INDIANAPOLIS — It main event night as the two night prelims are behind us. 6 drivers have clinched spots into the 39-lap, A-Main later this evening. Who can join them?
Can Seavey Keep Dream Season Alive?
Logan Seavey began the 2023 season off this past January with a win in the prestigious Chili Bowl. Last week, he won all 3 races in the USAC 4-Crown event at Eldora. He did so on the same night in reaching victory lane in a Midget, then Sprint Car, then Silver Crown ride.
Between those two feats, he won June’s Indiana Midget Week title as well as posting two USAC feature wins on the same day at two different tracks.
Can the Sutter, Calif native win on Saturday night at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway?
Has 14 consecutive top 5 finishes on the season including 6 wins and three runner-ups in that span. However, he had a rough prelim night going coming from Row 7 to finish 7th.
KKM vs. CBI
They won the last 2 BC39’s and have a great shot to do so again on Saturday night. However, who can beat whom and whom among these teams is left standing on top?
For Keith Kunz, the Columbus based team has won anything and everything that there is to win including the 2022 edition here. From championships to Chili Bowl’s, you name it – KKM is USAC’s version of Hendrick Motorsports. Winning is expected.
This week, among the 71 cars here trying to win the BC 39, KKM has 7 of them, 6 going for the crown tonight.
Buddy Kofoid (No. 67K) headlined the list but only got to run his prelim night before having to depart this weekend for other commitments.
Jade Avedisian (No. 71) is probably the next one up to watch. This girl is fast and an up-and-coming riser in the ranks. She has the talent to march into the NASCAR ranks and a strong showing this week will only expediate it. She’s finished runner-up on three different occasions this season including 2 of the last 4 races at that. She’s alternated 2nd and 16th place results in the last four going from 2nd to 16th to 2nd to 16th again. Is a runner-up coming on Saturday night?
Being in a KKM car gives her the confidence to score her 13th top 10 of the season. She’s had 5 top 4 results in the last 11 races at that.
She has two other female teammates in Mariah Ede (No. 71E) and Taylor Reimer (No. 25K). Reimer is full-time this season and has 8 top 10 finishes on the season. She was 5th just four races ago and ran well here a year ago in finishing 14th.
Ryan Timms (No. 67) is another one. He was 6th last year and sits 4th in points this season on the heels of a 3-win campaign. Timms has finished 6th, 1st, 9th, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th, 1st, 9th, 8th, 10th, 8th over the last 12 races too.
Gavin Miller (No. 97) is a sleeper. Miller has been solid with 13 top 10 finishes in 19 tries. In fact, he’s finally grasping a Midget now with finishes of 5th, 2nd, 2nd, 10th, 14th, 8th, 4th over the last 7 races.
The biggest sleeper of them all for KKM is Emerson Axsom (No. 68). The Franklin native has been stout this season in a part-time Midget role. He had a stretch during Midget week of finishes of 5th, 2nd, 2nd. In fact, he has 3 runner-up finishes in only 12 starts this season. In two BC39 starts, he’s finished 5th and 13th.
For CB Industries, they’re building something here. They won the 2021 race with Kyle Larson and coming into this week has P2 in points and just brought over a veteran but also youngster in Cannon McIntosh as well as Kaylee Bryson to join the fray too.
McIntosh is fresh to the mix. He just came over as this will mark his debut with the team. He nearly won last year in leading a race-high 20 of 39 laps. Last night, he finished runner-up. His new teammate, Bryant Wiedeman is the current second place driver in points and is also heating up. He has four consecutive top six finishes: 6th, 3rd, 4th, 2nd on the season and in a great position to make a name for himself this week. He finished 11th a year ago.
Bryson is running the Silver Crown slate full-time but was 12th in her lone Midget start of the season last weekend in Eldora to go along with being 19th and 7th in her two BC39 starts too.
Bacon Through The Field OR The Field?
Indianapolis is a place that picks it’s winner. When looking at the list of winners no matter on the road course or oval or now dirt here, it’s the best of the best.
For this race in particular, just look at who’s won thus far.
Brady Bacon won the inaugural race in 2018. Zeb Wise won a year later (2019). Kyle Larson (2021) and Buddy Kofoid (2022) won the last two years. Who’s No. 5?
Larson, Wise and Kofoid aren’t back to try to be the first two-time winner. Bacon is. Would you take him or the field?
Bacon initially had a great Friday night in winning his qualifying race and starting the feature from the second row. However, an issue forced him to pull his No. 21 entry behind the wall on the pace laps leaving him needing to come through the mains on Saturday to even get to the main event. How far can he make it?
RMS Racing
Thomas Meseraull and Justin Grant had a run-in for the lead in 2021 which gave the BC39 to Kyle Larson. Both are teammates this weekend and both have been stout allowing RMS Racing to sweep the preliminary night features – Meseraull on Thursday night, Grant on Friday.
