INDIANAPOLIS — The fifth running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 is set to roll with 72 drivers in a field that consists of 19 past USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature winners and represents 20 states.
The action runs Sept. 27-30 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The BC39 boasts the largest car count of the season, the highest stakes of the season and the highest payout of the season in an event which has already become one of the defining crown jewels in all of midget racing.
Here are six storylines entering one of the marquee events on the entire USAC calendar:
72 CARS
Besides the on-track action, the annual car count for the BC39 makes plenty of headlines for itself. Of the 72 drivers, 20 different states are represented in the field from coast-to-coast: California (15), Indiana (13), Illinois (6), Oklahoma (6), Ohio (5), North Carolina (4), Texas (4), Arizona (2), Colorado (2), Kansas (2), Missouri (2), Pennsylvania (2), Wisconsin (2), Alabama (1), Connecticut (1), Delaware (1), Florida (1), Louisiana (1), Nevada (1) and Washington (1).
Over the first four editions of the BC39, three states have been represented in victory lane: Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon (2018), Indiana’s Zeb Wise (2019), California’s Kyle Larson (2021) and California’s Buddy Kofoid (2022).
Furthermore, of the 72, more than a quarter are previous USAC National Midget feature winners representing 155 series wins. Those winners are Tanner Thorson (29), Buddy Kofoid (24), Jerry Coons Jr. (19), Justin Grant (14), Logan Seavey (14), Thomas Meseraull (9), Brady Bacon (8), Cannon McIntosh (6), Kevin Thomas Jr. (6), Ryan Timms (5), Zach Daum (4), John Heydenreich (4), Jacob Denney (3), Mitchel Moles (3), Emerson Axsom (2), Daison Pursley (2), Gavin Miller (1), Keith Rauch (1) and Bryant Wiedeman (1).
A SIDE OF BACON
Brady Bacon made the winning pass with nine laps to go to score a win in the very first BC39 in 2018. To the surprise of no one, he’s been a solid citizen annually in the event, finishing third in 2021 and eighth in 2022.
Others have come similarly close. Kevin Thomas Jr. finished third in 2018 after leading a race-high 30 laps. Thomas Meseraull led a combined 34 laps over a two-race span in 2019-21, then finished a best of third in 2022.
Justin Grant led a lap and finished second in 2021 and was fourth in 2022, while Daison Pursley led for 16 circuits en route to a fourth-place result in 2021. Logan Seavey meanwhile, came home fifth in the 2019 race.
Cannon McIntosh waged a fascinating duel with Buddy Kofoid for the win in 2022, with McIntosh leading a race-high 20 laps before finishing second.
DOWN THE MIDDLE
Not one, not two, not three but four nights of racing greet BC39 competitors in 2023, doubling the number of events held annually during the first four runnings.
Wednesday’s program will feature all cars on the track for practice, followed by the Stoops Pursuit race, a 25-lap race split into five-lap segments. The field consists of a total of 24 starters with the top-10 drivers in USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship points being locked into the event as are the 10 fastest during Wednesday night’s practice who are not already locked in. Up to four promoter’s options will be available to start the event.
The Stoops Pursuit starting lineup is inverted by fastest hot lap time, with promoter’s options starting at the rear. Any car involved in a caution is eliminated. Every five laps, a competition yellow flag will be displayed, and cars with a net loss in position will be called to exit the track.
A checkered flag ends the final segment, with the winner earning $1,500 plus $100 for each position gained. All race participants will receive a free right rear tire courtesy of Hoosier.
On Thursday and Friday, the field will be split with half the field competing on Thursday and the other half of the field competing on Friday. Both nights will feature a full program of racing consisting of 8-lap heat races and 10-lap qualifying races, followed by a 10-lap C-main (if needed), a 12-lap semi-feature and a 30-lap feature race paying $5,000-to-win with the top-3 feature finishers on each night’s prelim being locked into Saturday’s feature.
All USAC National Midget licensed drivers and entrants will receive 50 appearance points during each night of their participation on Thursday and Friday.
Saturday’s Championship Night program will consist of hot laps and main events only, starting with the E-Main, two D-Mains, two C-Mains, two semi-features and a last chance race. The 39-lap feature will have 22 starters, plus two USAC provisional starters (if applicable) and two IMS options.
