Cannon McIntosh wins BC39 in final lap thriller
Photo by Rich Forman
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — After finishing as the runner-up on three different occasions in his USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship career at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Cannon McIntosh found himself at the right place, at the right time in the right moment for a breakthrough during Sunday night’s sixth running of the Driven2SaveLives BC39 Presented By Avanti Windows & Doors.
In 2022, McIntosh (Bixby, Okla.) finished as the runner-up and was leading just five laps from the finish line before being passed by Buddy Kofoid. Furthermore, in both 2023 and just this past Thursday, he came home a close second during prelim feature nights with victory just barely eluding his grasp.
McIntosh seized the moment on Sunday night when he took advantage of a bouncing Chase McDermand through turns three and four as the front runners arrived at the white flag. McIntosh swung to the outside, nipped McDermand at the line to lead lap 38 before McDermand slid him back in turn one. McIntosh cut back under McDermand in turns one and two on the final lap to secure the top spot, the thrill of victory, a place in the history books and a $20,039 prize.
With his efforts, McIntosh became the sixth different BC39 winner in as many races while also becoming the driver who led the least amount of laps en route to victory in the history of the event – two – in his Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/GearWrench – Mobil 1 – TRD/LynK/Speedway Toyota.
McIntosh’s 0.191 second margin of victory is the closest in BC39 history, but he’s been used to close calls at the 1/5-mile dirt oval over the years. This time around, however, he was finally the one who prevailed.
“We’ve been so close to winning here, even on prelim nights, and we just hadn’t gotten it done,” McIntosh remarked. “I don’t think I’ve ever been that excited crossing the line. I think this is definitely number one. To be able to win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and to put my name in the history books, is pretty special. I’m so thankful to do this in honor of Bryan (Clauson) who was a legend in this sport and a hero. To do this in his name with (Bryan’s father) Tim (Clauson) here, it’s a really cool feeling to be able to do this, and I’m just so grateful to be able to race here.”
The sixth starting McIntosh lay in wait throughout much of the 39-lap distance as he ran fifth as late as nine laps to go. Outside front row starter Daison Pursley set the pace for the first two circuits before pole sitter and Thursday night BC39 prelim feature winner Chase McDermand flexed his muscles by surging to the front on the low line of turn three and remained there for much of the night.
For the majority of the race, it appeared all the breaks were going McDermand’s way. Each time he came close to approaching lapped traffic, the caution was displayed for an incident, first on lap 18 and then again on the 31st circuit.
In that same timeframe, fifth-starting Jade Avedisian came to life on the top side after falling back to eighth early in the going. Shortly after reaching the top-five on lap 20, she collided with defending BC39 winner Justin Grant in turns one and two, which sent Grant tumbling over and also collected Jacob Denney (8th). Avedisian continued on while Grant restarted at the tail and Denney went to the sideline for the remainder of the night.
All eyes were now on Avedisian as she threaded the needle between Kale Drake and McIntosh on lap 28 to go from fifth to third. With nine to go, Avedisian and her KKM teammate, Drake, met wheel to wheel in the battle for third. Drake took the brunt of the misfortune as his left rear tire went flat moments later, sending him coasting to a stop after nearly flipping over in turn three. Drake was relegated to 18th at the finish, but still earned the Max Papis Innovations BC39 Rookie of the Race, scoring a custom designed trophy and $700 for his efforts.
With just eight laps to go and a clear track ahead of him, McDermand seemed destined for the big payday. But Avedisian as well as McIntosh had their say in the matter. One lap after the ensuing restart on the 32nd go around, Avedisian charged past Pursley for second on the back straight, then pulled even to the outside of McDermand in turn two and appeared poised to race her way into the lead. However, just as that was happening, Shane Cottle (9th) spun to a stop in turn four, meaning that the running order reverted back to the last completed lap, thus relegating Avedisian back to third for the restart.
The final eight laps to the finish witnessed a scramble of epic proportions among the frontrunners. First, McIntosh established his presence as he advanced from fourth to second past Avedisian and Pursley in turn one on lap 33. Avedisian promptly took third from Pursley at the exit of turn four a half lap later and began to test McIntosh for the runner-up spot as she ran the top and McIntosh cruised the bottom.
