Big, Elite Field Set To Race for Four Nights in BC39 at IMS
September 27, 2023 | By Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Seventy-two drivers will compete for one of 24 spots in the feature race of the fifth running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 on Sept. 27-30 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The BC39 field represents the largest car count of the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship season, along with the biggest purse of the year for the 39-lap feature Saturday night -- $20,039 to win. There are 19 past USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature winners and drivers from 20 American states in the overall event field, with California (15 drivers) and Indiana (13) leading the list.
Two of the winners of the first four BC39 events are entered in one of the most prestigious events in midget racing – Brady Bacon of Oklahoma (2018) and Buddy Kofoid of California (2022). Bacon will be the only driver aiming to become the first two-time winner of the event, though, as other racing commitments will prevent Kofoid from competing in the feature Saturday night.
Five drivers in the field have won at least 10 USAC National Midget feature races during their respective careers – Tanner Thorson (29), Kofoid (24), Jerry Coons Jr. (19), Justin Grant (14) and Logan Seavey (14).
The event has expanded from two to four nights this year on the quarter-mile dirt oval inside Turn 3 of IMS, with a unique split-night format Thursday, Sept. 28 and Friday, Sept. 29.
All cars will be on track for practice Wednesday, Sept. 27, followed by the Stoops Pursuit race, a 25-lap race split into five-lap segments, with cars with a net loss in position will be removed from the track after each segment. The field consists of a total of 24 starters. The top-10 drivers in USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship points are locked into the event as are the 10 fastest during Wednesday night’s practice. Up to four promoter’s options will be available to start the event.
Once Wednesday’s program is complete, each car will compete either Thursday or Friday night before the feature night Saturday. Both preliminary night events Thursday and Friday will present full racing programs consisting of practice, heat races and qualifying races, the points of which will seed the lineups for that night’s C-Main (if needed), semi-feature and 30-lap feature event.
The top-three feature finishers from each preliminary night will be locked into the 39-lap, $20,039-to-win main event Saturday night, Sept. 30. All other finishers will seed the E-, D-, C- and B-Main lineups for Saturday night’s program based on their prelim night finishing position.
Seavey, from Sutter, California, is the favorite to earn his first BC39 victory in the No. 57 Abacus Racing entry. He has six feature wins in his last 14 starts and has recorded 14 consecutive top-five finishes in USAC National Midget competition entering this event, the most by any driver since Jason Leffler reeled off 21 straight in 1997. Seavey also just swept the USAC portion of the 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, joining only Jack Hewitt and Kyle Larson to achieve that feat.
While there are no NASCAR or NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers taking on the BC39 challenge this season, there will be a name in the field familiar to all IMS race fans. Adam Andretti, from Brownsburg, Indiana, will drive the No. 44 car fielded by Jeff Johnson. 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 and 1978 Formula One World Champion Mario Andretti.
The event will continue to honor late USAC champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bryan Clauson and increase awareness of and participation in the Indiana Donor Network and Driven2SaveLives.
Public gates open at 4 p.m. ET each of the four days. Practice begins at 6 p.m. Wednesday, with hot laps starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 6 p.m. Saturday. The 39-lap feature race is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
Visit IMS.com to buy tickets and pit passes or for more information.
2023 Driven2SaveLives BC39 Entries
1 Kevin Thomas Jr./Cullman, Alabama (Crouch Motorsports)
1D (R) Landon Brooks/Rio Oso, California (RAMCO Speed Group)
1G (R) Connor Wolf/Lafayette, Indiana (RAMCO Speed Group)
1z (R) Justin Zimmerman/Athens, Texas (Justin Zimmerman)
2 Justin Grant/Ione, California (RMS Racing)
4 (R) Chelby Hinton/Dubberly, Louisiana (Klatt Enterprises)
5J Josh Hodge/Brownsburg, Indiana (Josh Hodge Racing)
5s Scott Orr/Columbia City, Indiana (Josh Hodge Racing)
