Category: Auto Racing

A Great Way to End the Racing Season

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IMS photo by Chris Jones

Indycar withdrawal can be a brutal thing, but thanks to IMS, I was able to slowly ease into the off season with two events at the brickyard the Battle on the Bricks featuring the IMSA series and the BC39 Driven to Save Lives USAC midget race last night.

The two events, both far different from Indycar, and miles apart when compared to each other gave me a taste of racing and helped ease me away from Indycar.

I had not attended the BC39 since its first year, when I remember a lot of inaugural event kinks. I’m happy to report, there has been major improvement in the program. More on that in a bit.

I have to get to more midget shows in 2024. The racing is fun, close, action packed. The duel between Thomas Meseraull and eventual winner Justin Grant was edge of your seat thrilling. I wish Meseraull had not hit the wall with right laps left. The finish would have been amazing.

This is pure racing. There are no concerns about saving fuel or having the distraction of calculating pit strategy. The drivers go out and just face full bore.

On the two nights that I attended, the program ran very efficiently. I have been to sprint and midget races in the past where the feature race didn’t get started until almost midnight. I was home by 11 each night.

A friend who has been to the Chili Bowl told me that he wished the Chili Bowl ran as efficiently as the BC39.

Fan Friendly Improvements

The biggest improvement I noticed was moving the Shaw Grandstand to the track’s backstretch. The location provides fora better view of the track. In addition, fans get a view of the pagoda lit up.

The track lighting seemed brighter than I remember it. The midway had more food and merchandise vendors.

Transporting fans from the parking lots to the oval turn 3 area was quick. Vans and carts were waiting in the parking areas to whisk spectators to the track area.

Getting back to cars after the race is an area which needs work. None of the workers seemed to know where fans should stand to get a ride to their parking area. Designated drop off and pick up points for the north and south parking areas would be an easy fix.

Labeling the rows in the infield parking lot would help fans find their cars in the dark. The driver on Friday asked me what row my car was parked in. I had no clue.

I heard talk that this event may move to brickyard week next year to attract some Nascar drivers to participate. I am not in favor of that. This race was a great way to end my season. The weather was pleasant, and I had no other racing distractions. I’m fine with it right here.

A Film Note

Heartland International Film Festival will have the premiere of Lionheart, a documentary about Dan Wheldon, Thursday October 5, at Newfields. The show is sold out, but they have added a second presentation Saturday, October 14, at 7 pm, also at Newfields. Tickets are still available for the second presentation.

Go to https://tickets.heartlandfilmfestival.org/schedule for tickets.

Grant Wins BC39 after Fierce Fight with Teammate 

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IMS photo

From IMS. I will have my thoughts up later.


 INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023) – Justin Grant, a childhood friend and longtime competitor of event namesake Bryan Clauson, prevailed in a fierce duel with teammate Thomas Meseraull to win the fifth running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 feature race Saturday night at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Grant, from Ione, California, earned $20,039 for the victory in the 39-lap USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature that honors late USAC champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Clauson while increasing awareness of and participation in the Indiana Donor Network and Drive2SaveLives.
Grant also won the preliminary feature Friday night on the quarter-mile dirt oval inside Turn 3 of IMS.
“He was an awfully good race driver, great person, and it’s an honor to race here in his memory,” Grant said of Clauson, who died in August 2016 after a racing accident. “To come in here and win at IMS, to win a race for Bryan Clauson, everything in his honor, it really means a lot to me.”
Pole sitter Emerson Axsom finished second in the No. 68 Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports car, while Logan Seavey placed third in the No. 57 Abacus Racing car.
Grant won by a comfortable 2.094 seconds even as he navigated heavy lapped traffic over the closing laps. But as with many statistics in racing, that margin of victory was deceptive.Halfway through the feature, teammates Grant and Meseraull were engaged in a ferocious race for the top spot, nearly colliding numerous times and probably causing heartburn for RMS Racing owner Dave Estep. Grant had climbed from the fourth starting spot to duel for the lead against Meseraull, who won the Thursday night preliminary feature and started second in tonight’s feature.
Meseraull slid under Grant in Turn 4 on Lap 25 to take the top spot – one of numerous lead changes between Grant, Meseraull and Axsom from the early going past the halfway point. Grant then tapped a lapped car in Turn 1 on the next lap and lost momentum, giving Meseraull some breathing room out front.
But Grant stayed on his preferred high line around the bullring while lapped traffic slowed Meseraull, and Grant was right back on the rear nerf bar of fellow Californian Meseraull with 11 laps remaining.
The deciding moment occurred with eight laps to go when Meseraull slid high exiting Turn 4 and climbed the wall, with his right-side tires riding the top of the concrete wall while his left tires stayed on the clay oval. Grant squirted past for the lead and never trailed thereafter, while Meseraull kept control of his car after the wild wall ride and stayed in the throttle, eventually finishing fifth.
“I was hustling as hard as I could there, and I know T-Mez (Meseraull) was hustling hard, too,” Grant said. “It was really, really tricky down there. It felt like we got to pushing each other harder and harder and harder. It’s unbelievable.”
From there, Grant deftly navigated tricky lapped traffic in the 25-car field to power to what he called one of the biggest victories of his career.
Grant also has an IMS connection through his late father-in-law, Bubby Jones, who raced in the 1977 Indianapolis 500.
“It was really hard when you get to lapped traffic,” Grant said. “You couldn’t get in at the rate you needed to get in, so your car was unloaded behind those guys. It was almost really hard to pass lapped traffic, so I felt like we kept getting back to each other in lap traffic. Just a ton of fun.”
Grant said one of his turning points in the race came after Daniel Whitley flipped into the fence between Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 4, pausing the race for more than 20 minutes for fence repairs. Whitley was unhurt, and Grant used the down time to settle his mind and prepare for a looming fight.
“We were kind of riding around early,” Grant said. “We weren’t the best car; we weren’t the fastest. But I just knew as soon as it got slick, curved up, technical, I can go to work. We got that yellow there, and OK, it was time to regroup and go to work here.”
Seventy-two cars participated in this three-night event at IMS, making the Driven2SaveLives BC39 the largest USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship field of the year.

BC39 Championship Night

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Today’s Schedule

All times eastern time

4:00 PM – 10:00 PM GATES OPEN

6:00 PM

HOT LAP SESSIONS (TBD GROUPS)

7:00 PM

OPENING CEREMONIES

7:10 PM

QUALIFYING RACES (TBD RACES)

E Main (if necessary) – 10 Laps

D Main 1 – 10 Laps

D Main 2 – 10 Laps

C Main 1 – 12 Laps

C Main 2 – 12 Laps

B Main 1 – 12 Laps

B Main 2 – 12 Laps

Last Chance Feature – 15 Laps

9:30 PM

DRIVEN2SAVELIVES BC39 FEATURE RACE

39 Laps

* Start Time Approximate

After a rough and tumble, elbows out battle last night the USAC midget drivers vie for a spot in the weekend’s main event tonight. heavy favorite are the preliminary night winners, Thomas Meseraull and Justin Grant.

Logan Seavey will have some work to do to get to the front, but he is in better shape than former winner Brady Bacon. Bacon did not start in last night’s feature and will have to work hard to qualify for the feature.

Might we see the first female winner at IMS? Jade Avedisian won her heat race Thursday night, and Taylor Reimer finished second in Thursday’s feature race.

Grant Rules Feature; Daum Goes Low To Win Stoops Pursuit 

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IMS Photo

From IMS:


 INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Sept. 29, 2023) – Justin Grant led the last 11 laps to capture the 30-lap feature Friday during the second night of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, keeping RMS Racing unbeaten in the two preliminary feature events.
Grant’s teammate, Thomas Meseraull, won the 30-lap preliminary feature Thursday night in the split-field format for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship drivers and teams.
Grant, from Ione, California, powered to a 2.947-second victory over runner-up Cannon McIntosh to earn $5,000 in RMS Racing’s No. 2 car. Emerson Axsom finished a close third to earn a guaranteed starting spot in the 39-lap feature Saturday night along with Grant and McIntosh.
“We’re here racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of all you great fans, and I’m not going to phone it in and come third if we can help it,” Grant said. “Our RMS race cars are fast. I feel like it could be a slugfest between me and Thomas tomorrow. Neither one of us are very good at playing nice guy. Should be entertaining, should be exciting tomorrow.”
The 39-lap BC39 feature is scheduled to start at 9:30 p.m. ET Saturday on the quarter-mile dirt oval inside Turn 3 of the IMS oval. Twenty-four cars will take the green flag for a winner’s purse of $20,039
.Public gates open at 4 p.m., with access permitted through IMS’ 30th Street entrance. Hot laps begin at 6 p.m. Opening ceremonies are scheduled for 7 p.m., followed by qualifying races. Tickets and paddock passes are available at IMS.com/BC39.
In the Friday night feature, Axsom took the lead from pole sitter McIntosh on Lap 3. Meanwhile, Grant, who started fifth after winning his qualifier and heat race earlier in the evening, bumped past McIntosh for second with 14 laps to go and set sail for Axsom.
With 11 laps to go, Grant slid past Axsom for the lead and never relinquished it despite a restart with seven laps to go. Grant now has a victory in all three USAC National series this season – Silver Crown, Sprint Car and Midget.

Low Rider Daum Powers to Pursuit Victory
Zach Daum never wavered from his preferred low line and drove to victory in the Stoops Pursuit race that closed the evening’s on-track action.
Daum, from Pocohontas, Illinois, earned $2,400 for the victory in the 25-lap race featuring a unique format. Ethan Mitchell finished second, .848 of a second behind. McIntosh placed third.
“That wasn’t a 25-lap setup there,” Daum said. “But it was a good five-lap run before they could get momentum. So, I kind of figured that’s how it was going to play out. So, I went for it, and it worked out.”
The Stoops Pursuit race was comprised of 25 laps split into five-lap segments, with the starting lineup inverted based on each driver’s hot lap times during Thursday and Friday’s programs. Any car involved in a caution was eliminated. Every five laps, a competition yellow flag was displayed, and cars with a net loss in position exited the track.Daum started sixth in the No. 7p car fielded by RAMCO Speed Group and climbed to third by the end of the second five-lap segment. He was one of the few drivers to stay glued to the inside of the track while other cars rode the high line “cushion,” including Mitchell.
Mitchell and Daum were first and second after the end of the third and fourth segments, setting up a fascinating contrast of styles and car placement for the final five-lap sprint to the checkered.
“I didn’t really feel any pressure in the middle part of the race when I was just kind of sizing up Ethan there,” Daum said.
“The last five laps I decided, ‘Just don’t screw up, hit the bottom, slow your entry down, and you can gas on exit.’ We were able to do that.”
With four laps to go, Mitchell lost momentum after brushing the wall, letting Daum pull even at the flag stand and start to drive away with three laps remaining.
“Once you get the lead that early in a format like this, it’s tough to stay out front and fend guys off,” Mitchell said. “Unfortunately, we came back second place, but that’s what Zach does. He rolls the bottom solid, and all it takes is one mistake on my part.”
Seventy-two cars are participating this week at IMS, making the Driven2SaveLives BC39 the largest USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship field of the year.
The event, which is being held for the fifth time, honors USAC champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bryan Clauson while increasing awareness of and participation in the Indiana Donor Network and Drive2SaveLives.

BC39 Night 3 with Night 1 Added

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IMS photo

Tonight’s schedule includes the Stoops Pursuit Race, originally scheduled for Wednesday, added to the end of the regular Friday program.

The schedule:

4:00 PM – 10:00 PM

GATES OPEN

Gate RegulationsView Open Gates, Stands

6:00 PM

ENGINE HEAT

6:30 PM

HOT LAP SESSIONS (TBD GROUPS)

7:00 PM

OPENING CEREMONIES

7:10 PM

HEAT RACES (TBD RACES)

Heat Races will be TBD laps each.

View Race Format

8:00 PM

QUALIFYING RACES (TBD RACES)

* Start Time Approximate

C Main (if necessary) – TBD Laps

B Main – TBD Laps

A Main – TBD Laps

View Race Format

9:45 PM

STOOPS PURSUIT

24 Starts – 25 Total Laps

  • Heat Race Winners
  • Top In Qualifying Points From Each Heat
  • Up To Four (4) Promoter Options

Format:

  • 24 Cars Start By Time Inversion
  • Five 5-Lap Segments
  • After each 5-Lap Segment, a competition caution is thrown
  • Cars that have been passed will exit the track
  • Winner receives $1500 PLUS $100 Per Car Passed

The 36 drivers participating tonight did not race last night. Featured tonight are Logan Seavey and Brady Bacon. Entry list for Friday

Meseraull Hangs On for BC39 Opening Night Victory 

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From IMS

 
INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023) – Short-track racer Thomas Meseraull escaped several tense moments Thursday night at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to win the first night of the Driven2SaveLives BC39, the largest USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event of the year.
The driver from San Jose, California had late-race contact with a lapped car, which drew a caution flag, then banged RMS Racing’s No. 7x off the Turn 4 wall. Smoke billowed as he roared down the front straightaway, but he managed to keep the lead. By the time the last corner came, Taylor Reimer was making a late charge on his inside.
Meseraull held on to score his first USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship race win of the season and earn $5,000 for the 30-lap victory. The win also gained him, along with Reimer and third-place-finishing Chase McDermand, a guaranteed spot in Saturday night’s main event, which pays $20,039 to the winner.Meseraull couldn’t believe where he scored this victory.
“(I) just picked up a win at IMS,” he said in jubilation. “How awesome is that?!”
Reimer started two positions behind Meseraull in fourth, and she, too, delivered her best finish of the year in a USAC midget. Now, it’s time to prepare for Saturday night’s 39-lap main event and the largest purse of the season.
“I honestly felt we were a little bit better than (Meseraull), but we just weren’t able to capitalize on his mistakes,” the driver of the No. 25k Keith Kunz w/Curb-Agajanian Toyota said.
“I tried to do a Hail Mary at the end, but I knew we weren’t close enough to him. It’s just awesome to be racing inside Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Like, this is so cool.”
Seventy-two cars are participating this week on the quarter-mile dirt track inside IMS, making the Driven2SaveLives BC39 the largest USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship field of the year. The event, which is being held for the fifth time, honors USAC champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bryan Clauson while increasing awareness of and participation in the Indiana Donor Network and Drive2SaveLives.
The second round of preliminary action will be held Friday night, and the field of 35 drivers is highlighted by Logan Seavey, the series points leader and dominant driver of the season.
Seavey, who earlier in the year won the Chili Bowl Nationals and Indiana Midget Week, became only the third driver in history to win all three USAC features – midgets, sprints and Silver Crown – at last weekend’s 4-Crown Nationals at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The other drivers to do so: Jack Hewitt in 1998 and Kyle Larson in 2011.
Seavey also has won six of his most recent 14 events and has a string of 14 consecutive top-five finishes, the most for a USAC midget driver since Jason Leffler’s championship season in 1997. Leffler had 21 in succession.
Seavey will be joined in Friday’s field by Brady Bacon, the inaugural winner of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 in 2018, and USAC midget feature winners Justin Grant, Ryan Timms, Zach Daum, Emerson Axsom, Daison Pursley and Gavin Miller. Bacon finished third in 2021 and eighth last year.
After Friday’s preliminary feature race, the popular Stoops Pursuit, which was postponed Wednesday by inclement weather, will be held.
Drivers eligible for that special race include all of those in the top 10 of the series’ season point standings, plus all of the heat race and qualifying race winners from Thursday and Friday night. Promoter options will start at the rear of the 24-car field.
The Stoops Pursuit race will be comprised of 25 laps split into five-lap segments with the starting lineup inverted based on each drier’s hot lap times during Thursday and Friday’s programs. Any car involved in a caution will be eliminated. Every five laps, a competition yellow flag will be displayed, and cars with a net loss in position will be asked to exit the track.
A checkered flag will end the final segment with the winner earning $1,500 plus $100 for each position gained.
Public gates open at 4 p.m., with access permitted through IMS’ 30th Street entrance. Hot laps begin at 6 p.m. followed by a series of eight-lap heat races, 10-lap qualifying races, a 12-lap semi-feature and the $5,000-to-win feature race, which will span 30 laps.
Tickets and paddock passes are available at IMS.com/BC39. 
 

First Night of BC39 Washed Out; All Cars on Track Thursday 

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From IMS:

 INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023) – Persistent rain and thunderstorms Wednesday evening forced the cancellation of the first night of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Gates will open at 4 p.m. ET Thursday at the quarter-mile dirt track inside Turn 3 of the IMS oval.
All 72 cars entered in one of the most prestigious USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship events of the season will be eligible to participate Thursday, with the first practice at 5 p.m.
Among the events rained out Wednesday was the Stoops Pursuit race. IMS and USAC officials are working to find a slot in the remaining three days of on-track action Thursday through Saturday to stage the popular race, a 25-lap event split into five-lap segments in which cars with a net loss in position will be removed from the track after each segment.
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 24 drivers competing in the 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.
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. each of the three remaining days. 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. 

Big, Elite Field Set To Race for Four Nights in BC39 at IMS 

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From IMS


 INDIANAPOLIS (Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023) – 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.

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.