Checkout time came early Tuesday night for Drake Edwards at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Edwards drove from the fourth starting spot to the lead on Lap 7 and never trailed thereafter to win the 30-lap Stoops Star Spangled Showdown feature in the No. 40D Chase McDermand Racing car. It was the second career USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship victory for Edwards, from Peoria, Arizona.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Edwards said. “Very cool to be standing here. I knew there was a shot coming to the smaller tracks, but I felt pretty solid all night long. So, I think it’s really cool.”
Kevin Thomas Jr. finished a distant second in the No. 14 4 Kings Racing car on the 1/5th-mile dirt oval, followed by pole sitter Gavin Miller in the No. 97 Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports entry. Zach Wigal was fourth in the No. 1 Pat O’Dell car, with BC39 rookie Jake Swanson rounding out the top five in the No. 14K 4 Kings Racing entry.
The 30-lap feature was the climax of the opening night of the two-night BC39 Presented by Avanti Windows & Doors, which will culminate in a 39-lap feature paying $20,039 to win Wednesday night on the track inside Turn 3 of the storied IMS asphalt oval.
There were only two suspenseful moments for Edwards, 23, the 2024 USAC Western States Midget Rookie of the Year.
The first came on Lap 6 when Edwards, charging toward the front, drove into the rear of teammate Briggs Danner in the No. 40x Chase McDermand Racing car in a duel for second place behind Miller. Edwards continued, but Danner spun and triggered a caution period.
“First and foremost, I want to apologize to Briggs,” Edwards said.
On the Lap 7 restart, Edwards drove under Miller in Turns 3 and 4 to take a lead he would never surrender despite multiple caution periods.
Edwards stretched the lead to 4.2 seconds over Thomas – a huge gap on a short track – by Lap 22 as he could place his car on any spot of the dirt oval and find speed almost at will.
“I was just watching him up there,” Thomas said of Edwards. “Honestly, I was enjoying the show. I know he’s pretty talented, but I was like, ‘There ain’t no way he makes 30 laps without a crash.’ It’s pretty remarkable, and they had a great race car. He did a phenomenal job.”
Leading by approximately four seconds, Edwards rocketed around thick lapped traffic on the high line of the oval in the last 10 laps. But Thomas’ prediction of possible calamity for Edwards almost came true with three laps to go in the second dramatic moment on his drive to Victory Lane.
Edwards approached a lapped car that changed lines in Turn 3 and 4, and he had to slow quickly to avoid a collision. But Edwards safely avoided that near-miss and cruised to the victory in a car owned by McDermand, who cruelly lost a BC39 victory with less than two laps remaining in 2024 when his car got hung up in ruts in Turn 4 while leading.
“I didn’t know where to go half the time,” Edwards said. “But luckily we made it through there pretty good, and I felt like I got through them all right.”
Championship night of the BC39 on Wednesday, July 1 will consist of a full program for the USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship. Public gates open at 4 p.m. with a driver autograph session in the Fan Zone. A public drivers’ meeting starts at 5 p.m. in the Fan Zone, with hot laps beginning at 6:30 p.m. Racing starts immediately after the opening ceremonies at 7 p.m., culminating in a 39-lap feature event paying $20,039 to win.
Cannon McIntosh will look to defend his BC39 victories from 2024 and 2025 and try to become the first three-time winner of the event, which honors late USAC champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bryan Clauson. McIntosh finished eighth in the feature tonight.
Tickets are on sale at IMS.com or at the gate. Spectators must enter IMS via Gate 10 off 30th Street to access The Dirt Track. No entrance will be allowed through Gate 2.
For more spectator information, fans should visit the Plan Ahead site for the BC39.
