Speedway, Indiana (December 10, 2024)………After coming up just three points shy of the title a year ago in 2023, all Bryce Massingill needed on the final weekend of the 2024 USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget Presented by Performance Electronics season was some good fortune.
Quite literally and figuratively, the Troy, Ohio native weathered the storm when it came down to the final two events of the year.
Massingill picked up a great opportunity to go USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget racing with Chase McDermand’s team at the Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at IMS. It just so happened those final two races of the Midwest Thunder season coincided with the BC39.
Holding a narrow 22-point lead entering the scheduled final two events, Massingill resigned himself to the fact that his championship quest was over. However, Mother Nature had her own ideas. Rain subsequently washed away both Ohio shows at Moler Raceway Park and Atomic Speedway. With no makeup date, Massingill was declared the champ.
With all that said, Massingill earned the title on the track, and along the way, finished inside the top-10 in all 12 of his feature starts while winning twice, in April at Moler and again in June at Waynesfield Raceway Park, in his family owned No. 35 Boss Chassis powered by a General Motors Ecotec engine with his father, Jason Massingill, serving as the crew chief.
In the end, the 19-year-old Massingill had finally cleared the championship hurdle after finishing as the runner-up in the Midwest Thunder standings by a combined 29 points in 2022 and 2023. This all came on the heels of a third-place finish for the driver who made his Midwest Thunder debut in 2019.
Reigning USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget champion Zach Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) stopped in to compete on a frequent basis when time allowed away from earning 2024 Rookie of the Year honors with the USAC National Midgets. Wigal scored a series-high three Midwest Thunder victories, all in his home state, in June at Millstream Speedway, the following weekend at Atomic and for the third time at Waynesfield Raceway Park in September.
Cale Coons (Greencastle, Ind.) finished as the runner-up in series standings. The son of USAC Career Triple Crown champion Jerry Coons Jr. won on two occasions, first at Moler, then again in July at Waynesfield during the Jack Hewitt Classic.
Chett Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Okla.) grabbed back-to-back wins in points races driving for two different teams. First, he reigned triumphantly at the wheel of Don Moore’s Music Machine in July at Indiana’s Kokomo Speedway. In September, he returned with Tom Fedorczyk’s ride and proceeded to drive it into victory lane as well at Indiana’s Circle City Raceway.
Three more drivers gained single victories during the season. Matt Lux (Manilla, Ind.) logged his win in May at Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway. Jakeb Boxell (Zanesville, Ind.) recorded his first career series victory during the Mike Streicher Memorial in June at Ohio’s Limaland Motorsports Park. Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, Ohio) notched his at Moler in July.
Wigal led all series drivers in the laps led category for the second year in a row with 60. Boxell and Coons were knotted up as the clubhouse leaders when it comes to top-fives with each driver garnering eight of them. Boxell led all drivers with four fast qualifying times while Lux collected a series best five heat race wins. Six drivers started all 12 feature events: Jakeb Boxell, Stratton Briggs (Anna, Ohio), Ian Creager (Covington, Ohio), Tate Martz (Rushville, Ind.), Bryce Massingill and Brayden Schwartz (Troy, Ohio).
Cale Coons (Greencastle, Ind.) made the biggest advancement of the season, earning hard charger honors after moving up 19 positions from his 21st starting spot to a second-place result behind Lux in May at Lincoln Park.
In addition, seven different non-points special events were held by the series in 2023, featuring five different winners. Bryce Massingill was a victor thrice more in May at Circle City in August at West Virginia’s Ohio Valley Speedway and in August at Indiana’s Montpelier Motor Speedway.
Zach Wigal slayed the competition in May at Waynesfield while Matt Lux was the best at the high banks of Ohio’s Eldora Speedway in May. Cale Coons got one on the similarly steep high banks of Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway in August. Michael Magic (Winder, Ga.) pocketed the season finale in October at Montpelier.
Ryan Fleming (Cedarville, Ohio) was named series Rookie of the Year following a 10th place finish in the standings and a career best feature result of 5th in May at Moler.
