J.J. YELEY, USAC TRIPLE CROWN CHAMP, ENTERS BC39

J.J. YELEY, USAC TRIPLE CROWN CHAMP, ENTERS BC39

Story By: Richie Murray/USAC

Photo By: Rich Forman

Speedway, Indiana (August 27, 2019)………J.J. Yeley, a veteran of the Indianapolis 500, an eight-time Brickyard 400 starter and six-time NASCAR Xfinity Series starter at the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway, has filed his entry to compete in the Sept. 4-5 Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink.

Yeley and car owner Jeff Taylor become the 87th team entered for the $15,000-to-win event with the deadline for BC39 team entries looming on Thursday, August 29, at https://www.thebc39.com/.

Yeley (Phoenix, Ariz.) is one of USAC’s most prolific drivers, earning 60 National series wins in his career (28 Sprint, 17 Midget and 15 Silver Crown). He became the second driver in USAC history to earn all three National titles within the same season in 2003, matching the feat accomplished by Tony Stewart in 1995. Along the way, Yeley collected five USAC National titles (2001 & 2003 Sprint, 2002 & 2003 Silver Crown and 2003 Midget).

Yeley finished a best of 9th at IMS in the 1998 Indianapolis 500 and is, thus far, the only driver to have competed in the Indianapolis 500, Brickyard 400, the Xfinity race at IMS and the BC39 in his career.

Yeley joins John Heydenreich on the latest update of the entry list. The Bloomsburg, Pa. native won the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget Nationals in 1990 and the Hut 100 in 1987. He’s also one of 19 drivers to have accumulated over 100 starts in his USAC Silver Crown career.

The BC39 entry list is immensely talented from top to bottom, headlined by the likes of three past USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget champs in Christopher Bell (Norman, Okla.), Logan Seavey (Sutter, Calif.) and Tanner Thorson (Minden, Nev.) leading 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), series Rookie Jesse Colwell (Red Bluff, Calif.), Holley Hollan (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Tucker Klaasmeyer (Paola, Kans.).

Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (Olive Branch, Miss.), a veteran of just under 250 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.

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.

Chase Briscoe, who’ll pilot his own No. 5B in the event, has extensive experience in midget and sprint car racing, including an appearance at the BC39 in the inaugural event a year ago. Of late, however, the Mitchell, Ind. native has made a big name for himself in NASCAR’s Truck and Stock Car divisions. The 2016 ARCA champion was a recent NASCAR Xfinity Series winner at Iowa Speedway in July and was also victorious with the series in the debut on the “Roval” at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2018.

Briscoe made his debut on 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the series’ stop in 2018, charging from his 22nd starting position to finish 9th in the Lilly Diabetes 250. Briscoe also owns a pair of victories in NASCAR’s Gander Outdoors Truck Series, winning the finale at Homestead in 2017, then winning the Eldora Dirt Derby in 2018.

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.

Among the newest entries for the event are a four-car team for Tucker/Boat Motorsports, led by last year’s BC39 runner-up finisher Chad Boat (Phoenix, Ariz.), son of 1998 Indianapolis 500 pole winner Billy Boat. He’s joined by Gio Scelzi (Fresno, Calif.), whose resume includes becoming the youngest ever winner with the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series as well as at both Knoxville Raceway and Williams Grove Speedway.

Talented racer/motorsports announcer Dillon Welch (Carmel, Ind.) is entered for Tucker/Boat, with whom he set a new one lap USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget track record at Kokomo Speedway this past April and finished 25th in last year’s Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink. Series Rookie Karsyn Elledge (Mooresville, N.C.) is set to make her second BC39 appearance this year. She is the granddaughter of 1995 Brickyard 400 winner Dale Earnhardt.

Elledge is one of five female drivers entered thus far for the BC39 along with Hollan, west coast drivers Shannon McQueen (Bakersfield, Calif.) and Randi Pankratz (Atascadero, Calif.) and newly-entered Maria Cofer (Macdoel, Calif.), a recent USAC Western States Midget feature winner at California’s Petaluma Speedway and 17th place finisher in last year’s inaugural BC39 main event. She’s on a three-car Team Ripper effort also featuring USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car point leader C.J. Leary (Greenfield, Ind.) and Jonathan Beason (Broken Arrow, Okla.), a 5th place finisher in his lone USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget start this season in July at Oklahoma’s Red Dirt Raceway.

