By Richie Murray
Speedway, Indiana (September 5, 2023)………Inaugural race winner Brady Bacon, C.J. Leary and Kevin Thomas Jr. are the latest additions to the Driven2SaveLives BC39 entry list, which now stands at 40 and growing for the fifth running of the event on September 27-30 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The BC39 regularly presents the highest USAC car counts of the year. The 2022 event produced 85 entries, fifth most in the 68-year history of USAC National Midget racing. The newest look at the 2023 entry list is at the bottom of this release.
** The price for a team filing an entry for the BC39 increases to $150 on Friday, September 8. The final cutoff for all BC39 entries is Monday, September 25. **
Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.), the 2018 BC39 winner, will drive one of two cars out of the TKH Motorsports stable during this year’s event alongside newcomer Kameron Key (Warrensburg, Mo.).
C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.), the 2019 USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Champion, will make his return to the BC39 in an entry fielded by Legacy Autosport.
Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.), who led the first laps in BC39 history during the 2018 event, is entered in a Mounce-Stout Motorsports entry alongside teammates Chase McDermand (Springfield, Ill.) and Preston Lattomus (Lewes, Del.).
Previously entered for this year’s BC39 are current USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget point leader and 2018 series champion Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) and top USAC Silver Crown Rookie Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.).
USAC Triple Crown champion Jerry Coons (Tucson, Ariz.) is entered for the four-night event as is three-time USAC National Midget winner Jacob Denney (Galloway, Ohio), 2023 series winner Zach Daum (Pocahontas, Ill.), USAC national feature winner Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio), 2022 series Rookie of the Year Mitchel Moles (Raisin City, Calif.), plus two-time USAC National Midget feature winner Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.).
CBI has also filed entries for 2023 USAC National Midget feature winner Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.), who finished 11th in the 2022 BC39. Brent Crews (Oklahoma City, Okla.), a recent ARCA Stock Car winner at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, will make his BC39 debut with CBI.
DRIVER REGISTRATION IS OPEN
Driver registration is now officially open for the fifth running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39. Teams can file their entry for the event at https://usacracing.ticketspice.com/2023-bc39, where they may also purchase grandstand tickets, pit and parking passes for the event.
The price for a team filing an entry for the BC39 increases to $150 on Friday, September 8. The final cutoff for all BC39 entries is Monday, September 25.
There are three options for viewing the racing action and also having pit pass access. You can purchase a competitor pit pass only where no seat is included with limited viewing of the track.
Secondly, you can purchase a competitor pit pass with reserved seating included, which are available in the lower level of the main grandstands.
You may also purchase a grandstand seat from the IMS ticketing site with a pit pass upgrade. Competitors must enter IMS via the 16th Street tunnel.
Each entry filed will come with two VIP parking passes for inside parking at IMS, intended for driver and entrant. All others must either purchase inside parking or park outside of turns three and four of 2.5-mile paved oval track.
Spectator tickets are also available www.TheBC39.com. Spectators are to enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway via 30th Street.
The event on the quarter-mile dirt oval inside turn three at IMS 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.
Brady Bacon (2018), Zeb Wise (2019), Kyle Larson (2021) and Buddy Kofoid (2022) have captured victories in the first four editions of the BC39.
The BC39 officially gets underway on Tuesday, September 26 with team parking at 3pm Eastern followed by a BC39 Welcome Party at 6pm at USAC Headquarters.
On track action begins Wednesday, September 27, beginning with the drivers meeting in the IMS Media Room at 3pm Eastern. Public gates open at 4pm with cars hitting the track for practice at 7pm, followed by the incredibly exciting Stoops Pursuit feature race which will conclude the night’s racing action at 9pm. In this event, 25 cars will start and compete in five, five-lap segments. If a driver gets passed in any segment, they are eliminated.
For Thursday and Friday, September 28-29, the field will be split into two with one half of the field competing on night one and the other half competing on night two. On both nights, public gates open at 4pm Eastern with hot laps at 6pm, followed by qualifying, opening ceremonies, heat races, the C-Main, the Semi-Feature and the Feature event.
The finale, on Saturday, September 30, will have the public gates opening at 4pm and cars on track for practice at 6pm, followed by opening ceremonies at 7pm and the main events, starting with the D-Main, multiple C-Mains, Semi-Feature and the 39-lap Feature event paying $20,039-to-win.
2023 DRIVEN2SAVELIVES BC39 ENTRIES
(40 cars as of September 5, 2023)
1 Justin Zimmerman
1D Landon Brooks
1G Connor Wolf
7c Josh Bilicki
7m Kyle Jones
7p Zach Daum
8 Randi Pankratz
11 Clinton Boyles
11L Aaron Leffel
14 C.J. Leary
18N Weston Gorham
19 Daison Pursley
19AZ Hayden Reinbold
19K Kevin Thomas Jr.
19T Mitchel Moles
21D Justin Dickerson
21H Brady Bacon
21J Kameron Key
21K Karter Sarff
22 John Heydenreich
22p Taylor Courtney
23 Preston Lattomus
25 Jacob Denney
25m Jake Andreotti
27 Keith Rauch
27B Jake Bubak
36 Ian Creager
40 Chase McDermand
40B Blake Brannon
40x Zach Wigal
41 Oliver Akard
44 Adam Andretti
46 Kenney Johnson
54 Matt Westfall
57 Logan Seavey
81 Bryant Wiedeman
85 Jerry Coons Jr.
86 Brent Crews
89 Kaylee Bryson
118 Scott Evans