BC39 ENTRY LIST SURGES TO 68: WISE, THORSON & KOFOID ARE IN!
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Indianapolis, Indiana (August 11, 2021)………Zeb Wise, Tanner Thorson, Buddy Kofoid and more have added their names to the continuously growing entry list for the USAC Driven2SaveLives BC39 Powered By NOS Energy Drink, which has surged to 68 entries for the August 18-19 Midget racing event at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Teams can file their entry for the event at https://www.thebc39.com/ until the deadline on Thursday, August 12, at Noon Eastern. Also, there on the website, individuals may also purchase tickets, pit and parking passes for the two-night USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event.
Wise (Angola, Ind.), who’ll wheel the Matt Wood Racing No. 37 in this year’s event, was victorious in the most recent BC39 held in 2019, making the winning pass seven laps from the finish to win the $15,000 event. He also scored the first midget victory of any kind at The Dirt Track at IMS during the Stoops Pursuit in 2018.
Thorson (Minden, Nev.) and Kofoid (Penngrove, Calif.) lead two of the top teams with the series and both are making their BC39 debuts this year. Thorson, the 2016 USAC National Midget champion, is one of three Reinbold-Underwood Motorsports entries along USAC Rookies Chase Randall (Waco, Texas) and Hayden Reinbold (Gilbert, Ariz.).
Kofoid, the current USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget point leader, is one of seven entries from the Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports bunch, all of whom are BC39 Rookies, with Kofoid being joined by two-time series winner Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.), Bryant Wiedeman (Colby, Kan.), Brenham Crouch (Lubbock, Texas), Kaylee Bryson (Muskogee, Okla.), Taylor Reimer (Bixby, Okla.) and Jonathan Shafer (Ashland, Ohio).
New Zealand midget champion Hayden Williams brings an international flair to the event in a BSL Racing machine while versatile wheelman Gary Taylor has filed his entry to compete for car owner Brian Dunlap.
Already previously entered for the BC39 are USAC’s three-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion and 2018 inaugural BC39 winner Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.), who will be on hand as will newly-crowned 2021 Indiana Sprint Week champion Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.).
Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.), the 2020 USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National champion, aims to make his third start in the event following a 3rd place finish in 2019. Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) captured the 2018 series crown and will also be eying a third BC39 start after finishing a personal best 5th in 2019. Spencer Bayston (Lebanon, Ind.), the series’ 2017 king, will go after his second start in the event following a 20th place result in 2019.
2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott (Dawsonville, Ga.) will make his BC39 debut this year. The driver with the most laps led in this year’s Indianapolis 500, Conor Daly (Noblesville, Ind.), will make his third consecutive appearance in the BC39. NASCAR Rookie of the Year contender Chase Briscoe (Mitchell, Ind.), the winner of the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard on the 2.439 mile road course in 2020, aims to make his second-straight BC39 feature start.
Ryan Newman will compete in one of four Clauson Marshall Racing entries. Newman (South Bend, Ind.), an 18-time NASCAR Cup Series winner, captured the 2008 Daytona 500 and the 2013 Brickyard 400 on the 2.5-mile paved oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was a USAC National champion earlier in his career with the Silver Crown series in 1999.
Two-time USAC National champion and recent Kings Royal winner, Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.), returns for a third BC39 start after finishing 4th in 2018 and charged from 20th to 2nd in the 2019 event. CMR teammates joining Newman and Courtney include the series’ youngest ever winner, Corey Day (Clovis, Calif.), along with series veteran Cole Bodine (Rossville, Ind.).
Also new to the 2021 BC39 entry list is the RMS Racing team of reigning USAC Silver Crown champion Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) and Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.), a two-time winner in the USAC National Midget division this year. Terry Klatt and Bob East have entered a car for multi-time USAC National Midget feature winner Jason McDougal (Broken Arrow, Okla.).
USAC career Triple Crown champion and 2018 ninth-place BC39 finisher Jerry Coons Jr. (Tucson, Ariz.) is officially entered along with 1989 USAC National Midget champion Russ Gamester (Peru, Ind.) who is making his third consecutive appearance in the event.
Two-time 2021 USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature winner Emerson Axsom (Franklin, Ind.) will get his first taste of BC39 experience this year. Shane Cottle (Kansas, Ill.) has won twice on the USAC Regional Midget trail in 2021 and seeks his first BC39 start since 2018 in August.
The event on the quarter-mile dirt oval inside Turn 3 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.
Spectator tickets can be purchased directly at https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/usac/buy-tickets. Spectators are to enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway via 30th Street.
Brady Bacon (2018) and Zeb Wise (2019) have captured victories in the first two editions of the BC39.
The USAC Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink gets amped up on Tuesday, August 17, with the BC39 Draft Party where drivers will choose their heat race positions for the opening night of the BC39. The Draft Party will be held at the Brickyard Crossing located at 4400 W. 16th Street in Indianapolis, Ind.
