Asked if he ever dreamed that a 118-car field was possible, Boles immediately replied, “Absolutely not.
“I’ve always been a fan of midget racing, perhaps even more so than sprint cars, and if I get a weekend off I’ll end up at Gas City or Lincoln Park watching midgets run … and you’ll get 30-ish cars for a normal national event,” Boles said. “I figured, and I think USAC did too, that we’d get somewhere between 60 and 70 cars that entered. We figured that would be a really great number for us.
“To be at 118 entries … it’s crazy and by far more than we ever expected.”
Not only does the stellar field make this week’s event special, but the fact that it’s named in honor of the late Bryan Clauson – a multi-time USAC champion, new National Sprint Car Hall of Famer and three-time Indianapolis 500 starter who was born in California but raised in Indiana – makes it even more so.
“I think having it as the BC39 is probably what makes this event special, honestly above all else,” said Boles. “Bryan was a Hoosier kid, he grew up here, he ran the (Indianapolis) 500 and was really our short-track Superman, if you will.
“He was here when we did the stunt for Tony, and frankly he’s the one who talked us out of doing anything major (race-wise) on the Stewart track,” Boles added. “He told me, ‘Hey, you need to do this the right way, because we’ll all want to say we were the first to win here and end up wadding up a whole bunch of cars.’ He hoped that I could convince the Speedway board and that Kevin (Miller, USAC President) could convince his people that this could be done and done well.”
Boles and Miller have done so now, something that Boles said he owes to Clauson’s wisdom.
“He was the adult in the room that night, and it was the right decision, but it’s just a bummer that he’s not here to race on the finished product now,” said Boles. “To have his name on it, it makes it meaningful for everyone, but especially for me because I still remember that conversation after he tapped me on the shoulder that day.
“I feel like, through this entire process, he’s still had his hand in it because of that.”
With the inaugural running on tap Wednesday and Thursday night, the question has already been raised: will there be another race on the IMS Dirt Track after this year?
“That’s the hope,” Boles admitted. “USAC and the Speedway made a one-year commitment, and we’ll reevaluate after it’s over. It needs to be successful for all of us, and right now all metrics say it will be, but until we get through the weekend and look back on everything, it’s a one-race deal.
“With that said, we made the decision that if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it the right way,” Boles continued. “From the entry of turn three to the exit of turn two is a full-on concrete wall, with Indianapolis Motor Speedway fence posts and cabling. The backstretch is a temporary construction that can move out pretty easily, because we still need the availability to park this, especially for the Indy 500.
“Right now, the idea is that it’s 2018 and we’ll all get together afterwards and if this thing checks all the boxes, then hopefully we’ll do it again.”
Before he looks ahead to the future, however, Boles is ready to soak in the energy of the BC39 and all the emotions that will come along with it over the next few days.
“People always ask me what my favorite time of year is, and I always tell them that it’s the 30 minutes leading up to the Indy 500, and specifically the 90 seconds of Back Home Again in Indiana,” reflected Boles “I am anticipating that watching these cars roll off for the feature race on Thursday night … won’t quite be that moment, but it will be one of those that’s in consideration for one of my favorite moments of the year.
“I know the hard work that’s gone in by so many people to make this a reality, but really, the fact that it’s connecting the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to grassroots racing again is a really special thing. To be able to marry that short-track passion with the passion of the speedway will make for a truly special evening.”
