INDIANAPOLIS — After RMS Racing drivers Thomas Meseraull and Justin Grant swept the preliminary features at the Driven2SaveLives BC39, the remaining drivers in the 72-car field are sharpening their iron for the $20,039-to-win finale.
With prestige and money on the line, the battle is bound to be intense during the 39-lap feature at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
Locked In
Meseraull, Grant, Taylor Reimer, Chase McDermand, Cannon McIntosh and Emerson Axsom are locked into the BC39 finale due to their podium finishes on their preliminary nights.
The remaining field will fight for a position in the A main during Saturday’s alphabet soup.
Thorson: ‘I Show Up To Win’
Tanner Thorson, the 2022 Chili Bowl winner, is no stranger to winning big races.
To the No. 88 midget driver, it doesn’t really matter how hard the competition is or how many cars he’s running against.
“Whether there’s five cars or 300 cars, USAC or local, I want to win,” Thorson said. “I show up to each race as prepared as I can be with what I have.”
However, with a fifth-place finish in his qualifier and fourth-place result in the A main, Thorson feels his performance was a little lacking on Friday night.
“I feel like we had a really fast car there at the end of the race. I wish I could’ve started a little bit farther forward, just so I didn’t have to mess with some of the guys back there that were swerving around all over the place,” Thorson explained.
His first priority on Saturday is to win the B main and attempt to earn the best starting spot possible for the main event.
“I just show up to win and that’s all I want,” Thorson said.
Daum Boosts Morale With Stoops Pursuit Triumph
Despite getting off to a hot start during Friday night’s preliminary action — winning his heat race and his qualifier — Zach Daum wasn’t satisfied with his run in his No. 7p.
His night then launched into a bit of a downward spiral when he got caught in a wreck with Trevor Cline and Gavin Miller in the 30-lap feature and was relegated to finish 15th.
“We got caught up in circumstance there,” Daum said. “But we weren’t good. Like we were a 10th-place car.”
The RAMCO Speed Group driver managed to turn it around in the 25-lap Stoops Pursuit race that followed, sliding past Ethan Mitchell with four laps to go to steal the $1,500 victory.
“Anytime you win, it bolsters your spirits. Especially in that situation of a race where everybody in it is good — everybody’s either won a race or is top 10 in USAC points. You know, there’s no slouches in it,” Daum said. “We kind of got to use it as a little bit of a test session to learn some things. We’ve just got to apply those for tomorrow and I think we’re going to be OK.”
Other Notes
A wire broke on the battery of Brady Bacon’s No. 25h car, forcing Bacon to pull off before the green flag waved on Friday night’s 30-lap feature. He’ll be back in action tomorrow.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske was present for Friday night’s on-track activity at The Dirt Track. In his speech to the fans, he noted, “Anything that we can do to make it better, let us know.”
Chase McDermand knocked out the front end on his No. 40 entry during an incident in the Stoops Pursuit race, likely making it a long night for the Mounce-Stout Motorsports team.