UNSTOPPABLE FORCE
Logan Seavey is seemingly the unstoppable force in the USAC National Midget ranks entering the BC39. He’s reeled off 14 consecutive top-five finishes with the series, the most since Jason Leffler’s championship season in 1997 in which he strung together 21 consecutive top fives.
Seavey is also coming off a weekend in which he swept the USAC portion of the 4-Crown Nationals at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway, joining only Jack Hewitt and Kyle Larson in that regard.
At the BC39, Seavey is looking to up the ante even though he may be the odds-on favorite with six feature victories in his last 14 outings. His best result thus far in the event was a fifth in 2019.
CANNON & THE AXE
Two frontrunners find themselves in new rides for the event with Cannon McIntosh taking the reins of the CB Industries No. 86 while Emerson Axsom has slid over to the Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports No. 68.
Between the two teams, they have won the past two BC39 main events, and in each of those two events, the two drivers have finished inside the top-five in each. Axsom was fifth in 2021 and McIntosh second last year.
McIntosh arrives at CBI after competing on the USAC tour for the past three seasons on the Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports team. Axsom, meanwhile, has competed mainly for the Petry-Hayward Motorsports team throughout 2023.
Both McIntosh and Seavey know their way to USAC National Midget victory lane with McIntosh owning six series victories and Axsom six, but both are aiming for their first one of the season this week at The BC39.
THE ROOKIES
Twenty-seven of the 72 drivers in this year’s BC39 lineup are race rookies who are taking on the event for the first time.
Max Papis Innovations will reward this year’s top Rookie drivers at the Driven2SaveLives BC39 with a bevy of bonuses and awards for their achievements scattered throughout the week.
Among the Rookies in this year’s BC39 field are a pair of USAC National Midget winners in Keith Rauch and Gavin Miller. Rauch, a 13-time Rocky Mountain Midget Racing Ass’n champion, scored his lone USAC National win back in 1990. Miller gained his first series victory just this past June and is USAC’s leading Rookie driver in 2023.
Jake Andreotti finished second in the USAC National Midget season opener at Kansas’ Belleville Short Track. Daniel Whitley has run inside the top five with the USAC National Midget series in 2023 and has been a winner with the Xtreme Outlaw Series.
Also joining the Rookie fray are 360 sprint car standout Jake Bubak as well as USAC regional champion Mark McMahill and USAC regional winners Preston Lattomus, Wes Pinkerton and Zach Wigal, plus BCRA Midget titlist Robert Carson.
Josh Bilicki has competed in both the Brickyard 400 and on the road course with the NASCAR Cup series at IMS and will be in one of six RAMCO Speed Group entries for the BC39.
Adam Andretti recently competed on the IMS Road Course with the Trans-Am Series. Andretti is the younger brother of 1983 USAC National Midget Rookie of the Year John Andretti, the son of Aldo Andretti and the nephew of 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner, Formula 1 champion and four-time IndyCar champion Mario Andretti.