Zach Daum (Pocahontas, Ill.), a 2011 Hut 100 winner, has entered along with 2006 Turkey Night Grand Prix victor Billy Wease (Noblesville, Ind.).

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.
USAC National Midget champion Russ Gamester (Peru, Ind.), a winner in all three of USAC’s National divisions throughout his career with 12 National Midget wins, 6 Silver Crown victories and a single National Sprint Car triumph.

Making his BC39 debut is Cannon McIntosh, who burst onto the USAC scene in a big way this past March where he scored his first career USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget victory indoors at the Southern Illinois Center in Du Quoin. In just six starts this season, the Bixby, Okla. driver has finished in the top-five on three occasions, including a runner-up finish at Gas City during Indiana Midget Week.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, for the BC39 Draft Party from 5:30pm to 8:30pm Eastern where drivers will draw for their heat race positions. 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 5pm, followed by opening ceremonies at 6:30pm. 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 4:30pm, with qualifying races to follow at 5:30pm. Opening ceremonies are slated for 7pm and immediately followed by the main feature events, starting with multiple D-Mains, C-Main, the semi-feature and the 39-lap main event.

BC39 ENTRY LIST (87 cars as of 8/27/2019)
0 LUKE HOWARD/Overland Park, KS (Jay Mounce)
08 CANNON McINTOSH/Bixby, OK (Dave Mac Motorsports)
1 KARSYN ELLEDGE/Mooresville, NC (Tucker/Boat Motorsports)
1BR CHASE JONES/Greenwood, IN (SFH Racing Development)
1NZ MICHAEL PICKENS/Auckland, NZ (RMS LLC)
1ST TBA (Daryl Saucier)
2 RYAN HALL/Midlothian, TX (Mark Bush)
2J J.J. YELEY/Phoenix, AZ (Jeff Taylor)
2x MATT LINDER/Hoschton, GA (Mark Bush)
3 RICH DRANGMEISTER/Hobart, IN (Rich Drangmeister)
3N JAKE NEUMAN/New Berlin, IL (Jim Neuman)
4A JUSTIN GRANT/Ione, CA (RAMS Racing)
4D ROBERT DALBY/Anaheim, CA (Ken Dalby)
5 KEVIN THOMAS, JR./Cullman, AL (Petry Motorsports)
5B CHASE BRISCOE/Mitchell, IN (Chase Briscoe Racing)
5D ZACH DAUM/Pocahontas, IL (Daum Motorsports)
7 CRITTER MALONE/Pittsboro, IN (Seven LLC)
7BC TYLER COURTNEY/Indianapolis, IN (Clauson/Marshall Racing)
7s JON STEED/Rushville, IN (Steed Motorsports)
7u KYLE JONES/Kennedale, TX (Trifecta Motorsports)
7x THOMAS MESERAULL/San Jose, CA (RMS LLC)
8 RANDI PANKRATZ/Atascadero, CA (Wally Pankratz)
9 CHRIS BAUE/Indianapolis, IN (Chris Baue)
9H EMILIO HOOVER/Broken Arrow, OK (James Hoover)
9x TBA (Jay Mounce)
10 LANCE BENNETT/Aurora, CO (Olivia Bennett)
10A MICHAEL KLEIN/Elsmere, KY (Mike Wallace)
11L AARON LEFFEL/Springfield, OH (Chuck Taylor)
11m KENDALL RUBLE/Vincennes, IN (Martin Motorsports)
11T TOMMY KOUNS/Lebanon, IN (Chuck Taylor)
12 BILLY WEASE/Noblesville, IN (Amanda Wease)
14H TBA (Mike Dickerson)
15 DAVE DARLAND/Lincoln, IN (Petry Motorsports)
