9/4/2019: After the heat races were set last night in a live draft, we are officially kicking off the two night BC 39 event in Indianapolis. 88 cars are signed in and set for heat races tonight with some of the best in dirt racing are signed up to try to win the big prize on Thursday night. Since we already know what heats look like for tonight, our job of making predictions gets a little bit easier. The only complication is that this format has a few rules that really throws some curveballs at you.
The format tonight will be passing points but that is not the only thing that sets you up for the feature.
Features will be determined by passing points and then those that make it through passing points are then inverted by speed. Then in the feature every 5 laps, any driver that has a net loss in positions is sent off the track. Therefore there is a lot to keep track of tonight. Our NewzVroom Notables for tonight are going to be Zeb Wise, Logan Seavey and Kyle Larson. Even with an expanded field, we expect these drivers to still run to the front just as they have all year. Wise won this race last year with a stellar pass of Alex Bright in the closing laps. Wise has been the hottest midget driver over the last two months and that momentum should propel him in front of this huge audience. Seavey is your most recent USAC midget winner and has a nice lineup for him in heat 8. We feel confident that Seavey should work through that field comfortably and get enough points to make it into the field and run near the front. Larson has the same strategy going as Seavey and finds himself with a fairly easy qualifying race. Larson showed during PA Midget Week that he will go anywhere on the track to pass and he will need to do that tonight. His car has shown a lot of speed which may set him back in the feature tonight from a starting position standpoint but should put on a show for the rest of us.
Our pick of the night is going to be Christopher Bell. Bell is still the driver to beat on any short track especially against the best in the country. He will not start as far back as Larson in his heat and has a little tougher road but that may slow down his heat race speed to get him to start up front in the A. If he starts near the front, we don’t see anyone getting around the multi time defending Chili Bowl winner.