8/17/2019
STENHOUSE JOINS BC39 FIELD AS ENTRY LIST SKYROCKETS PAST 60
Speedway, Indiana ........Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. headlines the newest group of drivers for the second running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink with the entry list for the September 4-5 event at The Dirt Track at IMS surging to 62 cars with still two weeks remaining until the entry cutoff on Thursday night, August 29 at https://www.thebc39.com/.
Stenhouse (Olive Branch, Miss.), a veteran of 243 starts on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series tour, has an extensive background in USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget racing, earning five wins and Rookie of the Year honors in 2007. In 2015, he won again indoors at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin. Stenhouse started 11th and finished 11th in last year's BC39 for Clauson/Marshall Racing, with who he'll be competing for again, joined alongside CMR's full-time combatants, series point leader and six-time winner Tyler Courtney (Indianapolis, Ind.), two-time winners Chris Windom (Canton, Ill.) and Zeb Wise (Angola, Ind.) along with leading series Rookie Andrew Layser (Collegeville, Pa.).
Stenhouse, a two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series champion in 2011-12, has two career wins at the Cup level, both of which came in 2017 at Talladega and Daytona. He's also made starts in each of the last six editions of the Big Machine Vodka 400 at the Brickyard powered by Florida Georgia Line, finishing a best of 12th in 2016.
Also joining the list of BC39 entries is 2005 & 2006 Indiana Midget Week champion Shane Cottle (Kansas, Ill.) for car owner Bill Ecker. Cottle is a multi-time winner in all three of USAC's National divisions in his career and owns three career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget feature wins. This past July, he emerged victorious on the final lap in one of the closest races in USAC history in a photo finish at Gas City I-69 Speedway during Indiana Sprint Week.
Critter Malone possesses one of the best names in all of racing. He's also a two-time USAC National Midget feature winner as he aims to make his first BC39 main event start in his own Seven LLC ride. He's joined by SFH Racing Development's two-car lineup of recent Bloomington Regional Midget winner Chase Jones (Greenwood, Ind.) and Kyle O'Gara (Beech Grove, Ind.), brother-in-law to nine-time Indianapolis 500 starter Sarah Fisher.
Defending BC39 winner Brady Bacon, along with July Fairbury, Neb. winner Jason McDougal, are a part of the Broken Arrow, Okla. connection teamed with FMR Racing for the race. Bacon, a two-time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car champion, led the final nine laps to capture the inaugural event a year ago.
Three past USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champs in Christopher Bell (Norman, Okla.), Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) and Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) lead an eight-car assault from the Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian stable, which also features May's NASCAR Monster Energy All-Star Race winner Kyle Larson (Elk Grove, Calif.), plus July Sweet Springs, Mo. winner Tanner Carrick (Lincoln, CA), plus series Rookie Jesse Colwell (Red Bluff, Calif.), Holley Hollan (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Tucker Klaasmeyer (Paola, Kans.).
Two-time series champs Jerry Coons, Jr. (Tucson, Ariz.) and Dave Darland (Lincoln, Ind.) are part of an all-star Petry Motorsports cast that also features Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Cullman, Ala.) who led a race-high 30 laps and finished 3rd in last year's BC39 main event.
Justin Grant (Ione, Calif.) took 7th in the 2018 BC39 and has already won once this season at Gas City I-69 Speedway during Indiana Midget Week, one of 12 different winners in the first 21 events of this season.
Michael Pickens, the winningest driver from New Zealand in the history of USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget racing with four series wins, will roll with the RMS LLC team at the BC39 alongside teammate Thomas Meseraull (San Jose, Calif.), a nine-time winner on the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car trail and a winner of last December's Junior Knepper 55 Midget race at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin.
Spencer Bayston, the 2017 USAC National Midget champion from Lebanon, Ind. is entered, along with 2018 Jason Leffler Memorial winner Tyler Thomas (Collinsville, Okla.), USAC National Sprint Car feature winners Brent Beauchamp (Avon, Ind.) and Matt Westfall (Pleasant Hill, Ohio), plus past USAC Western States Midget champion Shannon McQueen (Bakersfield, Calif.) among many others.
USAC Western States Midget point leader Robert Dalby (Anaheim, Calif.) returns for his second BC39 appearance. Dalby has won each of the last two USAC Western States Midget feature events at Merced Speedway and Santa Maria Raceway in California, the first two series victories for him in his career.
David Prickett (Fresno, Calif.), the 2012 USAC Western States Dirt Midget champ, will drive for Neverlift Motorsports in his second BC39 appearance. Meanwhile, Trey Osborne (Columbus, Ohio), a veteran of Kenyon Midget racing and the Little 500 at Anderson, will drive the famed yellow No. 61 for Mel Kenyon, USAC's winningest National Midget driver with 111 career victories and a four-time top-five finisher at the Indianapolis 500 between 1966 and 1973.
Teams can file their entry for the event at https://www.thebc39.com/, where they may also purchase pit and parking passes for the two-night USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship event.
With the expansion of grandstand seating around the quarter-mile dirt oval, teams purchasing pit passes for the BC39 will be able to add a grandstand seat. Five-hundred reserved seats in Tier 3 (lower level) have been made available for purchase at a discounted rate until August 15. Unsold tickets as of August 15 will be made available at public prices and may sell out.
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. Both options are available on https://www.thebc39.com/.
Competitor/crew seating has been added as a special general admission-only section in the main grandstand for the upcoming Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink at The Dirt Track at IMS on September 4-5. Pits are located outside turns three and four this year, giving competitors and crews direct access to the grandstands.
Competitors and crews have two options: 1) Purchase reserved seats at http://www.IMS.com/BC39 and upgrade to a pit pass there or... 2) Purchase a reserved 2-day pit pass at http://www.usacracing.ticketspice.com/2019-bc39 and upgrade to include a seat in the general seating section for crews/competitors only.
Additionally, parking will also be available on both ends of the track for those with infield parking passes.
Each entry filed will come with two VIP parking passes for inside parking at IMS. All others must either purchase inside parking or park outside of turns three and four of the 2.5-mile paved oval track.
Spectator tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/events/usac/buy-tickets.
The BC39 officially gets underway on Tuesday, Sept. 3 with team parking at noon. From 4-6pm, catch five USAC icons at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum's USAC Stars: From the Dirt Track to the Brickyard series. The event will feature legends Don and Mel Kenyon, and current drivers Michael Pickens, Chris Windom and Chad Boat. Pat Sullivan, longtime USAC public address announcer, historian, and author, will emcee this evening of entertaining banter and thrilling stories.
Tickets are available to Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum members for $15 and non-members for $20. Limited seating. Tickets must be purchased in advance. For more information or to buy tickets, contact Kelly Hartman at khartman@brickyard.com.
Following the event, make your way to USAC headquarters, just across the street from the IMS Administration office at 4910 W. 16th Street, where drivers will draw for their heat race positions at the BC39 opening night races. 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. The heat race position draft is open to the public with team members getting priority into the new USAC worldwide headquarters. Food and beverages will be available.
On track action begins Wednesday, Sept. 4, beginning with the drivers meeting in the IMS Media Room at 2pm. Public gates open at 3pm with cars hitting the track for practice at 4pm, followed by opening ceremonies at 7pm. Heat races and the Stoops Pursuit race will conclude the night's racing action.
The finale, on Thursday, Sept. 5, 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.
Article Credit: Richie Murry