15DJ DAVID PRICKETT/Fresno, CA (Neverlift Motorsports)
15J JEFF WIMMENAUER/Indianapolis, IN (Jeff Wimmenauer)
15s SHANNON McQUEEN/Bakersfield, CA (Broc Garrett)
15x CARSON GARRETT/Littleton, CO (Broc Garrett)
17 RICKY STENHOUSE, JR./Olive Branch, MS (Clauson/Marshall Racing)
17BC CHRIS WINDOM/Canton, IL (Clauson/Marshall Racing)
19 SPENCER BAYSTON/Lebanon, IN (Brodie Hayward)
19m ETHAN MITCHELL/Mooresville, NC (Bundy Built Motorsports)
20 CODY WEISENSEL/Sun Prairie, WI (Kevin Weisensel)
21 CHRISTOPHER BELL/Norman, OK (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
21D JUSTIN DICKERSON/Pittsboro, IN (Mike Dickerson)
21F JONATHAN BEASON/Broken Arrow, OK (Team Ripper)
21K C.J. LEARY/Greenfield, IN (Team Ripper)
21m MARIA COFER/Macdoel, CA (Team Ripper)
22 JOHN HEYDENREICH/Bloomsburg, PA (John Givens)
23m DAVID BUDRES/Beloit, WI (Manic Racing)
25 JERRY COONS, JR./Tucson, AZ (Petry Motorsports)
25B STEVE BUCKWALTER/Royersford, PA (Steve Buckwalter)
27 TUCKER KLAASMEYER/Paola, KS (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
28 ACE McCARTHY/Tahlequah, OK (Jim Neuman)
31 TRAVIS BERRYHILL/American Canyon, CA (Manic Racing)
35 TBA (Petry Motorsports)
39BC ZEB WISE/Angola, IN (Clauson/Marshall Racing)
41 OLIVER AKARD/Ft. Myers, FL (Dan Akard)
43 BRENT BEAUCHAMP/Avon, IN (Kevin Arnold)
46 RUSS GAMESTER/Peru, IN (Gamester Racing)
47BC ANDREW LAYSER/Collegeville, PA (Clauson/Marshall Racing)
50 TONY DiMATTIA/Malvern, PA (Tony DiMattia Motorsports)
54 MATT WESTFALL/Pleasant Hill, OH (Steve Bordner)
54m RAY SEACH/Beloit, WI (Manic Racing)
56A COLTEN COTTLE/Kansas, IL (Travis Young)
56x MARK CHISHOLM/Cheyenne, WY (Mark Chisholm)
57D DANIEL ROBINSON/Ewing, IL (McCreery Motorsports)
57K KEVIN STUDLEY/Plainfield, IN (Kevin Studley)
61 TREY OSBORNE/Columbus, OH (Mel Kenyon)
67 LOGAN SEAVEY/Sutter, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
67F KYLE O’GARA/Beech Grove, IN (SFH Racing Development)
67K HOLLEY HOLLAN/Broken Arrow, OK (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
71 JESSE COLWELL/Red Bluff, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
71K TANNER CARRICK/Lincoln, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
71s CODY SWANSON/Norco, CA (Marcie Campbell)
76 KEN DRANGMEISTER/Hobart, IN (Ken Drangmeister)
76E BRADY BACON/Broken Arrow, OK (FMR Racing)
76m JASON McDOUGAL/Broken Arrow, OK (FMR Racing)
77B BLAZE BENNETT/Parker, CO (Olivia Bennett)
81 DILLON WELCH/Carmel, IN (Tucker/Boat Motorsports)
84 CHAD BOAT/Phoenix, AZ (Tucker/Boat Motorsports)
85 GIO SCELZI/Fresno, CA (Tucker/Boat Motorsports)
88 TYLER NELSON/Olathe, KS (Tyler Nelson)
91T TYLER THOMAS/Collinsville, OK (Brian Thomas)
97 KYLE LARSON/Elk Grove, CA (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
97A AUSTIN O’DELL/Rochester, IL (Patrick O’Dell)
98 TANNER THORSON/Minden, NV (Keith Kunz Motorsports/Curb-Agajanian)
TBA (Clauson/Marshall Racing)