BC39 ENTRY LIST SURPASSES 40, RYAN NEWMAN & TYLER COURTNEY OFFICIALLY ENTER
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Indianapolis, Indiana (August 3, 2021)………Ryan Newman, Tyler Courtney, Justin Grant and Thomas Meseraull are among the latest drivers to file their entries for the Driven2SaveLives BC39 Powered by NOS Energy Drink, which now has 43 cars confirmed for the two-night USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget event on August 18-19 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Driver registration officially open until Noon Eastern on Thursday, August 12, for the third running of the event. Teams can file their entry for the event at https://www.thebc39.com/, where they may also purchase tickets, pit and parking passes for the two-night USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event.
Newman will compete in one of four Clauson Marshall Racing entries alongside Tyler Courtney, Corey Day and Cole Bodine. 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, 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.).
Previously entered for the event are 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion Chase Elliott (Dawsonville, Ga.) who 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.
Furthermore, USAC’s three-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion and 2018 inaugural BC39 winner Brady Bacon (Broken Arrow, Okla.) will be on hand as will newly-crowned 2021 Indiana Sprint Week champion Kevin Thomas Jr. (Cullman, Ala.).
USAC titlists are in abundance with USAC career Triple Crown champion and 2018 ninth-place BC39 finisher Jerry Coons Jr. (Tucson, Ariz.) 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 BC39 officially gets underway on Tuesday, August 17, with team parking at Noon Eastern followed by the heat race position draft at the USAC office, located at 4910 W. 16th Street, adjacent from turn one of IMS oval at 5:30pm. All cars entered will be randomized into a draft order for the heat race draft. Teams will be able to pick their heat race spot, either in person with a representative, or remotely through USAC officials. Any unrepresented team will be given the first available spot.
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.
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
(43 entries as of August 3, 2021)
1K TBA (Rusty Kunz/RMS Racing)
2c TREVOR CASEY/Altoona, IA
2J JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA
2MD CARSON KVAPIL/Mooresville, NC
4B 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 MESERUALL/San Jose, CA
8 RANDI PANKRATZ/Atascadero, CA
9 CHASE ELLIOTT/Dawsonville, GA
9m TBA (Bundy Built Motorsports)
11 JEFF SCHINDLER/Evansville, IN
11L AARON LEFFEL/Springfield, OH
11m TBA (Brian & Deidre Martin)
15 EMERSON AXSOM/Franklin, IN
17 TANNER BERRYHILL/Bixby, OK
17B AUSTIN BARNHILL/Wilmington, NC
19K RILEY KREISEL/Warsaw, MO
19M ETHAN MITCHELL/Mooresville, NC
21D JUSTIN DICKERSON/Pittsboro, IN
21H BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK
25v BEN VARNER/Harbor Springs, MI
26 CHANCE CRUM/Snohomish, WA
38 TBA (Craig Dori)
39BC COLE BODINE/Rossville, IN
40 BLAKE BRANNON/Morgan Hill, CA
43 RONNIE GARDNER/Corona, CA
46 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN
47BC COREY DAY/Clovis, CA
47D CONOR DALY/Noblesville, IN
57 MARIA COFER/Macdoel, CA
63 FRANKIE GUERRINI/San Rafael, CA
72 SAM JOHNSON/St. Peters, MO
75AU BRYAN STANFILL/Bakersfield, CA
81G RYLAN GRAY/Greenfield, IN
85 JERRY COONS JR./Tucson, AZ
86 SHANE COTTLE/Kansas, IL
88 TYLER NELSON/Olathe, KS
99 COLTON HEATH/Marysville, WA
116 SCOTT EVANS/Rhome, TX