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET STAT LEADERS:
Driver Champion: Bryce Massingill
Most Feature Wins: 3-Zach Wigal
Laps Led: 60-Zach Wigal
Top-Fives: 8-Jakeb Boxell & Cale Coons
Top-Tens: 12-Bryce Massingill
Fast Qualifying Times: 4-Jakeb Boxell
Heat Race Wins: 5-Matt Lux
Feature Starts: 12-Jakeb Boxell, Stratton Briggs, Ian Creager, Tate Martz, Bryce Massingill & Brayden Schwartz
Biggest Charge of the Season: May 25 at Lincoln Park Speedway – Cale Coons (21st to 2nd)
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1. 699 Bryce Massingill, Troy, Ohio
2. 680 Cale Coons, Greencastle, Indiana
3. 665 Jakeb Boxell, Zanesville, Indiana
4. 622 Tate Martz, Rushville, Indiana
5. 608 Matt Lux, Manilla, Indiana
6. 562 Ian Creager, Covington, Ohio
7. 543 Zach Wigal, Belpre, Ohio
8. 539 Stratton Briggs, Anna, Ohio
9. 458 Luke Hall, Findlay, Ohio
10. 425 Ryan Fleming, Cedarville, Ohio
11. 419 Brayden Schwartz, Troy, Ohio
12. 386 Cole Morgan, Brookville, Ohio
13. 382 Kayla Roell, Dillsboro, Indiana
14. 381 Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
15. 354 Michael Magic, Winder, Georgia
16. 335 Alex Watson, Columbus, Ohio
17. 295 Tyler Nelson, Olathe, Kansas
18. 280 Carl Peterson, Waterford, Michigan
19. 235 Gunnar Lucius, Delphos, Ohio
20. 175 Bryce Dues, Russia, Ohio
21. 170 Page Perrine, Fort Jennings, Ohio
22. 159 Luke Lemons, Moraine, Ohio
23. 155 Jim Jones, Ventura, California
24. 134 Tommy Bigelow, Winchester, Indiana
25. 121 Tyler Kalb, Columbus, Ohio
26. 110 Andy Martin, Findlay, Ohio
27. 68 Scott Albrecht, Danville, Indiana
28. 65 Cody Dye, Covington, Kentucky
29. 48 Larry Rice, Findlay, Ohio
30. 46 Steven Gresham, Seymour, Indiana
31. 45 Taylor Nibert, South Vienna, Ohio
32. 30 Jody Paul, Orient, Ohio
33. 29 Casey Meyer, Columbus, Indiana
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:
Apr 19: Moler Raceway Park - Williamsburg, OH
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
May 11: (SE) Waynesfield Raceway Park - Waynesfield, OH
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
May 18: (SE) Eldora Speedway - Rossburg, OH
WINNER: Matt Lux (Bill Wells #5)
May 23: (SE) Circle City Raceway - Indianapolis, IN
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
May 25: Lincoln Park Speedway - Putnamville, IN
WINNER: Matt Lux (Bill Wells #5)
May 31: Moler Raceway Park - Williamsburg, OH
WINNER: Cale Coons (Joe Dooling/Curb-Agajanian #63)
Jun 9: Waynesfield Raceway Park - Waynesfield, OH
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Jun 14: Millstream Speedway - Findlay, OH
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Jun 22: Atomic Speedway - Chillicothe, OH
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Jun 28: Limaland Motorsports Park - Elida, OH
WINNER: Jakeb Boxell (Boxell-Merkler Racing #44JB)
Jul 3: Waynesfield Raceway Park - Waynesfield, OH
WINNER: Cale Coons (Joe Dooling/Curb-Agajanian #63)
Jul 12: Moler Raceway Park - Williamsburg, OH
WINNER: Luke Hall (Kyle Heitmeyer #74)
Jul 27: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, IN
WINNER: Chett Gehrke (Don Moore #10)
Aug 9: (SE) Ohio Valley Speedway - Washington, WV
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Aug 24: (SE) Lawrenceburg Speedway - Lawrenceburg, IN
