Briggs Danner earned $20,039 for his feature victory during Wednesday night's BC39 Presented by Avanti Windows & Doors at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Rich Forman Photo) (Video Highlights from FloRacing.com)
By: Paul Kelly – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Speedway, Indiana (July 1, 2026)………Briggs Danner provided redemption for himself and his team on Wednesday night with a drive to victory in the BC39 Presented by Avanti Windows & Doors.
Danner, from Allentown, Pennsylvania, earned his first career USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship victory at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in one of the most prestigious short-track races in the country.
He earned $20,039 for the victory at the wheel of the No. 40x Chase McDermand Racing/GR8 Company – McDermand Plumbing/Spike/Speedway Toyota in the 39-lap race, which continues to honor late USAC champion and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter Bryan Clauson.
“Between last night and tonight, we were good every time we hit the track,” Danner said. “There’s no feeling like this right now. I don’t even know what to say right now.”
Kevin Thomas Jr., the winner of the 30-lap Stoops Star Spangled Showdown on Tuesday at IMS, finished second in the No. 14 4 Kings Racing entry. Jacob Denney was third in the No. 67 Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports car.
Two-time reigning BC39 winner Cannon McIntosh fell short in his bid for a three-peat, finishing fourth in the No. 71K Keith Kunz-Curb-Agajanian Motorsports entry. Kale Drake rounded out the top five in the No. 4 RMS Racing machine.
The victory erased a tough night for Danner and the McDermand team in Tuesday’s 30-lap feature. Danner was hit from behind by teammate Drake Edwards on lap six and struggled to finish 13th, also hurt by a deflating tire late in that race.
Edwards went on to win the race for the McDermand team but was disqualified after a technical violation was discovered in his engine in post-race inspection. Thomas, who crossed the line in second, was awarded the victory.
“We were really good last night,” Danner said. “There’s no better place to be than in victory lane. This crowd, this track inside IMS, there’s nothing like this. This is really cool, and it will take a little bit to set in.”
Said team owner Chase McDermand about the rebound from the disqualification: “We had our little moment when we were all kind of just moping around. Got everybody together in the lounge of the trailer, building everybody right back up. After that point, we all knew we had the cars to do it.”
Pole sitter Danner lost the lead to Drake immediately at the drop of the green flag in the BC39 feature. Danner immediately decided to run a higher line on the dirt oval, a strategy he maintained for nearly the entire race.
Danner made a rare low move to dip under Drake for the lead exiting turn four on lap nine before a three-car tangle unfurled the first caution flag of the night on lap 10.
On the restart, McIntosh passed Drake for second place and loomed behind Danner. Then, Danner and McIntosh produced 10 consecutive laps of magic, swapping the lead nearly every trip around the oval. The scintillating duel also included Danner keeping the lead despite bouncing off the turn four wall on lap 16, as repeated sliding through turn four created a banked cushion of dirt that caught some drivers off guard.
“It’s so tough, and it’s so slick, too,” Danner said of the changing conditions in turn four. “When it’s fluffy like that, it just kind of catches you instead of letting you drive off of it or just bounce off of it.”
The fight for the lead became a three-car joust when Thomas, who faithfully stuck to the low line for the entire feature, passed both Danner and McIntosh for the lead on lap 24.
But Danner regained the lead on the next lap while running the high line and began to pull away by a few car lengths. The final caution period on lap 30 bunched the field, but Danner rocketed away on the final restart.
“Thankfully, I didn’t have a rearview mirror because I’m sure it was getting pretty busy, but I just had to try to protect,” Danner said.
About the only adjustment Danner made in the closing laps was to drop his line slightly lower to avoid the bumps and the berm forming in turn four, creating a smooth ride to victory lane.
Danner led three different times for a total of 25 laps in the 39-lap feature. On what was a very lucrative night, not only did he win the BC39, but he also scored the K & N Filters Clean Air Award.
Justin Grant had to pass a lot of cars to get to a top 10 result. After starting 18th, an early race accident forced him to restart at the tail of the 28-car field. By the end, he had raced his way back to finish 10th and earn Rod End Supply Hard Charger honors.
Jake Swanson finished 13th in the feature to earn BC39 Rookie of the Year honors, plus a $700 bonus, a steering wheel trophy, and a gift card to use toward racing gloves, all courtesy of Max Papis Innovations for his performance at the BC39.
