INDIANAPOLIS – Tuesday night’s BC39 Draft Party, held at the United States Auto Club main office in Indianapolis, saw plenty of fun and frivolity, but it also featured an important aspect of race week.
The ninety participating drivers all chose their heat race starting positions in an effort to maximize their passing point totals going into Wednesday’s preliminaries for the Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink.
Justin Dickerson was the first to choose a position, while Mark Chisholm was the final driver left with a starting spot, and in between 88 others tried their hands at figuring out where would be best for them to roll off from at The Dirt Track at IMS.
Among the notables are the polesitters for the 10, 10-lap heat races at the tight IMS dirt bullring.
Those starting from the lead position in their respective heats include Robert Dalby, Sam Johnson, Emilio Hoover, Kyle O’Gara, Conor Daly, Colten Cottle, Tony DiMattia, Chisholm, Carson Garrett and Matt Westfall.
Additional big-name drivers on the rostrum include a quartet of well-known NASCAR names. Chase Briscoe will start sixth in heat one, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. rolls off sixth in heat three, Christopher Bell goes from fourth in heat seven and Kyle Larson starts sixth in the ninth heat race.
Only Bell was in attendance for his selection on Tuesday night. Briscoe’s father Kevin picked his starting position, while Tyler Courtney selected for his Clauson-Marshall Racing teammate Stenhouse and team owner Keith Kunz chose Larson’s starting position.
Speaking of the current USAC National Midget Series point leader, Courtney will start eighth in the second heat, while his full-time teammates Zeb Wise, Andrew Layser and Chris Windom start fifth in heat three, fourth in heat six and eighth in heat one, respectively.
Defending USAC National Midget Series champion Logan Seavey starts seventh in the eighth heat race, while inaugural BC39 winner Brady Bacon fires off from the same position in heat one.
Eighty-eight of the 90 drivers scheduled to compete pulled heat positions on Tuesday night. Tanner Thorson, who was originally entered for Keith Kunz Motorsports but was unable to secure a replacement ride, and Jon Steed were the two drivers who scratched from the draft order.
Wednesday’s action begins at 2 p.m., with the drivers meeting in the IMS media room. Hot laps kick off at 5 p.m., followed by the BC39 heat races. The night concludes with the 25-lap Stoops Pursuit race.
To view the full slate of heat race lineups, advance to the next page.