“I knew I was good enough there, but it was hard to get a rhythm with all the holes and finding your way,” McIntosh revealed regarding the low line. “When someone got a good run on the outside, I had to move around a little bit. I stayed patient and I knew I had the car to do it.”
With all that said, McDermand was in total control at the front of the field with a four car length lead on the back straight with the white flag in sight. But as McDermand entered the bottom of turn three on lap 38, the axis of the Earth seemingly tilted, sending McDermand biking on two wheels through the corner. When he landed on all fours in turn four, his front bumper was facing toward the infield.
McDermand recovered in time to beat McIntosh into turn one on the final lap, but without the proper angle, McDermand slid up the racetrack and McIntosh slid under. Simultaneously, Avedisian bolted around the outside of McDermand to occupy second. With McIntosh working the bottom and Avedisian the middle/top, McIntosh beat her to the line by less than two car lengths. McDermand took third, another couple car lengths behind Avedisian. Pursley came home fourth while Kevin Thomas Jr. rounded out the top-five.
“I knew I was good down there and didn’t want to move, but then the opportunity presented itself coming to the white,” McIntosh explained. “I actually didn’t know it was the white until he messed up and I saw it. I thought about driving down there and chopping his nose but I just stuck to the line I had. He went in and drifted in front of me, but I just waited patiently and drove back under him and protected into three.”
In the end, the top-three finishers carried a range of emotions, all with tears in their eyes for varying reasons. One for their greatest triumph; one for coming up just short of their defining moment thus far; and one for letting one slip away from their grasp in crunch time.
Jade Avedisian (Clovis, Calif.) was that close to becoming the first woman to win a USAC National Midget feature. Her end result was the fourth runner-up finish of her career with the series aboard the Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports/Mobil 1 – TRD – Toyota – Peelz/Lynk/Speedway Toyota. Earlier in the evening, she also finished third in the prelim feature, but despite two podium finishes in one day and earning the Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night, she was anything but satisfied.
“It’s super, super heartbreaking,” Avedisian admitted. “I wanted this one so bad. You do it for these kinds of races, and when you’re in a spot to capitalize and it just doesn’t fall your way, it’s heartbreaking. I could cry right now. I’m going to think about this one for a long time. I wanted to kiss those bricks really badly, but it didn’t happen and I gave my best effort and the team gave their best effort. I was willing to either flip it or win it. On the four-wide, I was telling myself that I’m either going to end up over the fence or I’m going to have a good shot to win this thing. That’s just what this race means to me and what this whole event means to me. I’d be willing to do whatever it takes to win.”
Chase McDermand (Springfield, Ill.) went from the highest of highs in winning his first career USAC National Midget feature on Thursday to seeing the biggest payday of his career vanish in the blink of an eye on Sunday night. Although there isn’t much consolation to offer after what transpired, a weekend in which he recorded his two best career USAC National Midget results can’t be all bad. But this is one that truly got away after he led a race high 35 of 39 laps in his Chase McDermand/Mulch Express of Wisconsin – McDermand Plumbing/Spike/Stanton SR-11x.
“I ran 38 decent laps, and one really, really bad one. It stings. It really stings,” McDermand lamented. “But coming out of this weekend with a first and a third, we probably shouldn’t hang our heads too much, but there’s nothing really I can say that will help all of us these next few days.”