The BC39 officially gets underway on Tuesday, August 17, with team parking at Noon Eastern. On track action begins Wednesday, August 18, beginning with the drivers meeting in the IMS Media Room at 2pm Eastern. Public gates open at 3pm with cars hitting the track for practice at 4pm, followed by opening ceremonies at 7pm. Heat races and the incredibly exciting Stoops Pursuit feature race will conclude the night’s racing action.
The finale, on Thursday, August 19, will have the public gates opening at 3pm and cars on track for practice at 4pm, with qualifying races to follow at 5pm. Opening ceremonies are slated for 7:30pm and immediately followed by the main feature events, starting with multiple D-Mains and C-Mains, the semi-feature and the 39-lap main event.
This year’s Driven2SaveLives BC39 Powered by NOS Energy Drink also will be the conclusion of nearly a week of exciting action on the road course and The Dirt Track at IMS. The NASCAR-INDYCAR tripleheader takes place Aug. 13-15, with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and NASCAR Xfinity Series conducting separate races Saturday, Aug. 14 and the NASCAR Cup Series racing on the IMS road course for the first time Sunday, Aug. 15.
Spectator tickets can be purchased directly at https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/usac/buy-tickets. Spectators are to enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway via 30th Street.
Visit www.IMS.com for more information on tickets to all IMS events in 2021.
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ENTRY LIST: 2021 DRIVEN2SAVELIVES BC39 POWERED BY NOS ENERGY DRINK
(68 entries as of August 11, 2021)
01 BRYANT WIEDEMAN/Colby, KS
1K TBA (Rusty Kunz/RMS Racing)
1NZ HAYDEN WILLIAMS/Auckland, NZ
2c TREVOR CASEY/Altoona, IA
2J JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA
2MD CARSON KVAPIL/Mooresville, NC
3G KYLE CUMMINS/Princeton, IN
4 JASON McDOUGAL/Broken Arrow, OK
4K KAMERON GLADISH/Indianapolis, IN
5 KEVIN THOMAS JR./Cullman, AL
5B CHASE BRISCOE/Mitchell, IN
6BC RYAN NEWMAN/South Bend, IN
7BC TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN
7x THOMAS MESERAULL/San Jose, CA
8 RANDI PANKRATZ/Atascadero, CA
9 CHASE ELLIOTT/Dawsonville, GA
9m ZACH DAUM/Pocahontas, IL
11 JEFF SCHINDLER/Evansville, IN
11L AARON LEFFEL/Springfield, OH
11m AIDEN PURDUE/Clinton, IL
15 EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN
15x CARSON GARRETT/Littleton, CO
17 TANNER BERRYHILL/Bixby, OK
17B AUSTIN BARNHILL/Wilmington, NC
19A CHASE RANDALL/Waco, TX
19AZ HAYDEN REINBOLD/Gilbert, AZ
19K RILEY KREISEL/Warsaw, MO
19M ETHAN MITCHELL/Mooresville, NC
19T TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV
21D JUSTIN DICKERSON/Pittsboro, IN
21H BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK
21K KARTER SARFF/Mason City, IL
25 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA
25K TAYLOR REIMER/Bixby, OK
25v BEN VARNER/Harbor Springs, MI
26 CHANCE CRUM/Snohomish, WA
32 GARY TAYLOR/Snohomish, WA
36 IAN CREAGER/Covington, OH
37 ZEB WISE/Angola, IN
38 CHASE McDERMAND/Springfield, IL
39BC COLE BODINE/Rossville, IN
40 BLAKE BRANNON/Morgan Hill, CA
41 OLIVER AKARD/Fort Myers, FL
43 RONNIE GARDNER/Corona, CA
46 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN
47BC COREY DAY/Clovis, CA
47D CONOR DALY/Noblesville, IN
49 JOE B. MILLER/Millersville, MO
57 MARIA COFER/Macdoel, CA
63 FRANKIE GUERRINI/San Rafael, CA
67 BUDDY KOFOID/Penngrove, CA
67K JONATHAN SHAFER/Ashland, OH
71 KAYLEE BRYSON/Muskogee, OK
71K DAISON PURSLEY/Locust Grove, OK
71T ZAC TAYLOR/Green River, WY
72 SAM JOHNSON/St. Peters, MO
75AU BRYAN STANFILL/Bakersfield, CA
81G RYLAN GRAY/Greenfield, IN
84 SPENCER BAYSTON/Lebanon, IN
85 JERRY COONS JR./Tucson, AZ
85T RYAN TIMMS/Oklahoma City, OK
86 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL
88 TYLER NELSON/Olathe, KS
89 CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL
97 BRENHAM CROUCH/Lubbock, TX
98 TOMMY KOUNS/Lebanon, IN
99 COLTON HEATH/Marysville, WA
116 SCOTT EVANS/Rhome, TX