Chase McDermand Breaks Through For BC39 Prelim Win At IMS; First USAC National Midget Win

Story By: PAUL KELLY / IMS – SPEEDWAY, IN – Chase McDermand picked the most famous racetrack in the world to earn his first USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature victory Thursday night.

McDermand, from Springfield, Illinois, led the last 16 laps of the 30-lap preliminary feature for the Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by Avanti Windows & Doors at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“This one has been a long time coming,” McDermand said. “You can never take a win for granted because you just never know when the next one is coming, and it took us a long time. To do it here, to do it at the BC39 – granted, it’s just a prelim night, but still we beat the best of the best here tonight. I’m super happy for my team and all of our partners.”

Cannon McIntosh finished second, with series points leader Daison Pursley third.

Pole sitter Thomas Meseraull and Zach Daum swapped the lead on Lap 2 of the feature before Meseraull returned to the front on Lap 3 in the No. 7x machine.

On Lap 14, McDermand drove his No. 40 family-owned car past Meseraull by taking the high line between Turns 3 and 4 on the quarter-mile dirt oval. He never trailed thereafter, but two cautions kept him on top of his steering wheel for restarts.

“The line he (Meseraull) was kind of running kept me from getting all of my momentum down the straightaway,” McDermand said. “So, once I was able to finally clear him and I feel like I could set my own pace and dictate the corner entry, I feel like I was better. The car was super good tonight.”

McDermand held off Meseraull on one restart with 14 laps to go and started to pull away on cruise control for victory. But a three-car tangle between Glenn Styres, Joel Myers Jr. and Luke Hall with two laps to go triggered the final caution period of the race.

Once again, McDermand powered away at the green flag with two laps to go, this time pulling away from Daum’s No. 16 machine. Daum was shuffled back to sixth over the last two laps, with McIntosh charging forward to finish second.

Local hero C.J. Leary made history by winning the inaugural Stoops Sprint Car Invitational, the first time USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Cars have raced at IMS.

2019 USAC National Sprint Car champion Leary, from Greenfield, Indiana, passed pole sitter Pursley for the lead with eight laps remaining in the 20-lap feature and led the rest of the way in the 10-car exhibition race. Pursley held on to finish second, with Mitchel Moles third.

While this was a non-points race, it was Leary’s first victory in a USAC Sprint Car since winning a series race Feb. 16 at Ocala Speedway in Ocala, Florida.

“Pretty special,” Leary said. “I didn’t know if we knew how to win anymore. It’s been a long time. Really good race car. This thing was dialed in.

“Last time this car ran was at Kokomo during (Indiana) Sprint Week, and it did pretty poorly, and I didn’t like it that much. I think my opinion has changed a little bit.”

Pursley stuck to the high line to hold off second-place Moles in the first half of the race. But then Leary, who started seventh, entered the picture at the halfway point while running the low line. He pulled even with Pursley as they exited Turn 4 with eight laps to go and eased ahead at the flag stand, never trailing thereafter.

“I came here and tested two years ago, and I feel like that gave me a little bit of an edge,” Leary said. “We knew what kind of gear to run and just a little bit about what to think. It’s just super cool to be down here in Victory Lane. I’ve run here since the start of the BC39 and I’ve never really done very good, so it feels good to win something.”

Action resumes at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday night at The Dirt Track. The second half of the 59-car field will compete in heat races, qualifying races and a semi-feature, concluding with another 30-lap feature paying $5,000 to win.

On Saturday night, multiple C-Mains, semi-features and a Last Chance Race will precede the 39-lap BC39 feature for USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship competitors.

The Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by Avanti Windows & Doors continues to honor late USAC champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bryan Clauson. In addition, it increases awareness of the Indiana Donor Network and its Driven2SaveLives campaign, sponsors of the event since its inception.

USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 26, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, Indiana – 1/5-Mile Dirt Oval – Driven2SaveLives BC39 Presented By Avanti Windows & Doors

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. J.J. Yeley (#3J Petty), 2. Chase McDermand (#40 McDermand), 3. Jacob Denney (#25 Malloy), 4. Cannon McIntosh (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 5. Gunnar Setser (#43 Arnold), 6. Tyler Edwards (#14s Mounce-Stout), 7. Hayden Reinbold (#19AZ Reinbold-Underwood), 8. Luke Hall (#74 Heitmeyer). 1:40.557

ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Zach Daum (#16 Royal), 2. Steve Buckwalter (#0 Buckwalter), 3. C.J. Leary (#54 4 Kings), 4. Kameron Key (#21J TKH), 5. Trevor Cline (#55 Cline), 6. Glenn Styres (#0G Styres), 7. Kevin Cook (#77 Cook). NT

T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Ryan Timms (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Thomas Meseraull (#7x Engler), 3. Briggs Danner (#98 Schneider), 4. Devon Dobie (#23 Dobie), 5. Mariah Ede (#71E Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Adam Taylor (#7T ATM), 7. Todd Hobson (#75 Griffiths). NT

CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Daison Pursley (#86 CBI), 2. Jerry Coons Jr. (#85 Central), 3. Shane Cottle (#44 4 Kings), 4. Joel Myers Jr. (#1 Crouch), 5. Kaylee Bryson (#58 Abacus), 6. Jeff Schindler (#8x Giddy Up). NT

SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Trevor Cline, 2. Briggs Danner, 3. Daison Pursley, 4. Ryan Timms, 5. Gunnar Setser, 6. Steve Buckwalter. 2:06.385

ROD END SUPPLY SECOND QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Jacob Denney, 2. Hayden Reinbold, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Mariah Ede, 5. J.J. Yeley, 6. Devon Dobie. NT

T.J. FORGED THIRD QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Kaylee Bryson, 2. Cannon McIntosh, 3. Chase McDermand, 4. Jerry Coons Jr., 5. Glenn Styres, 6. Luke Hall, 7. Joel Myers Jr. 2:09.017

CAR IQ FOURTH QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Shane Cottle, 2. Zach Daum, 3. Tyler Edwards, 4. Kameron Key, 5. Matt Westfall, 6. Adam Taylor, 7. Jeff Schindler. NT

ELLIOTTS’ CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (10 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Tyler Edwards, 2. Steve Buckwalter, 3. Gunnar Setser, 4. Joel Myers Jr., 5. Luke Hall, 6. Glenn Styres, 7. Devon Dobie, 8. Mariah Ede, 9. Kevin Cook, 10. Todd Hobson. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Chase McDermand (4), 2. Cannon McIntosh (8), 3. Daison Pursley (6), 4. Jacob Denney (5), 5. Thomas Meseraull (1), 6. Zach Daum (2), 7. Briggs Danner (10), 8. Shane Cottle (7), 9. Ryan Timms (3), 10. Kaylee Bryson (12), 11. Kameron Key (14), 12. Jerry Coons Jr. (11), 13. J.J. Yeley (17), 14. Tyler Edwards (16), 15. Hayden Reinbold (15), 16. Gunnar Setser (19), 17. Trevor Cline (9), 18. C.J. Leary (13), 19. Steve Buckwalter (18), 20. Joel Myers Jr. (20), 21. Luke Hall (21), 22. Glenn Styres (22). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Zach Daum, Laps 2-14 Thomas Meseraull, Laps 15-30 Chase McDermand.

**Dean Parker flipped during practice. Adam Taylor flipped during the fourth qualifier race.

USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-1183, 2-Cannon McIntosh-1087, 3-Ryan Timms-1029, 4-Zach Daum-997, 5-Logan Seavey-947, 6-Jacob Denney-945, 7-Justin Grant-888, 8-Gavin Miller-844, 9-Zach Wigal-779, 10-Kale Drake-776.

USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-194, 2-Logan Seavey-174, 3-Robert Ballou-145, 4-Justin Grant-127, 5-C.J. Leary-117, 6-Kyle Cummins-115, 7-Chase Stockon-112, 8-Brady Bacon-111, 9-Kevin Thomas Jr.-103, 10-Matt Westfall-101.

NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACES: September 27-28, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, Indiana – 1/5-Mile Dirt Oval – Driven2SaveLives BC39 Presented By Avanti Windows & Doors

CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Daison Pursley (11.930)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: J.J. Yeley
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Zach Daum
T.J. Forged Third Heat Winner: Ryan Timms
Car IQ Fourth Heat Winner: Daison Pursley
Simpson Race Products First Qualifier Winner: Trevor Cline
Rod End Supply Second Qualifier Winner: Jacob Denney
T.J. Forged Third Qualifier Winner: Kaylee Bryson
Car IQ Fourth Qualifier Winner: Shane Cottle
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Tyler Edwards
Hard Charger: Cannon McIntosh (8th to 2nd)
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Daison Pursley
MPI Rookie of the Race: Briggs Danner (7th)