Previously, McDermand had been victorious as a driver during a 2024 BC39 prelim feature. With Wednesday’s triumph, McDermand became the first individual to win a BC39 main event as both a driver and car entrant.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE RESULTS: July 1, 2026 – The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Speedway, Indiana – 1/5-Mile Dirt Oval – 8th BC39 Presented by Avanti Windows & Doors
K1 RACEGEAR FIRST QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Gunnar Setser (#43 Arnold) (3), 2. Daison Pursley (#86 CBI) (2), 3. Steven Snyder Jr. (#89 CBI) (4), 4. Ricky Thornton Jr. (#1R Rossi-Petty) (5), 5. Gavin Miller (#97 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian) (6), 6. Kyle Jones (#7TX Engler) (10), 7. Frank Flud (#81F Rosenboom) (7), 8. Tanner Thorson (#32J Tessier) (11), 9. Riley Kreisel (#19K Cox) (8), 10. Wout Hoffmans (#14J Rosenboom) (1), 11. Jake Robinson (#5u Trifecta) (9). 2:07.741
TJ FORGED SECOND QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Colton Robinson (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian) (2), 2. Logan Seavey (#57 Abacus) (3), 3. Justin Peck (#3p Rossi-Petty) (5), 4. Bradley Cox (#45 Mason) (4), 5. Zach Wigal (#1 O’Dell) (6), 6. Alex Sewell (#32A Tessier) (7), 7. Cooper Miller (#8L Miller) (9), 8. Tyler Watkins (#7w Watkins) (10), 9. Josh Hodge (#35 Hodge) (8), 10. Cody Weisensel (#20w Burrington) (1). NT
K & N FILTERS THIRD QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Drake Edwards (#40D McDermand) (4), 2. Jakeb Boxell (#14K 4 Kings) (2), 3. Kevin Thomas Jr. (#14 4 Kings) (6), 4. Joel Myers Jr. (#19H Hayward) (7), 5. Jonathan Beason (#36 Rosenboom) (3), 6. Hayden Reinbold (#19AZ Reinbold) (5), 7. Cameron Hagin (#33 RayPro) (9), 8. Cord Kisthardt (#21K Kisthardt) (8), 9. Kade Taylor (#T21 Mounce-Stout) (1), 10. Chris Hartman (#35s Hodge) (10). NT
INDY POWERSPORTS FOURTH QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Cannon McIntosh (#71K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian) (4), 2. Briggs Danner (#40x McDermand) (5), 3. J.J. Yeley (#3J Rossi-Petty) (3), 4. Rylan Gray (#22H Gray) (1), 5. Alex Midkiff (#05 Midkiff) (6), 6. Jeffrey Abbey (#8B Miller) (7), 7. Adyn Schmidt (#19x Cox) (2), 8. Christian Miller (#8XL Miller) (8), 9. Zach Daum (#5d Taylor) (9), 10. Austin Wood (#27 Horn) (10). NT
K1 RACEGEAR FIFTH QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kale Drake (#4 RMS) (5), 2. Brandon Carr (#98K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian) (8), 3. Ethan Mitchell (#19m Bundy Built) (1), 4. Kaylee Bryson (#11 Abacus) (3), 5. Jake Swanson (#54 4 Kings) (6), 6. Mack Leopard (#40L McDermand) (9), 7. Robert Carson (#99K Carson) (10), 8. Dodge Carlbert (#1m Montgomery) (7), 9. Cale Coons (#63 Dooling/Curb-Agajanian) (4), 10. Wesley Smith (#5p Rossi-Petty) (2). NT
TJ FORGED SIXTH QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Drew Sherman (#19 Reinbold-Underwood) (2), 2. Logan Julien (#3N O’Dell) (1), 3. Jacob Denney (#67 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian) (5), 4. Karter Sarff (#7u Trifecta) (7), 5. Kyle Cummins (#3G Styres) (4), 6. Brecken Reese (#20Q Reese) (3), 7. Justin Grant (#87 CBI) (6), 8. Adam Taylor (#7T ATM) (9), 9. Eric Heydenreich (#32 OMR-Rase) (8), 10. Beau Doyle (#19R Reinbold-Underwood) (10). NT
FIRST COOK OUT C-MAIN: (12 laps, top 4 transfer to the semis, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Karter Sarff (1), 2. Alex Midkiff (3), 3. Jeffrey Abbey (5), 4. Mack Leopard (6), 5. Rylan Gray (2), 6. Wesley Smith (9), 7. Cooper Miller (7), 8. Adyn Schmidt (4), 9. Wout Hoffmans (10), 10. Kade Taylor (8), 11. Adam Taylor (12), 12. Beau Doyle (15), 13. Eric Heydenreich (11), 14. Robert Carson (14), 15. Jake Robinson (13). NT