This night marked Kameron Key's first championship night start during the BC39. Starting all the way back in 24th in the feature, he went +15 to finish a solid ninth. That earned the Warrensburg, Missouri racer hard charger honors for the night.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 29, 2023 – The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, Indiana – 1/5-Mile Dirt Track – Driven2SaveLives BC39
FIRST ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Jacob Denney (#25 Malloy), 2. Gavin Miller (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Kyle Cummins (#3G Styres), 4. Shane Cottle (#44 4 Kings), 5. Jerry Coons Jr. (#85 Central), 6. Zach Wigal (#89 CBI), 7. Mitchel Moles (#19A Reinbold-Underwood), 8. Bryce Massingill (#40x McDermand), 9. Stephen Schnapf (#11s Martin), 10. Hayden Reinbold (#19AZ Reinbold-Underwood), 11. Gunnar Setser (#43 Arnold), 12. Frankie Guerrini (#63 F & F), 13. Glenn Styres (#0G Styres), 14. Kameron Key (#21J TKH), 15. Briggs Danner (#98 Schneider), 16. Brady Bacon (#21H TKH), 17. Drake Edwards (#3p Petty), 18. Todd Hobson (#75AU Griffiths), 19. Kevin Cook (#77 Cook), 20. Karter Sarff (#21K Sarff), 21. Jeff Schindler (#8x Giddy Up). NT
SECOND ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-5 transfer to the feature) 1. Justin Grant (#2 RMS), 2. Thomas Meseraull (#7x Engler), 3. Logan Seavey (#57 Abacus), 4. Ethan Mitchell (#19m Bundy Built), 5. Ryan Timms (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Tyler Edwards (#14s Mounce-Stout), 7. Darin Naida (#3R Binks), 8. Kaylee Bryson (#58 Abacus), 9. Emerson Axsom (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 10. Kevin Newton (16TH Second Law), 11. C.J. Leary (#54 4 Kings), 12. Zach Daum (#7u Trifecta), 13. Joel Myers Jr. (#1 Crouch), 14. Alex Karpowicz (#19 Mounce-Stout), 15. Cody Beard (#7B Beard), 16. Adam Taylor (#7T ATM), 17. Cameron La Rose (#3J Petty), 18. Kyle Jones (#27x Joyner), 19. Davey Ray (#15J Wimmenauer). 2:33.837
ELLIOTT’S CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS LAST CHANCE QUALIFIER: (15 laps, top-8 transfer to the feature) 1. Zach Wigal, 2. Mitchel Moles, 3. Emerson Axsom, 4. Tyler Edwards, 5. Kaylee Bryson, 6. C.J. Leary, 7. Zach Daum, 8. Kameron Key, 9. Bryce Massingill, 10. Frankie Guerrini, 11. Kevin Newton, 12. Gunnar Setser, 13. Hayden Reinbold, 14. Joel Myers Jr., 15. Briggs Danner, 16. Alex Karpowicz, 17. Cody Beard, 18. Glenn Styres, 19. Darin Naida, 20. Stephen Schnapf. NT
ALSO AT THE TRACK: Chris Baue (#36 Baue)
FEATURE: (39 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Cannon McIntosh (6), 2. Jade Avedisian (5), 3. Chase McDermand (1), 4. Daison Pursley (2), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (4), 6. Logan Seavey (12), 7. Gavin Miller (9), 8. Thomas Meseraull (10), 9. Kameron Key (24), 10. Tyler Edwards (20), 11. Jerry Coons Jr. (15), 12. Zach Daum (23), 13. Ryan Timms (16), 14. C.J. Leary (22), 15. Zach Wigal (17), 16. Kyle Cummins (11), 17. Emerson Axsom (19), 18. Kale Drake (3), 19. Justin Grant (8), 20. Mitchel Moles (18), 21. Kaylee Bryson (21), 22. Ethan Mitchell (14), 23. Shane Cottle (13), 24. Kyle Jones (25-P), 25. Jacob Denney (7), 26. Hayden Reinbold (26-P). NT
(P) represents a provisional starter
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Daison Pursley, Laps 3-37 Chase McDermand, Laps 38-39 Cannon McIntosh.
**Justin Grant flipped on lap 25 of the feature.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-1244, 2-Cannon McIntosh-1157, 3-Ryan Timms-1066, 4-Logan Seavey-1052, 5-Zach Daum-1036, 6-Jacob Denney-968, 7-Justin Grant-963, 8-Gavin Miller-946, 9-Zach Wigal-862, 10-Kale Drake-853.
USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-194, 2-Logan Seavey-180, 3-Robert Ballou-145, 4-Justin Grant-129, 5-C.J. Leary-125, 6-Kyle Cummins-117, 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 RACE: November 15, 2024 – Placerville Speedway – Placerville, California – 1/4-Mile Dirt Oval – Hangtown 100
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Jacob Denney (12.302)
First Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Jacob Denney
Second Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Semi Winner: Justin Grant
Elliott’s Custom Trailers & Carts Last Chance Qualifier Winner: Zach Wigal
Hard Charger: Kameron Key (24th to 9th)
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Jade Avedisian
Max Papis Innovations Rookie of the Race: Kale Drake (18th)
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DRAKE DRIVES TO FIRST USAC MIDGET WIN AT BC39 PRELIM
SPEEDWAY, Ins. -- Kale Drake couldn’t have dreamt up a better introduction to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway than the one he experienced during Sunday’s Driven2SaveLives BC39 Presented By Avanti Windows & Doors prelim feature.