WINNER: Cale Coons (Joe Dooling/Curb-Agajanian #63)
Aug 31: (SE) Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, IN
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Sep 13: Circle City Raceway - Indianapolis, IN
WINNER: Chett Gehrke (Tom Fedorczyk #21)
Sep 14: Waynesfield Raceway Park - Waynesfield, OH
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Oct 5: (SE) Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, IN
WINNER: Michael Magic (Mike Magic #5m)
(SE) represents a non-point, special event
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS)
3-Zach Wigal (Jun 14 at Millstream Speedway, Jun 22 at Atomic Speedway & Sep 14 at Waynesfield Raceway Park)
2-Cale Coons (May 31 at Moler Raceway Park & Jul 3 at Waynesfield Raceway Park)
2-Chett Gehrke (Jul 27 at Kokomo Speedway & Sep 13 at Circle City Raceway)
2-Bryce Massingill (Apr 19 at Moler Raceway Park & Jun 9 at Waynesfield Raceway Park)
1-Jakeb Boxell (Jun 28 at Limaland Motorsports Park)
1-Luke Hall (Jul 12 at Moler Raceway Park)
1-Matt Lux (May 25 at Lincoln Park Speedway)
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)
3-Bryce Massingill (May 23 at Circle City Raceway, Aug 9 at Ohio Valley Speedway & Aug 31 at Montpelier Motor Speedway)
1-Cale Coons (Aug 24 at Lawrenceburg Speedway)
1-Matt Lux (May 18 at Eldora Speedway)
1-Michael Magic (Oct 5 at Montpelier Motor Speedway)
1-Zach Wigal (May 11 at Waynesfield Raceway Park)
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE LAPS LED:
60-Zach Wigal
43-Bryce Massingill
41-Matt Lux
34-Chett Gehrke
25-Jakeb Boxell
19-Ian Creager
16-Luke Hall
15-Cale Coons
8-Stratton Briggs & Josh Yenser
7-Tate Martz
4-Kayla Roell
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES:
8-Jakeb Boxell & Cale Coons
7-Bryce Massingill
6-Luke Hall & Zach Wigal
5-Matt Lux & Tate Martz
2-Stratton Briggs, Ian Creager, Chett Gehrke, Michael Magic, Tyler Nelson & Kayla Roell
1-Ryan Fleming, Cole Morgan & Josh Yenser
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES:
12-Bryce Massingill
11-Cale Coons
10-Jakeb Boxell, Matt Lux & Tate Martz
8-Stratton Briggs & Zach Wigal
7-Ian Creager & Kayla Roell
6-Luke Hall
5-Michael Magic
4-Chett Gehrke & Tyler Nelson
3-Cole Morgan & Alex Watson
2-Ryan Fleming, Gunnar Lucius, Carl Peterson & Josh Yenser
1-Tyler Kalb, Ryan Moran, Brayden Schwartz & Jacob Taylor
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:
4-Jakeb Boxell
3-Matt Lux & Tyler Nelson
1-Stratton Briggs
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET HEAT RACE WINS:
5-Matt Lux
4-Jakeb Boxell & Zach Wigal
3-Michael Magic, Tate Martz & Bryce Massingill
2-Stratton Briggs, Cale Coons, Chett Gehrke & Luke Hall
1-Ian Creager, Tyler Nelson, Carl Peterson & Kayla Roell
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE STARTS:
12-Jakeb Boxell, Stratton Briggs, Ian Creager, Tate Martz, Bryce Massingill & Brayden Schwartz
11-Cale Coons, Ryan Fleming, Matt Lux & Cole Morgan
10-Zach Wigal
9-Chett Gehrke & Alex Watson
8-Luke Hall & Carl Peterson
7-Gunnar Lucius, Michael Magic, Tyler Nelson & Kayla Roell
6-Jim Jones & Page Perrine
5-Bryce Dues & Luke Lemons
4-Tommy Bigelow, Jimmie Guidry, Andy Martin & Ryan Moran