BC 39 Entry List
1 Kevin Thomas Jr./Cullman, AL (Crouch Motorsports)
1D (R) Landon Brooks/Rio Oso, CA (RAMCO Speed Group)
1G (R) Connor Wolf/Lafayette, IN (RAMCO Speed Group)
1z (R) Justin Zimmerman/Athens, TX (Justin Zimmerman)
2 Justin Grant/Ione, CA (RMS Racing)
4 (R) Chelby Hinton/Dubberly, LA (Klatt Enterprises)
5J Josh Hodge/Brownsburg, IN (Josh Hodge Racing)
5s Scott Orr/Columbia City, IN (Josh Hodge Racing)
6 Isaac Chapple/Willow Branch, IN (Doug Hall)
7c (R) Josh Bilicki/Menomonee Falls, WI (RAMCO Speed Group)
7m Kyle Jones/Kennedale, TX (RAMCO Speed Group)
7p Zach Daum/Pocahontas, IL (RAMCO Speed Group)
7x Thomas Meseraull/San Jose, CA (RMS Racing)
8 Randi Pankratz/Atascadero, CA (Wally Pankratz)
8x Jeff Schindler/Evansville, IN (Jeff Schindler)
9 (R) Wes Pinkerton/Reynolds, IN (Wes Pinkerton)
9p (R) Kevin Cook/Winchester, IN (Kevin Cook)
10A (R) Tommy Colburn/New Berlin, WI (MWR Technology)
10c (R) Mark McMahill/Peoria, IL (MWR Technology)
11 Clinton Boyles/Greenwood, MO (Scott Beierle)
11L Aaron Leffel/Springfield, OH (Team Taylor Racing)
14 C.J. Leary/Greenfield, IN (Legacy Autosport)
17B Austin Barnhill/Wilmington, NC (Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports)
18N (R) Weston Gorham/Colleyville, TX (Kelly Gorham)
19 Daison Pursley/Locust Grove, OK (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19AZ Hayden Reinbold/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19m Ethan Mitchell/Mooresville, NC (Bundy Built Motorsports)
19T Mitchel Moles/Raisin City, CA (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
21D Justin Dickerson/Pittsboro, IN (Mike Dickerson)
21H Brady Bacon/Broken Arrow, OK (TKH Motorsports)
21J (R) Kameron Key/Warrensburg, MO (TKH Motorsports)
21K Karter Sarff/Mason City, IL (Jayme Sarff)
22 John Heydenreich/Bloomsburg, PA (John Heydenreich)
22p (R) Taylor Courtney/Indianapolis, IN (RAMCO Speed Group)
23 (R) Preston Lattomus/Lewes, DE (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
25 Jacob Denney/Galloway, OH (Tom Malloy)
25K Taylor Reimer/Bixby, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
25m (R) Jake Andreotti/Castro Valley, CA (Tom Malloy)
27 (R) Keith Rauch/Thornton, CO (Bourke Motorsports)
27B (R) Jake Bubak/Arvada, CO (Bourke Motorsports)
32 Gary Taylor/Snohomish, WA (Brian Dunlap)Â Â Â
36 Ian Creager/Covington, OH (Tod Creager)
40 Chase McDermand/Springfield, IL (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
40B Blake Brannon/Morgan Hill, CA (Blake Brannon)
40x (R) Zach Wigal/Belpre, OH (Chase McDermand)
41 Oliver Akard/Fort Myers, FL (Team OMR)
44 (R) Adam Andretti/Brownsburg, IN (Jeff Johnson)
46 (R) Kenney Johnson/Bethany, CT (Jeff Johnson)
54 Matt Westfall/Pleasant Hill, OH (Steve Bordner)
55 (R) Trevor Cline/Mooresville, NC (Troy Cline)
55D Nick Drake/Mooresville, NC (Troy Cline)
56 (R) Mitchell Davis/Auburn, IL (Pat O’Dell)
57 Logan Seavey/Sutter, CA (Abacus Racing)
57A Daniel Robinson/Wayne City, IL (RAB Racing)
58 (R) Daniel Whitley/Ferndale, CA (Abacus Racing)
67 Ryan Timms/Oklahoma City, OK (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
67K Buddy Kofoid/Penngrove, CA (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
68 Emerson Axsom/Franklin, IN (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71 Jade Avedisian/Clovis, CA (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71E Mariah Ede/Fresno, CA (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71T (R) Kyler Johnson/Quinter, KS (Todd Henry)
75AU Bryan Stanfill/Bakersfield, CA (Griffiths Motorsports)
81 Bryant Wiedeman/Colby, KS (CB Industries)
85 Jerry Coons Jr./Tucson, AZ (Central Motorsports)
86 Cannon McIntosh/Bixby, OK (CB Industries)
88 Tanner Thorson/Minden, NV (Tanner Thorson Racing)
89 Kaylee Bryson/Muskogee, OK (CB Industries)
97 (R) Gavin Miller/Allentown, PA (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
99 (R) Don O’Keefe Jr. /Union City, CA (LOK/Carson-Segur Racing)
99K (R) Robert Carson/Concord, CA (LOK/Carson-Segur Racing)
118 (R) Scott Evans/Rhome, TX (Scott Evans)
136 Chris Baue/Indianapolis, IN (Bill Baue)
Â