INDIANAPOLIS — The third annual Driven2SaveLives BC39 Powered By NOS Energy Drink at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway takes place Wednesday and Thursday.
The entry list for the NOS Energy Drink USAC Midget Championship event features 72 midget drivers chasing the $15,000 top prize.
Eight heat races will be contested on Wednesday and conclude with the 25-lap Stoops Pursuit.
Qualifying races will kick off Thursday’s final night of BC39 activity and works its way down from the D-Main to the C, to the B and to the 39-lap A-Main.
The event boasts two past BC39 winners in Brady Bacon (2018) and Zeb Wise (2019). Bacon captured the inaugural BC39 victory three years ago, leading the last nine laps after making the winning move in traffic.
Wise was victorious in the main event in 2019, leading on two non-consecutive occasions between laps 19-28 as well as the last seven from 33-39. Wise has won main events in both years of the race, also taking a spectacular score in the 2018 Stoops Pursuit with a pass two laps from the checkered.
Kevin Thomas Jr. leads all in laps led in the BC39’s two-year history. He ran at the front of the pack for 30 laps in 2018 before finishing third. In 2019, he finished eighth.
Tyler Courtney is one of two drivers (Chad Boat) to finish inside the top five in both BC39 starts, finishing fourth in 2018 and second in 2019 after starting 20th, marking the biggest charge through the field in the event’s history.
Meanwhile, Justin Grant the series’ most recent winner on Aug. 7 at Pennsylvania’s Lanco’s Clyde Martin Memorial Speedway, is one of four drivers to finish in the top-10 of both BC39 features, joining Boat, Thomas and Courtney.
Reigning USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champion Chris Windom finished third in 2019. The 2020 champ is one of eight past USAC National Midget champions in this year’s BC39 field alongside Russ Gamester (1989), J.J. Yeley (2003), Jerry Coons Jr. (2006 and ’07), Tanner Thorson (2016), Spencer Bayston (2017), Logan Seavey (2018) and Courtney (2019). Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) finished fifth in the BC39 in 2019, while Coons was ninth in 2018.
Kyle Larson is the hottest race driver on planet earth right now, fresh off a Knoxville Nationals victory last Saturday night. Larson’s best result in a BC39 A-Main was ninth in 2019, but his most memorable result came in the Stoops Pursuit the night before in which he was the last car standing, literally, en route to the final lap victory while two of his fellow competitors flipped in front of and beside him.
Other veterans of past BC39 races entered include Thomas Meseraull, Jason McDougal, Cannon McIntosh and Spencer Bayston. NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe is looking for his first USAC national victory and BCRA midget champ Maria Cofer hopes to improve on her 17th-place finish in 2018.
USAC Triple Crown champion J.J. Yeley is the lone driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500, the Brickyard 400 and the BC39 in his career, but is still going after his feature start in the event. Same is the case with Conor Daly, who led the most laps (40) during the Indianapolis 500 earlier this year.
Among the BC 39 rookies are USAC point leader Buddy Kofoid, reigning NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott and 1999 USAC Silver Crown champion and 2013 Brickyard 400 winner Ryan Newman.
New Zealand midget champion Hayden Williams is making his BC39 debut as will 2021 USAC National Midget feature winners Kyle Cummins, Emerson Axsom, Corey Day and Daison Pursley, plus top series rookie Chase Randall and five-time USAC Western States Midget champion Ronnie.
