INDIANAPOLIS — By all accounts, the inaugural Driven2SaveLives BC39 presented by NOS Energy Drink at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was a rousing success.

Despite being plagued by weather during the second night of the Sept. 5-6 show, the event featured two- and three-wide racing on the quarter-mile dirt oval set inside the third turn of the historic 2.5-mile speedway. Fans turned out in droves to take in the action and Brady Bacon, a friend of the late Bryan Clauson, won the $15,000 top prize in the 39-lap USAC midget feature.

Still, there was concern among some that this might be a “one-and-done” type of event.

Will the BC39 — or any other major dirt racing event — return to the IMS Dirt Track in 2019? If track president Doug Boles has his way, the pre-Brickyard 400 event will have a spot on next year’s calendar.

“There’s definitely interest in continuing to explore (dirt racing at the speedway). Emotionally, for me … if it was solely based on that, then I’d have it back tomorrow,” Boles told SPEED SPORT. “The bigger issue is, how did it perform from a business standpoint and how did it fit in overall to the whole weekend? Generally, I think it was an additive to the whole weekend and created a lot of buzz and excitement leading into the NASCAR activities.

“I think it has a natural home in that spot if we decide to do it again.”

Thursday night’s program was reduced to eight qualifying races and the 39-lap feature after rain delayed on-track activity by several hours, leading to a green flag shortly after midnight.

“The one thing we can’t control in this industry is the weather, so we knew we couldn’t let ourselves get too worked up about it. We just had to be prepared to adjust on the fly and make the best decisions we could, based on the short-term forecasts, and that’s exactly what we did,” Boles explained. “Really, the team did a great job, from the ticket folks to the hospitality folks to our operations team and TV, of doing what we had to do to put on an event like we did and combat what we were faced with.”

Perhaps the most impressive moment during the two-day stretch was just prior to the start of the feature when Boles came to the microphone to address the fans in attendance, and a wall-to-wall spread of people in the Shaw Grandstand showed their appreciation of the event staff via a chorus of raucous cheers.

“It was definitely a trying week for staff, fans … everyone, frankly,” noted Boles. “But Monday night, driving home late, I thought to myself that I don’t think I’ve ever been prouder to be associated with the team we have at the speedway, as well as the race fans.

“Whenever my day ends here, this will go down as maybe one of the more gratifying weeks ever,” Boles added. “With all the trouble we had, to see all the fans that turned out and how everyone worked together and came together to make everything happen and make this successful … it was special, that’s for sure.”

Boles said a decision regarding a renewal of the event will be made before the start of the holiday season in late November or early December.

“The evaluation process, in terms of the overall weekend, is still ongoing. I thought Wednesday and Thursday was a great lead-in to the weekend, though,” noted Boles. “There was a lot of excitement in the marketplace and among the grassroots motorsports contingent. From an operational standpoint, I’m pretty pleased with all of the things we learned, and we have some other things too that we still have to work through.

“For now, all I can say is that we’ll see where it goes, but I feel pretty happy about what we accomplished with the BC39 and the show we put on for all the fans.”