Unique format sets Driven2SaveLives BC39 range

Over the course of its short three-year history, the Driven2SaveLives BC39 USAC Midget race has quickly become one of the flagship events on the dirt track calendar. The 2021 edition starts on Wednesday evening August 18 and will be broadcast live on FloRacing.com (subscription required). The BC39 is held in honor of Indy 500 three-time starter Bryan Clauson, who was killed in a racing accident in 2016 in Belleville, Kans.

Clauson was an organ donor, and BC39 is sponsored by Driven2SaveLives.org raise awareness of organ donation.

In its inaugural edition in 2018, Brady Bacon surpassed 77 entries. This year’s race also features over 70 cars competing to make an A-Main that holds a maximum of 26.

The size of the land is not the only downside. Current IndyCar and NASCAR stars including Conor Daly, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott will gather on the quarter-mile dirt track built inside Turn 3 of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But first, the composition had to be defined.

Strategy came into play in the lineup. On Tuesday night, a draft allowed the drivers to choose where they wanted to start in one of the eight rounds that will set the rosters for Thursday. Since passing points come into play, starting deeper into the peloton offers some advantage, assuming you think you can reach the front of the peloton before the end of the 10 laps.

Sources close to @KyleLarsonRacin camp say they feel comfortable with selection slot # 2.

The team needs an outside starting point, preferably with a view to 6th, without being afraid to go all the way in 8th, however.

They want points to play the qualifying reversal.

– 𝙒𝘼𝙇𝙆𝘼𝙋𝙀𝘿𝙄𝘼 (@Walkapedia_) August 17, 2021

Shooting in second, Larson had one of the top picks and chose to roll the dice with an outside starting position on row 4 of round 5. With the third pick, Elliott on the inside of row 2 of round 2. Daly also took third place to start. in heat 3.

Hands’ Alphabet Soup on Thursday begins with D. Heat winners will advance to feature film, with the waypoints defining the rest of the positions.

With the draft, the big names spread out all night. Elliott comes out in Heat 2, Tyler Courtney and Chase Briscoe in Heat 3, Bacon and JJ Yeley in Heat 4, Larson in Heat 5, Daly and Ryan Newman in Heat 7 and Spencer Bayston in Heat 8.

It took a while for the Heat 5 to fill up after the drivers noted Larson was in this event.

In addition to the Wednesday night heats, the track will host the Stoops Pursuit race – a 25-lap race divided into five-lap segments with 24 starters, including the winners of the round. The starting line-up will be reversed by the fastest qualifying race time. It is important to move forward; every five laps the USAC will throw a competition flag and cars with a net loss of position will be forced out of the race.

This is all a prelude to Thursday’s feature film.

The 12-lap D-Mains will feature cars ranked between 45th and 76th for passing points. The 15-lap C-Main will feature cars ranked 31-44, as well as the top three D-Main. The B-Main will be 20 laps and will include pilots ranked 17-30, plus six pilots advancing from C.

The first six from B will join A.

The 39-lap A-Main feature will have 22 starters, plus two USAC provisionals (if necessary) and two track options.

BC39 DRIVER2SAVELIVES HEAT RANGE

HEAT 1: Kevin Woody Jr., Cole Bodine, Blake Brannon, Bryant Wiedeman, Jerry Coons Jr., Hayden Reinbold, Karter Sarff and Kevin Thomas Jr.

HEAT 2: Chase Randall, Justin Dickerson, Chase Elliott, Carson Garrett, Tommy Kouns, Jacob Denney, Hayden Williams, Buddy Kofoid and Chris Windom.

HEAT 3: Zac Taylor, Tyler Courtney, Ben Varner, Kaylee Bryson, Jeff Schindler, Chance Crum, Chase Briscoe, Emerson Axsom and Jason McDougal.

HEAT 4: Robert Bell, Aiden Purdue, Kameron Gladish, Maria Cofer, Randi Pankratz, Ethan Mitchell, Brady Bacon, Logan Seavey and JJ Yeley.

HEAT 5: Taylor Reimer, Austin Barnhill, Russ Gamester, Brenham Crouch, Tanner Thorson, Justin Grant, Trevor Casey, Kyle Larson and Rylan Gray.

HEAT 6: Carson Kvapil, Tanner Berryhill, Shane Cottle, Ryan Timms, Billy Lawless, Daison Pursley, Jeff Wimmenauer, Ronnie Gardner and Tyler Edwards.

HEAT 7: Ryan Newman, Corey Day, Conor Daly, Gary Taylor, Bryan Stanfill, John Heydenreich, Aaron Leffel, Thomas Meseraull and Daniel Robinson.

HEAT 8: Sam Johnson, Jonathan Shafer, Kyle Cummins, Cannon McIntosh, Glenn Waterland, Zeb Wise, Riley Kreisel, Spencer Bayston and Ian Creager.