6 Isaac Chapple/Willow Branch, Indiana (Doug Hall)
7c (R) Josh Bilicki/Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin (RAMCO Speed Group)
7m Kyle Jones/Kennedale, Texas (RAMCO Speed Group)
7p Zach Daum/Pocahontas, Illinois (RAMCO Speed Group)
7x Thomas Meseraull/San Jose, California (RMS Racing)
8 Randi Pankratz/Atascadero, California (Wally Pankratz)
8x Jeff Schindler/Evansville, Indiana (Jeff Schindler)
9 (R) Wes Pinkerton/Reynolds, Indiana (Wes Pinkerton)
9p (R) Kevin Cook/Winchester, Indiana (Kevin Cook)
10A (R) Tommy Colburn/New Berlin, Wisconsin (MWR Technology)
10c (R) Mark McMahill/Peoria, Illinois (MWR Technology)
11 Clinton Boyles/Greenwood, Missouri (Scott Beierle)
11L Aaron Leffel/Springfield, Ohio (Team Taylor Racing)
14 C.J. Leary/Greenfield, Indiana (Legacy Autosport)
17B Austin Barnhill/Wilmington, North Carolina (Dave Mac-Dalby Motorsports)
18N (R) Weston Gorham/Colleyville, Texas (Kelly Gorham)
19 Daison Pursley/Locust Grove, Oklahoma (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19AZ Hayden Reinbold/Gilbert, Arizona (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
19m Ethan Mitchell/Mooresville, North Carolina (Bundy Built Motorsports)
19T Mitchel Moles/Raisin City, California (Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports)
21D Justin Dickerson/Pittsboro, Indiana (Mike Dickerson)
21H Brady Bacon/Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (TKH Motorsports)
21J (R) Kameron Key/Warrensburg, Missouri (TKH Motorsports)
21K Karter Sarff/Mason City, Illinois (Jayme Sarff)
22 John Heydenreich/Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania (John Heydenreich)
22p (R) Taylor Courtney/Indianapolis (RAMCO Speed Group)
23 (R) Preston Lattomus/Lewes, Delaware (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
25 Jacob Denney/Galloway, Ohio (Tom Malloy)
25K Taylor Reimer/Bixby, Oklahoma (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
25m (R) Jake Andreotti/Castro Valley, California (Tom Malloy)
27 (R) Keith Rauch/Thornton, Colorado (Bourke Motorsports)
27B (R) Jake Bubak/Arvada, Colorado (Bourke Motorsports)
32 Gary Taylor/Snohomish, Washington (Brian Dunlap)
36 Ian Creager/Covington, Ohio (Tod Creager)
40 Chase McDermand/Springfield, Illinois (Mounce-Stout Motorsports)
40B Blake Brannon/Morgan Hill, California (Blake Brannon)
40x (R) Zach Wigal/Belpre, Ohio (Chase McDermand)
41 Oliver Akard/Fort Myers, Florida (Team OMR)
44 (R) Adam Andretti/Brownsburg, Indiana (Jeff Johnson)
46 (R) Kenney Johnson/Bethany, Connecticut (Jeff Johnson)
54 Matt Westfall/Pleasant Hill, Ohio (Steve Bordner)
55 (R) Trevor Cline/Mooresville, North Carolina (Troy Cline)
55D Nick Drake/Mooresville, North Carolina (Troy Cline)
56 (R) Mitchell Davis/Auburn, Illinois (Pat O’Dell)
57 Logan Seavey/Sutter, California (Abacus Racing)
57A Daniel Robinson/Wayne City, Illinois (RAB Racing)
58 (R) Daniel Whitley/Ferndale, California (Abacus Racing)
67 Ryan Timms/Oklahoma City (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
67K Buddy Kofoid/Penngrove, California (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
68 Emerson Axsom/Franklin, Indiana (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71 Jade Avedisian/Clovis, California (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71E Mariah Ede/Fresno, California (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
71T (R) Kyler Johnson/Quinter, Kansas (Todd Henry)
75AU Bryan Stanfill/Bakersfield, California (Griffiths Motorsports)
81 Bryant Wiedeman/Colby, Kansas (CB Industries)
85 Jerry Coons Jr./Tucson, Arizona (Central Motorsports)
86 Cannon McIntosh/Bixby, Oklahoma (CB Industries)
88 Tanner Thorson/Minden, Nevada (Tanner Thorson Racing)
89 Kaylee Bryson/Muskogee, Oklahoma (CB Industries)
97 (R) Gavin Miller/Allentown, Pennsylvania (Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports)
99 (R) Don O’Keefe Jr. /Union City, California (Carson-Segur Racing)
99K (R) Robert Carson/Concord, California (Carson-Segur Racing)
118 (R) Scott Evans/Rhome, Texas (Scott Evans)
136 Chris Baue/Indianapolis (Bill Baue)
(R) -- BC39 Rookie
BC39 Feature Winners: 2018-Brady Bacon, 2019-Zeb Wise, 2020-Not Held, 2021-Kyle Larson, 2022-Buddy Kofoid
Stoops Pursuit Winners: 2018-Zeb Wise, 2019-Kyle Larson, 2020-Not Held, 2021-Kyle Larson, 2022-Dominic Gorden
USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship Points: 1. Logan Seavey 1,297, 2. Bryant Wiedeman 1,088, 3. Justin Grant 1,066, 4. Ryan Timms 1,041, 5. Daison Pursley 1,037, 6. Jade Avedisian 1,031, 7. Jacob Denney 965, 8. Gavin Miller 945, 9 Cannon McIntosh 868, 10 Taylor Reimer 818.