By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (September 26, 2024)………For Chase McDermand, Thursday night’s Driven2SaveLives BC39 Presented By Avanti Windows & Doors opener was certainly a long time coming.
In what was the 24-year-old Springfield, Illinois native’s 48th career USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship start, McDermand picked off 2023 BC39 opening night winner Thomas Meseraull just before the midway point, then led the remaining 16 laps to score his first career series victory.
For McDermand, a three-time Badger Midget Auto Racing Association champion in 2019-2020-2021, of all the places to collect a first USAC win, The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is especially special.
“To do it here at the BC39, granted it’s just a prelim night, but still, we beat the best of the best here tonight,” McDermand stated. “I’m just super happy for my team and all of our partners. We have so many people who allow us to do what we love.”
McDermand certainly hadn’t forgotten about his closest previous call to winning a USAC National Midget feature in 2022 at Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Port City Raceway where an incident with eight laps to go left him dejected and emptyhanded. Two-and-a-half years later, he finally got to experience that long-awaited feeling to become the latest first-time series victor.
“This one has been a long time coming, ever since Port City a couple years ago when I got taken out while leading,” McDermand noted. “You can never take a win or a close win for granted because you just never know when the next one is coming. It took us a long time. I won some Xtreme Outlaw races, but I really wanted a USAC win.”
In fact, McDermand is the second first-time USAC National Midget feature winner this year and this month. Zach Wigal captured a victory on the opening night of September at Wisconsin’s Angell Park Speedway.
McDermand entered the night with a previous best USAC finish of third, which just so happened to come during the opening night of the BC39 one year ago in 2023. One year later, on Thursday night, his self-owned Mulch Express of Wisconsin – McDermand Plumbing/Spike/Stanton SR-11x rolled off fourth on the grid.
Slotting into third by lap two, McDermand watched as Zach Daum led the opening lap before Meseraull took the low line to the front on the back straight during the second go-around on the 1/5-mile dirt oval. Lying in wait third in line while Meseraull and Daum duked it out for the lead, McDermand ripped the top in turns three and four around Daum to swipe second on lap 10.
Lap after lap, Meseraull cornered the market on the low line while McDermand worked diligently up top. Exiting turn two on the 14th circuit, Meseraull could plainly see McDermand’s car pulled completely alongside his own to the outside. Sensing the need to adjust on the fly for the next set of turns, Meseraull ran his line wide off turn four to protect his position. McDermand promptly altered his line to the bottom of turn one to snare the lead away from Meseraull.
“The line he was running kind of kept me from really getting all my momentum down the straightaways,” McDermand explained. “Once I was able to finally clear him, I felt like I could set my own pace and dictate the corner entry. I felt like I was better, and the car was super good tonight.”
As McDermand continued to command up front in the latter stages, Meseraull suddenly fell to fifth on lap 20-21 while Daum, Cannon McIntosh, Ryan Timms and Daison Pursley all began to surge. McIntosh zipped under Daum along the front straightaway coming to the white flag to secure second.
By the time the field hit turn three on the 30th and final lap, all hell had broken loose for the final lock-in spot for Saturday night’s $20,039-to-win finale. By the time this conglomeration of drivers and cars crossed the stripe, Daum had fallen from third to sixth while Pursley seemingly came out of nowhere to grab the third and final lock-in spot.
Meanwhile, up front, McDermand went unfettered to the checkered, 0.679 seconds ahead of McIntosh with Pursley third, Jacob Denney fourth and Meseraull fifth.
For Cannon McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.), the runner-up result was his third career second place finish at the BC39 after slotting into the same spot during the 2022 finale and a 2023 prelim. On this night, he started eighth and moved up six spots to earn hard charger honors and secure a spot in the final night feature aboard his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/GearWrench – Mobil 1 – TRD/LynK/Speedway Toyota.
With seven laps to go, Daison Pursley (Locust Grove, Okla.) ran seventh. With two to go, he was still fifth. Coming to the white flag, he was running fourth on the outside looking in at the wheel of his CB Industries/PristineAuction.com – NOS Energy Drink – TRD/Spike/Speedway Toyota. On the last lap, one final, last ditch effort placed him third and locked himself into Saturday’s main event. Those late-race heroics earned Pursley the night’s Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
Briggs Danner’s seventh place finish was not only the best of his USAC National Midget career to date. It also allowed the Allentown, Pa. racer to collect Rookie of the Race honors courtesy of Max Papis Innovations.