INDIANAPOLIS — The Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the place to be on Thursday night if you wanted to witness a few national midget drivers make a breakthrough.
Thomas Meseraull picked up his first USAC national midget victory of the season, runner-up Taylor Reimer earned a career-best series finish and third-place Chase McDermand turned in a strong performance in his No. 40 entry.
Here’s the rundown on Thursday’s preliminary storylines.
McDermand Off To A Good Start
McDermand got off to a near-perfect start on Thursday night, turning the quick time in the final hot-lap session.
The Mounce-Stout Motorsports driver scored a commanding win in his qualifier, but wasn’t quite able to transfer his speed into the feature, falling back from first to third during the opening laps of the 30-lapper.
However, McDermand did what he needed to — secure a podium and lock into Saturday night’s A main.
“We’ve had really good runs with Xtreme (Outlaw Midget Series), but I feel like we’ve really struggled with USAC and that part has really bugged me, because I know that we’re faster than what the results have shown,” McDermand said.
The 22-year-old has only scored two top-five finishes in 16 USAC appearances this year, but has won six Xtreme series features.
“To get another podium with USAC and have as much speed as we had tonight, it really helps my confidence and my team’s confidence too, because, like I said, we’ve really struggled,” McDermand said. “To be able to have another good run with the series is a big boost for us.”
He finished 18th during last year’s BC39.
Denney Delivers, But Comes Up Short
Jacob Denney was the odd man out at the end of Thursday night’s prelim.
After starting seventh, the No. 25 driver clawed his way up to fourth, but was unable to secure a spot on the podium — and with it, an automatic transfer to Saturday night’s feature.
“It took a lot of searching. I finally found something where I could get above the ledge in one and rip the wall all the way through the corner, and it was really working for me. I picked a couple guys off doing that,” Denney explained.
One of the drivers he passed was last year’s winner Buddy Kofoid, who he took fourth from. While remiss at missing out on a transfer spot by one position, Denney has already shrugged it off and is ready to take another stab at it on Saturday.
“You’ll have that sometimes,” Denney said. “We should be on the pole of a B main, so if I do my part, then we should be good.”
Courtney Finishes 20th In USAC Debut
Taylor Courtney has only completed a handful of midget races in his life and, up until Thursday night at The Dirt Track at IMS, he had yet to make a start on the USAC national midget tour.
But the RAMCO Speed Group driver — and team co-owner — changed that statistic in one fell swoop when he rolled onto the quarter-mile dirt oval for his prelim night at the BC39.
“I only race about a dozen times a year as it is,” Courtney said. “To come here with the caliber of cars and, you know, I did pretty decent in the heat race and kind of got beat at the line for third. In the qualifier, I definitely showed where I was lacking. But then in the B main, I just kind of settled in and took third for what it was worth.”
The Indiana native, and twin brother of Tyler Courtney, soldiered on to finish 20th of 22 cars in the A main, despite the steep learning curve he faced. He hasn’t lost hope for his run through the BC39’s alphabet soup on Saturday either, as he believes the extra 30 laps he logged during the feature will bolster his rookie efforts.
“It’s definitely going to be put us in a spot that’s a little bit better than some of the other cars from tonight,” Courtney said. “I still have three of my own cars that I own and operate myself, so the job’s definitely not over.”
Avedisian ‘Disappointed’ With Prelim Performance
When Jade Avedisian won her qualifier, it seemed like the No. 71 Keith Kunz Motorsports machine would be one to watch through the night. But when she hit the wall with two laps to go in the feature, her night took a turn for the worse as she fell from fifth to seventh.
The California native will line up in Saturday’s B main for a shot to make the $20,039-to-win feature.
“We’re going to have to be all, try our absolute hardest and definitely have to make it out of the B. We still have a good shot to make a good feature out of it Saturday if we do transfer,” Avedisian said. “I’m disappointed, but we can’t lose our head. We’ll have another shot on Saturday.”
She finished 15th in the B main last year.