3-Tyler Kalb & Jason Shaffer
2-Scott Albrecht, Steve Gresham, Nolan Kiefer, Keith Ousley, Larry Rice, Travis Stickels & Josh Yenser
1-Thomas Briggs, Robert Carson, Seth Crandall, Cody Dye, Buddy Hollmeyer, Casey Meyer, Taylor Nibert, Derrick Noffsinger, Brian Sims, Zachary Sims, Jacob Taylor & Reed Whitney
2024 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET SEMI WINS:
1-Luke Lemons
ALL-TIME USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS EVENTS)
1. [25 wins] Tate Martz
2. [19 wins] Chett Gehrke
3. [15 wins] Stratton Briggs, Joe Liguori, Bryce Massingill, Ross Rankine & James Robertson
8. [14 wins] Aaron Leffel
9. [11 wins] Patrick Bruns, Jacob Denney & Zach Wigal
12. [10 wins] Robbie Ray
13. [9 wins] Toby Alfrey
14. [8 wins] Cooper Clouse & Austin Nemire
16. [6 wins] Jake Blackhurst & Alex Watson
18. [5 wins] Mario Clouser, Gage Etgen, Kyle Hamilton & Gage Walker
22. [4 wins] Tyler Cottongim, Nick Drake, Luke Hall, Chris Lamb, Jordan Noblitt, Drew Rader & Ronnie Wuerdeman
29. [3 wins] Josh Clemons, Cale Coons, John Heydenreich, Scott Hunter, Matt Lux & Michael Magic
35. [2 wins] Eric Fehrman, Craig Haack, Brandon Hartsell, Korbyn Hayslett, Ryan Krachun, Josh Lakatos, Alison MacLeod, Tony Main, Steven Mathews, Jordan Pennington, Wes Pinkerton, Jimmy Simpson, Adam Taylor & Adam Wilsdon
49. [1 win] Kobe Allison, Dalton Armstrong, Tony Ave, Andy Baugh, Jessica Bean, Corey Bedwell, Jakeb Boxell, Jerry Coons Jr., Ian Creager, Kyle Dager, Nic Davidson, Mitchell Davis, Bobby East, Ricky Ehrgott, Derek Fisher, Jeremy Frankoski, Bradley Galedrige, Joey Greening, Nick Hamilton, Ryan Hamilton, Auston Harris, Jared Irvan, Tyler Irwin, Blaine Leydig, Jimmy Light, Ryan Litt, Brad Loyet, Chase McDermand, Stephanie Mockler, Sean Murphy, Rex Norris III, Bryan Nuckles, Brad Paris, Wil Raber, Brad Racer, Bradley Riethmeyer, Kayla Roell, Gedd Ross, Chase Scott, Ryan Smith, Jacob Stickle, Byron Stowe, Matt Westfall & Tanner Whitten
ALL-TIME USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)
1. [3 wins] Aaron Leffel, Matt Lux & Bryce Massingill
4. [2 wins] Jacob Denney, Chett Gehrke, Korbyn Hayslett & Wil Raber
8. [1 win] Cale Coons, Ian Creager, Trenton Darland, Tyson Hart, Steven Intravaia, Chris Lamb, Matthew Lundstrom, Michael Magic, Andy Malpocker, Dillon Morley & Zach Wigal
USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS:
2003: Robbie Ray, Davenport, Iowa (Overall)
2004: Tate Martz, Rushville, Indiana (Overall)
2005: Tate Martz, Rushville, Indiana (Overall)
2006: Jordan Noblitt, Columbus, Indiana (Dirt)
2006: Tate Martz, Rushville, Indiana (Pavement)
2007: James Robertson, Indianapolis, Indiana (Overall)
2008: Kyle Hamilton, Danville, Indiana (Overall)
2009: Joe Liguori, Tampa, Florida (Overall)
2010: Joe Liguori, Tampa, Florida (Overall)
2010: Joe Liguori, Tampa, Florida (Dirt)
2010: Jake Blackhurst, Mapleton, Illinois (Pavement)
2011: Ross Rankine, Willard, Ohio (Overall)
2011: Patrick Bruns, Champaign, Illinois (Dirt)
2011: Ross Rankine, Willard, Ohio (Pavement)
2012: Ross Rankine, Willard, Ohio (Dirt)
2012: Ross Rankine, Willard, Ohio (Pavement)
2013: Gage Walker, Fairland, Indiana (Dirt)
2013: Cooper Clouse, