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.
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.
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.
What caused Pete Kreis’s fatal crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1934? William Walker, a cousin of the driver, seeks the answer in this biography of Kreis. The accident is called the “strangest death in auto racing history.”
Walker builds the story through research and talks with Pete’s sister Hazel, the last of the Kreis line.
Albert Jacob “Pete” Kreis is the youngest son of John Kreis, who owns a railroad construction business and a dairy farm. The elder Kreis is a local legend who as a boy swam through a strong current in a river near Knoxville, Tennessee. His father is the sheriff of the community who brings law and order to the town in the late 1800s. John’s sons, Harman, John, and Pete, all strive for that one heroic act to emulate their father. Pete’s racing career comes the closest to achieving the hero status they all seek.
Pete Kreis
The Kreis sons convince John to purchase a Marmon. The boys commandeer the auto, and soon Harmon begins racing on a short dirt track. Pete soon begins his racing career at the age of fourteen. Pete’s racing skills continue to improve, and his father begins to explore how to advance his racing career.
In 1924, Pete drives a neighbor to town on an icy road. In his quest to get his friend to his appointment on time, the car slides on the ce, the car rolls over, and the neighbor dies.
Later that year, Pete gets a test to race for the Duesenberg brothers, who have the best race cars at the time. He joins the team and meets Peter de Paolo, who becomes his teammate and mentor.
The 1925 Indianapolis 500 established Pete as an up-and-coming talent. He qualifies ninth and finishes eighth. De Paolo wins the race at a record speed of 101.127 mph. His record stands for seven years.
Pete learns board track racing that summer. He gets off to an auspicious with a fifth place finish in his first start. Board track racing is dangerous, and a fatality is virtually expected at each event. Pete’s reputation is assured, and he heads into 1926 with a lot of confidence.
Kreis seems to have the car to beat as practice begins for the 500. Just before qualifying begins Pete contracts influenza and while in the hospital realizes he will be unable to compete. He allows rookie Frank Lockhart to drive the car.
Lockhart needs all three qualifying attempts to get in the field. He wins the race after starting 20th.
Pete has another decent year, although he has the reputation as a driver who is fast but hard on equipment. Several mechanical failures and crashes thwart good finishes.
Kreis also manages the family business which is beginning to take more and more of his time.
In 1934 Kreis comes to Indianapolis on the first of the month looking for a ride. It is not until May 24 that Harry Hartz offers him a ride in one of his Miller powered roadsters. The next day Pete takes the car out for practice. After several warmup laps, the car hits the turn 1 wall, rides along the top of it for 200 feet, then plunges over the barrier hitting a tree. Kries dies instantly, and his riding mechanic succumbs minutes later.
The cause of the accident is puzzling. There were no mechanical issues with the car, no tire marks indicating the driver lost control, no abnormalities on the track surface. What happened?
Walker begins to explore psychological reasons. Was Pete depressed? Did he lose focus? Could it have been suicide? Except for one missing element, suicide appears to be the cause.
Walker finds the missing piece of the puzzle in his final talk with Hazel before her death. Walker believes the case is now closed/
The biography takes a few chapters to really grab my interest, but I found it a fascinating look into the racing world of the 1920s and 30s. Besides De Paolo, Harry Hartz and Tommy Milton are featured, as well as the Duesenberg brothers and Harry Miiller.
I learned about a driver that I had not heard of before.
If you’re looking for an off season racing read, this is a good choice. The book is available at Octane Press.
The team started on the front row, and while the finishing order flipped from qualifying, the Penske Porsches finished first and second un the inaugural TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet were the winning drivers in the number 6. The pole car took the lead on the wild start, and the team cars stayed together virtually the entire race.
Pipo Derani took the lead during a caution when he was the only car to follow IMSA’s direction to pass the GTD cars. With the Porsches closing in, Derani locked the wheels entering turn 1 and the 31 battled for a while before fading to fourth at the end.
The race had just 13 laps of the 113 circuits run, all in the first hour. Sebastien Bourdais spun between turns 1 and 2, causing front end damage and leaving a large piece of debris on the track.
After the first 75 minutes the race settled down. The track was very busy with 48 cars on a track less than three miles long.. Leaders continually fought through traffic.
The Winners
Class winners:
GTP
Nick Tandy/Mathieu Jaminet Penske Porsche
LMP2
Steven Thomas/ Mikkel Jensen Oreca
LMP3
Anthony Mantella/Wayne Boyd Duqueine
GTD Pro
Daniel Juncadella/Jules Gounon Mercedes AMG
GTD
Russell Ward/Phillip Ellis Mercedes AMG
Thoughts
The race was fun to watch. Traffic was continuous. Drivers have to be very precise to deal with slower cars.
This was my first IMSA sprint race. It had a lot more energy and sense of urgency than an endurance race. The tension was palpable.
I liked that the scoring pylon had the class color underneath the number. It made it easy to find a particular car’s overall standing and its class position.
This morning’s autograph session had drivers signing outside their individual garages. It made for shorter lines and fans could get the drivers they wanted. Indycar used to do this. I wish they would go back to this system.
One thing I noticed was a lack of local television stations at the track this weekend. I looked on a couple of station’s websites and found just one story on each site. I guess it’s more important to cover Indianapolis’ mediocre football team than an historic race at IMS.
Attendance was decent. I’m guessing it was around 30,000, which is good for an IMSA stand alone event.
Thanks for following along this weekend. This was my first time covering an IMSA event. It is quite different from an Indy race weekend.
9:40-10:20 a.m.: Porsche Carrera Cup Race 2 (40 minutes)
10:40-11:30 a.m.: Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Race 2 (50 minutes)
Noon-12:50 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Pre-Race, Open Grid, Fan Walk
1:10-3:50 p.m.: IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks Race (2 hours, 40 minutes) NBC, Peacock
Toay begins a new era for IMS as sports cars begin what should be a longer run than the three years of Grand AM had in the early 2010s. The series has been fun to watch on track the last two days.
As I watched practice yesterday morning, I thought how proper it looked to have sports on the road course. These machines just looked like they belonged here.
Last night’s Michelin Pilot Challenge turned out to be a heck of a race. The last hour featured fierce battles for the lead in both classes. There was a lot of contact between the leaders, but it was mostly hard racing. Daniel Morad won the GS class. Mikey Taylor won the TCR trophy. Robert Wickens lost the lead with just three laps to go, and finished second, less than a second behind Taylor. It was great to see Wickens racing at IMS again.
The track looks great at night. like that the entire track isn’t lit. I felt there was the correct mix of lighted and dark areas.
Notes
Following the warmup, there will be a special demonstration run with the last Ferrari to win Le Mans prior to this year, and a 1966 Ford GT.
I thought the grid walk before the race yesterday afternoon seemed less crowded than usual. I discovered the reason. Virtually everyone had crowded around the car of Robert Wickens. Several Indycar drivers were there, including Alexander Rossi, Marus Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist, Jack Harvey, and Conor Daly.
I will try to have a quick pre race post and then a post after the race. Enjoy the race.
Matt Campbell was fast yesterday and even faster today. He led a Penske Porsche sweep of the front row for tomorrow’s TireRack,com Battle on the Bricks. (The event name needs some work, by the way)
Campbell was the first car to turn a lap in the 1:13s and he had a best lap of 1:13.672. Teammate Mathieu Jaminet, Acura driver Tom Blomqvist, and Cadillac driver Sebastien Bourdais also ran laps in the 1:13 bracket.
The 10 GTP cars were separated by 0.96 seconds.
Ben Keating won the pole in LMP2. The LMP 2 /LMP3 session was interrupted with seven minutes left when Bijo Garg ran head on into the tire barrier in turn six. Tine ran out on the session, but race officials allowed one more timed lap. Keating improved his time to seal the pole. Garg was leading LMP3 at the time of his crash. His time stood up.
Ben Keating on his way to the LMP2 pole.
Madison Snow won the pole in GTD and led the combined GTD and GTD Pro session in a Paul Miller owned BMW.
Klaus Bachler put the Pfaff motorsports Porsche on the GTD Pro pole.
Next uo today is the four hour Michelin Pilot Challenge which begins in an hour. Robert Wickens will start second. The race will be shown live on Peacock.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 