased to announce today they’ll be returning with KVSH Racing to start the next chapter of the Jonathan Byrd’s Racing story. We are excited to add another Indy 500 entry to the 2015 KVSH Racing lineup and stoked to have Bryan Clauson as our wheel man.

“I also think it is interesting to note that one of my partners, [team co-owner] Jimmy Vasser, was sponsored by Jonathan Byrd for his second Indy 500, so we have come full circle.”

Speaking on behalf of the Byrd family, David Byrd said that the addition of KVSH to his team’s program was “simply phenomenal.”

“The fact that we have our program in place a year in advance with what we hope is a long-term home for the Jonathan Byrd’s team, and to know that we are going to be able to provide Bryan with all of the resources he needs to win the 500 – I don’t think our family could ask for much more,” he said.

“It’s amazing to have a driver like Bryan put his faith in us to deliver for him and to stake his IndyCar future with us, and we are grateful to Kevin [Kalkhoven], Jimmy, Sulli, and the KVSH team for the opportunity to build with them.”

The Jonathan Byrd’s Racing name has not been seen in the ‘500’ since 2005, when it partnered with Panther Racing to field a car for 1996 Indy winner Buddy Lazier.

Today’s release stated that a testing schedule for Clauson is in development and will be announced when finalized.

“We have a lot of great things happening at Jonathan Byrd’s Racing, and aligning ourselves with KVSH Racing, a team which has competed many times at Indy and won the race, is a big step forward for our program,” said the multi-time USAC champion.

“KVSH knows firsthand what it takes to run up front at Indy, and having Jimmy Vasser there to lean on is going to be a huge bonus for me. I can’t wait to get to work.”

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Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

KVSH Racing partnering with Jonathan Byrd’s Racing for 2015 Indy 500

Hunter Lawrence defends Haiden Deegan after controversial block pass at Detroit

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