They combined to lead 40 of the 60 laps in the features with Meseraull leading all 30 laps on night 1 and Grant the final 10 on night 2. However, Grant had a perfect night though in being fastest during hot laps, he won his heat race by over 5 seconds, won his qualifying race and won the feature.
Can they win the BC39?
“We’re here racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of all you great fans, and I’m not going to phone it in and come third if we can help it,” Grant said. “Our RMS race cars are fast. I feel like it could be a slugfest between me and Thomas tomorrow. Neither one of us are very good at playing nice guy.
“Should be entertaining, should be exciting tomorrow.”
TMez has ran the last 3 of these including a third-place duel in last year’s race. He was 19th and 24th in the previous 2 editions prior. Meseraull has 2 top 10 finishes in his last 3 races on the season but hasn’t had a top 5 though in his last 7. He has finished third twice this season though too and won Thursday night’s preliminary night feature.
Grant is winless in a Midget this season but has started in all 19 features. Grant comes to IMS with 4 top 7 finishes (6th, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 14th) in the last 5 races on the season in a Midget. He has 7 top five results and 12 top 10 finishes this season to go along with being 7th, 10th, 2nd, 4th in the four years of this race.
With 4 different drivers winning the 4-year history of this race thus far, Grant or TMez could be next in line.
New Faces vs. Experience
Friday night’s action sparked drama between the veterans of the sport vs. the youth.
The drama started early and often with veteran drivers being perturbed with how overly aggressive the younger drivers were being.
In the second qualifier of the night, Daison Pursley got in too hot and threw an overzealous slider on points leader, Logan Seavey, in Turns 1-2. It pushed Seavey out of the groove. Seavey came back and tried to push Pursley out of the way and nearly crashed them both in the process. Then, a few laps later, Seavey drove it in deep in Turn 3 for revenge.
“He had two decisions to make,” Seavey said of the final incident between he and Pursley. “Get out of my way or crash. He chose to crash.”
Seavey blamed Pursley’s youth and aggressive moves on why he had enough. Brady Bacon who won the second qualifier said it looked like Pursley forgot there were others cars on track to race again and cited his youthful ways too.
Two qualifying races later, Zach Daum and Ryan Timms had a battle and incident in the closing laps. Daum, while in victory lane, called Timms a dipshit and blamed his youthful and inexperienced ways on how not to race.
Both Pursley and Timms didn’t understand why the veterans were mad at them. The varying philosophies between the two experience levels were like night and day. What happens on Saturday night?
USAC Midget racing has been a training ground for future stars. Gordon, Stewart, Newman, Yeley, Larson, Bell, Stenhouse Jr., Briscoe you name it. This is where the names are really made. With how much weight an Indianapolis win can hold, is this year the time a new name is made due to their aggression?
The NASCAR guys aren’t here but it’s not like there’s not plenty of talent. While Brady Bacon, Justin Grant, Logan Seavey, Tanner Thorson and others are bigger names in the series now, the door is open for someone younger to come away with kissing the wall of bricks later tonight.
Bryant Wiedeman is currently second in points. He has four consecutive top six finishes: 6th, 3rd, 4th, 2nd on the season and in a great position to make a name for himself this week. He finished 11th a year ago.
Ryan Timms is another. He was 6th last year and currently sits 4th in points this season on the heels of a 3-win season. Timms has finished 6th, 1st, 9th, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 11th, 1st, 9th, 8th, 10th, 8th over the last 12 races and in a KKM car.
Daison Pursley is 5th in points. In his lone start here in 2021, he finished 4th. Pursley has just 3 top 5’s this season but has been consistently in the top 10 with 11 of them including 5 in-a-row (9th, 7th, 4th, 6th, 6th).
Jacob Denny is a rookie here but is currently 7th in points too. He’s finished in the top 10 in 7 of his last 9 starts on the season despite missing 2 races to injury. He was 2nd, 11th, 5th in his last 3 races since that injury as well. He began 2023 off with finishes of 8th, 4th, 1st, 1st, 2nd.
Gavin Miller, is KKM driver and like Denny, is a rookie here. Still, Miller has been solid with 13 top 10 finishes in 19 tries. In fact, he’s finally grasping a Midget now with finishes of 5th, 2nd, 2nd, 10th, 14th, 8th, 4th over the last 7 races.
Then there’s Franklin’s Emerson Axsom who also is in a KKM car and has been stout this season in a part-time Midget role. He had a stretch during Midget week of finishes of 5th, 2nd, 2nd. In fact, he has 3 runner-up finishes in only 12 starts this season.
Taylor Reimer and Jade Avedisian could be threats too.
While TMez and Grant won the preliminary night races, Reimer, McDermand, McIntosh and Axsom were right behind too with more youth than experience up front early.
The gloves are off. The elbows are out. The most aggressive is going to win this thing on Saturday night.
Race Review Online 