Clayton Otteau Nabs Top-10 In Pocono Season Debut

Clayton Otteau in action at the Pocono Raceway dirt quarter midget track Friday. (Connor Mirabelli photo)

LONG POND, Pa. – New Jersey’s Clayton Otteau made his first Lehigh Valley Quarter Midget Club start of the season Friday night at the Mini Tricky Triangle, on the grounds of Pocono Raceway.

Otteau, who races weekly at the Keystone State Quarter Midget Club in Schnecksville, Pa., and his family made the late call to head to Pocono due to pesky rain showers that hovered in the area all weekend.

It ended up being a wise decision, as the weather did wash out planned racing at Schnecksville on Saturday and Sunday. Otteau was pleased with the opportunity to still get out on track.

“You never know what can happen with the rain early in the year up here,” he said. “I’m glad we decided to go to Pocono and get some laps to work on our cars.”

Though Otteau normally races in four different classes – Senior Honda, Senior Animal, Light 160, and Light World Formula – he only completed the program for Senior Animal at Pocono, as his team battled an engine issue with his Animal car that prevented it from getting on track.

Otteau finished in a close battle for fifth during his 10-lap heat race, ultimately placing sixth, and found his Senior Honda car much more to his liking during the 20-lap feature.

The 10-year-old stayed out of trouble all race and focused his efforts on testing some different lines and corner attacks, earning a top-10 finish in 10th in a race won by Karter Kunsman.

Avoiding several cautions around him was a positive, Otteau noted, and he hopes that the team will be able to fully diagnose and fix the engine issue with his Animal car prior to his next scheduled race on Sunday, May 12 in Schnecksville with the KSQMC.

“Our cars weren’t necessarily the way we wanted them to be, but I still had a lot of fun,” said Otteau. “Hopefully we’ll have the Animal fixed for our next race and be able to run multiple classes again.”

Otteau would like to thank Race Face Brand Development, the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, Otteau Group Real Estate, Landstone Finance, Level 10 Development, Esposito Construction, King Willy Studios, Hoffman Pediatric Dentistry, and Laci Photography for their continued support of his racing endeavors.

About Clayton Otteau

Clayton Otteau is a 10-year-old dirt quarter midget racer from Bernardsville, N.J., and first-generation driver with aspirations of climbing the motorsports ladder toward NASCAR competition. After he began in quarter midgets, he learned that his grandfather drag raced and his great-grandfather competed in a Ford race car on dirt in Pennsylvania, further cementing his love for being behind a steering wheel.

At three years old, Otteau began off-roading in a Power Wheels machine, eventually moving into go-karts by the age of seven. He won his first-ever go-kart race and posted the fastest lap that day, to boot.

He turned eight during his rookie year of quarter midget racing in 2021, graduating to the senior classes the next year in both the Northeast Dirt Series and the USAC.25 Series (now the NASCAR Youth Series).

Otteau is currently competing in four quarter midget classes – Senior Honda, Senior Animal, Light 160, and Light World Formula – and away from the racetrack is a supporter of the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation and its battle against pediatric cancer.

For more information, visit his website at https://claytonotteauracing.com/.