In his first career midget racing appearance at the 1/5-mile dirt oval, the fourth starting Drake (Collinsville, Okla.) took advantage of a slight bobble by his Keith Kunz/Curb-Agajanian Motorsports teammate Gavin Miller, passing him for the top spot on lap seven before going on to pass the test to earn his first career USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship feature victory.
Drake, in his Rookie season with the USAC National Midgets, became the second first-time series winner in as many races to emerge at IMS following Chase McDermand’s triumph on Thursday night. For Drake, his breakthrough moment came in what was just his 18th career series start.
“We’re a winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and that’s pretty surreal,” Drake exclaimed. “I don’t think there’s anything better than this, honestly. Holy moly. This is unreal!”
Drake and his Eibach Springs – TRD – Toyota/LynK/Speedway Toyota started from the outside of the second row for the 30-lap feature in a program which had been delayed since Friday after two-plus continuous days and nights of constant rain due to the effects of Hurricane Helene. After yeoman’s work to get the track whipped into raceworthy shape, Mother Nature’s precipitation presented a cowboy-up type surface that had drivers on their toes, and sitting up in the saddle, all night long.
“We started the night off in poor fashion, really,” Drake admitted. “It was just a super hooked up racetrack, and I ended up having to do a few things that I’m not really a fan of doing. These things don’t come by easy especially when you’re racing with the best of the best.”
Initially, outside front row starter Miller paced the field as he snuck around the outside of pole sitter Kevin Thomas Jr. for the opening lap lead. It was relatively smooth sailing for Miller throughout the first five trips until he hopped, skipped and jumped his way through turn four en route to the completion of lap six.
As Miller fought to reign his bucking bronco in, that allowed Drake to close to within a car length of Miller as the top-two streamed down the front straightaway for the completion of lap six. One turn into lap seven, Miller pogo-sticked up the racetrack, which subsequently provided daylight on the bottom for Drake to break on through to the other side in turn two.
Chief among the keys for Drake at this juncture was avoiding what befell Miller, avoiding the trouble spots all while remaining steady, cool, calm and collected and race his own race.
“I had the best racecar out there, Drake praised. “(Crew Chief) Kaleb (Wyrick) and the entire Keith Kunz Motorsports crew gave me the easiest Cadillac to drive through those ruts. It was super crazy.”
Meanwhile, behind Drake, the modus operandi for the field was to slot into one of the highly-coveted top-three spots to earn an automatic bid into the night’s big finale. Thomas traveled to second shortly thereafter on lap 13 as he drove by Miller in the fourth turn.
Tenth starting Jade Avedisian got to fourth after charging by Grant on the back straight following a lap 19 restart, then took Miller for third in turn four on lap 24. Miller ripped the spot right back from Avedisian in turn two moments later, but ultimately, Avedisian managed to clear Miller for third with just four laps remaining in turn one.
A series of five different caution periods throughout the middle stages of the race could’ve rattled Drake, but he chose to embrace them. In the end, the final 11 laps went clean and green to the checkered for Drake who was in total control down the stretch, prevailing by 2.099 second margin over Thomas, Avedisian, Grant and Miller.
“All those cautions normally intimidate me,” Drake acknowledged. “But around here, it’s a tight bullring and there’s not much passing room. I was kind of grateful for them. We’ve had a few slip away from us because of some late-race cautions like that. We’ve been super-fast all year, and that’s a huge testament to this entire team. Without each and every one on it, none of this would be possible.”
Not only did Drake become the latest first-time USAC National Midget victor, but he also earned the Max Papis Innovations Rookie of the Race award for his fourth to first performance.
Ethan Mitchell (Mooresville, N.C.) was the biggest mover of the feature with his 18th to seventh run earning him the night’s hard charger award.