BC 39 Entry List
01 BRYANT WIEDEMAN/Colby, KS (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
08 CANNON McINTOSH/Bixby, OK (Dave Mac Motorsports)
1NZ HAYDEN WILLIAMS/Auckland, NZ (BSL Racing)
2c TREVOR CASEY/Altoona, IA (Casey Racing)
2J JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (RMS Racing)
2MD CARSON KVAPIL/Mooresville, NC (Marc Dailey Racing)
3G KYLE CUMMINS/Princeton, IN (Glenn Styres Racing)
4 JASON McDOUGAL/Broken Arrow, OK (Klatt Enterprises)
4K KAMERON GLADISH/Indianapolis, IN (Gladish Motorsports)
5 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL (Petry Motorsports)
5B CHASE BRISCOE/Mitchell, IN (Chase Briscoe Racing)
6BC RYAN NEWMAN/South Bend, IN (Clauson Marshall Racing)
7BC TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Clauson Marshall Racing)
7x THOMAS MESERAULL/San Jose, CA (RMS Racing)
8 RANDI PANKRATZ/Atascadero, CA (Wally Pankratz)
9 CHASE ELLIOTT/Dawsonville, GA (Paul May Motorsports)
10 KEVIN WOODY JR./Victor, NY (Dave Mac Motorsports)
11 JEFF SCHINDLER/Evansville, IN (Brian & Deidre Martin)
11c GLENN WATERLAND/Christchurch, NZ (Glenn & Hayley Waterland)
11L AARON LEFFEL/Springfield, OH (Team Taylor Racing)
11m AIDEN PURDUE/Clinton, IL (Brian & Deidre Martin)
15 EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN (Petry Motorsports)
15J JEFF WIMMENAUER/New Whiteland, IN (Jeff Wimmenauer)
15x CARSON GARRETT/Littleton, CO (Broc Garrett)
17 TANNER BERRYHILL/Bixby, OK (Berryhill Family Racing)
17B AUSTIN BARNHILL/Wilmington, NC (Sam Johnson Racing)
17L BILLY LAWLESS/Fresno, CA (Lawless Racing)
19A CHASE RANDALL/Waco, TX (Petry Motorsports)
19AZ HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19K RILEY KREISEL/Warsaw, MO (Ron Cox)
19M ETHAN MITCHELL/Mooresville, NC (Bundy Built Motorsports)
19T TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
21D JUSTIN DICKERSON/Pittsboro, IN (Mike Dickerson)
21H BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (TKH Motorsports)
21K KARTER SARFF/Mason City, IL (Karter Sarff Racing)
22 JOHN HEYDENREICH/Bloomsburg, PA (John Givens)
25 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Tom Malloy)
25K TAYLOR REIMER/Bixby, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
25v BEN VARNER/Harbor Springs, MI (Gladish Motorsports)
26 CHANCE CRUM/Snohomish, WA (Rudeen Racing)
32 GARY TAYLOR/Snohomish, WA (Mike & Brian Dunlap)
35 JACOB DENNEY/Galloway, OH (Petry Motorsports)
36 IAN CREAGER/Covington, OH (Tod Creager)
36x TYLER EDWARDS/Salina, OK (Dragonfly Aviation)
37 ZEB WISE/Angola, IN (Matt Wood Racing)
39BC COLE BODINE/Rossville, IN (Clauson Marshall Racing)
40 BLAKE BRANNON/Morgan Hill, CA (Brannon Corporation)
43 RONNIE GARDNER/Corona, CA (Kevin Arnold)
46 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (R & G, Inc.)
47BC COREY DAY/Clovis, CA (Clauson Marshall Racing)
47D CONOR DALY/Noblesville, IN (DiaEdge Racing)
49 JOE B. MILLER/Millersville, MO (Chris Lewis)
51 J.J. YELEY/Phoenix, AZ (Rick Ware Racing)
57 MARIA COFER/Macdoel, CA (Abacus Racing)
57D DANIEL ROBINSON/Ewing, IL (Daniel Robinson)
67 BUDDY KOFOID/Penngrove, CA (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
67K JONATHAN SHAFER/Ashland, OH (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71B ROBERT BELL/Colfax, IA (Robert Bell)
71K DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71T ZAC TAYLOR/Green River, WY (Todd Henry)
72J SAM JOHNSON/St. Peters, MO (Sam Johnson Racing)
75AU BRYAN STANFILL/Bakersfield, CA (Griffiths Motorsport)
81G RYLAN GRAY/Greenfield, IN (Gray Racing)
84 SPENCER BAYSTON/Lebanon, IN (CB Industries)
85 JERRY COONS JR./Tucson, AZ (Central Motor Sports)
85T RYAN TIMMS/Oklahoma City, OK (CB Industries)
86 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Danny Stamper)
86x KYLE LARSON/Elk Grove, CA (CB Industries)
89 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (CB Industries)
97 BRENHAM CROUCH/Lubbock, TX (Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
98 TOMMY KOUNS/Lebanon, IN (Tommy Kouns)