SECOND COOK OUT C-MAIN: (12 laps, top 4 transfer to the semis, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brecken Reese (1), 2. Cale Coons (2), 3. Riley Kreisel (9), 4. Alex Sewell (3), 5. Kyle Jones (5), 6. Frank Flud (4), 7. Cody Weisensel (10), 8. Cameron Hagin (8), 9. Dodge Carlbert (6), 10. Tanner Thorson (14), 11. Tyler Watkins (11), 12. Chris Hartman (13), 13. Christian Miller (12), 14. Cord Kisthardt (7). NT
FIVE STAR BODIES SEMI: (15 laps, top 6 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Daison Pursley (2), 2. Drew Sherman (1), 3. Kyle Cummins (6), 4. Jakeb Boxell (4), 5. J.J. Yeley (3), 6. Kaylee Bryson (7), 7. Brandon Carr (5), 8. Logan Julien (9), 9. Ethan Mitchell (12), 10. Cale Coons (16), 11. Jonathan Beason (8), 12. Karter Sarff (13), 13. Zach Daum (11), 14. Riley Kreisel (18), 15. Brecken Reese (14), 16. Mack Leopard (19), 17. Alex Midkiff (15), 18. Joel Myers Jr. (10), 19. Jeffrey Abbey (17), 20. Alex Sewell (20). NT
FEATURE: (39 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Briggs Danner (1), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (3), 3. Jacob Denney (9), 4. Cannon McIntosh (4), 5. Kale Drake (2), 6. Gavin Miller (6), 7. Steven Snyder Jr. (12), 8. Brandon Carr (26-U), 9. Gunnar Setser (8), 10 Justin Grant (18), 11. Logan Seavey (14), 12. Daison Pursley (19), 13. Jake Swanson (13), 14. Ricky Thornton Jr. (11), 15. Hayden Reinbold (17), 16. Kyle Cummins (21), 17. Drew Sherman (20), 18. Kaylee Bryson (24), 19. Tanner Thorson (28-I), 20. Jakeb Boxell (22), 21. Cale Coons (27-I), 22. J.J. Yeley (23), 23. Justin Peck (7), 24. Brecken Reese (25-U), 25. Bradley Cox (15), 26. Drake Edwards (5), 27. Colton Robinson (16), 28. Zach Wigal (10). NT
(U) represents a USAC provisional starter.
(I) represents an Indianapolis Motor Speedway provisional starter.
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-9 Kale Drake, Laps 10-17 Briggs Danner, Laps 18-20 Cannon McIntosh, Laps 21-22 Briggs Danner, Lap 23 Cannon McIntosh, Lap 24 Kevin Thomas Jr., Laps 25-39 Briggs Danner.
**Brecken Reese flipped on lap 30 of the feature.
USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS: 1-Kevin Thomas Jr.-552, 2-Jacob Denney-547, 3-Justin Grant-525, 4-Kale Drake-493, 5-Jakeb Boxell-490, 6-Zach Wigal-486, 7-Gavin Miller-480, 8-Gunnar Setser-454, 9-Logan Seavey-453, 10-Cannon McIntosh-444.
USAC PARALLAX GROUP NATIONAL PASSING MASTER POINTS: 1-Hayden Reinbold-83, 2-Kevin Thomas Jr.-83, 3-Robert Ballou-70, 4-Justin Grant-65, 5-Jacob Denney-64, 6-Cale Coons-64, 7-Briggs Danner-61, 8-Chase Stockon-50, 9-Brady Bacon-44, 10-Kyle Cummins-42.
NEXT USAC NOS ENERGY DRINK MIDGET NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: July 7, 2026 – Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex – Sweet Springs, Missouri – 1/6-Mile Dirt Oval – Mid-America Midget Week
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Dirt Draft Hot Laps Fastest Driver: Briggs Danner (12.397)
K1 RaceGear First Qualifier Winner: Gunnar Setser
TJ Forged Second Qualifier Winner: Colton Robinson
K & N Filters Third Qualifier Winner: Drake Edwards
Indy Powersports Fourth Qualifier Winner: Cannon McIntosh
K1 RaceGear Fifth Qualifier Winner: Kale Drake
TJ Forged Sixth Qualifier Winner: Drew Sherman
First Cook Out C-Main Winner: Karter Sarff
Second Cook Out C-Main Winner: Brecken Reese
Five Star Bodies Semi Winner: Daison Pursley
K & N Filters Clean Air Award: Briggs Danner (25 laps led)
Rod End Supply Hard Charger: Justin Grant (18th to 10th)
Max Papis Innovations Rookie of the Race: Jake Swanson (13th)