Furthermore, it was quite a roller coaster of emotions for Alex Karpowicz (Spring Branch, Texas) during what was his USAC National Midget debut. He began the night upside down after hard contact with the turn four wall in hot laps. Shortly after repairs were made by his Mounce-Stout Racing crew, he returned to win his heat race. That earned him the evening’s Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: September 29, 2024 – The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Moto 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. Justin Grant (#2 RMS), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (#14 4 Kings), 3. Drake Edwards (#3p Petty), 4. Kyle Cummins (#3G Styres), 5. Emerson Axsom (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 6. Brady Bacon (#21H TKH), 7. Jade Avedisian (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 8. Ethan Mitchell (#19m Bundy Built), 9. Frankie Guerrini (#63 F & F).
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Alex Karpowicz (#19 Mounce-Stout), 2. Gavin Miller (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 3. Chris Baue (#36 Baue), 4. Darin Naida (#3 Dan Binks), 5. Zach Wigal (#89 CBI), 6. Bryce Massingill (#40x McDermand), 7. Kyle Jones (#27x Joyner), 8. Davey Ray (#15J Wimmenauer).
T.J. FORGED / CAR IQ THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Logan Seavey (#57 Abacus), 2. Kale Drake (Kunz/Curb-Agajanian #97K), 3. Mitchel Moles (#19A Reinbold-Underwood), 4. Karter Sarff (#21K Sarff), 5. Bryan Stanfill (#75AU Griffiths), 6. Cody Beard (#7B Beard), 7. Stephen Schnapf (#11s Martin), 8. Kevin Newton (#16TH Second Law).
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Karter Sarff, 3. Kevin Newton, 4. Bryan Stanfill, 5. Logan Seavey, 6. Drake Edwards, 7. Frankie Guerrini, 8. Alex Karpowicz.
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Jade Avedisian, 3. Kale Drake, 4. Gavin Miller, 5. Darin Naida, 6. Chris Baue, 7. Bryce Massingill, 8. Davey Ray.
T.J. FORGED / CAR IQ THIRD QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Emerson Axsom, 2. Zach Wigal, 3. Mitchel Moles, 4. Justin Grant, 5. Kyle Cummins, 6. Ethan Mitchell, 7. Cody Beard, 8. Kyle Jones.
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kale Drake (4), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (1), 3. Jade Avedisian (10), 4. Justin Grant (6), 5. Gavin Miller (2), 6. Karter Sarff (3), 7. Ethan Mitchell (19), 8. Logan Seavey (5), 9. Kyle Cummins (11), 10. Zach Wigal (7), 11. Emerson Axsom (9), 12. Kevin Newton (13), 13. Mitchel Moles (12), 14. Drake Edwards (16), 15. Darin Naida (15), 16. Alex Karpowicz (14), 17. Frankie Guerrini (23), 18. Bryce Massingill (20), 19. Cody Beard (21), 20. Chris Baue (17), 21. Bryan Stanfill (18), 22. Brady Bacon (8), 23. Kyle Jones (22), 24. Davey Ray (24). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Gavin Miller, Laps 7-30 Kale Drake.
**Alex Karpowicz flipped during practice.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-1183, 2-Cannon McIntosh-1087, 3-Ryan Timms-1029, 4-Logan Seavey-997, 5-Zach Daum-997, 6-Jacob Denney-945, 7-Justin Grant-938, 8-Gavin Miller-894, 9-Zach Wigal-829, 10-Kale Drake-826.
USAC NATIONAL PROSOURCE PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Daison Pursley-194, 2-Logan Seavey-174, 3-Robert Ballou-145, 4-Justin Grant-129, 5-Kyle Cummins-117, 6-C.J. Leary-117, 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 RACE: September 29, 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: Zach Wigal (12.035)
Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner: Justin Grant
Rod End Supply Second Heat Winner: Alex Karpowicz
T.J. Forged / Car IQ Third Heat Winner: Logan Seavey
Simpson Race Products First Qualifier Winner: Brady Bacon
Rod End Supply Second Qualifier Winner: Kevin Thomas Jr.
T.J. Forged / Car IQ Third Qualifier Winner: Emerson Axsom
Hard Charger: Ethan Mitchell (18th to 7th)
Inferno Armor Fire Move of the Night: Alex Karpowicz
MPI Rookie of the Race: Kale Drake (1st)
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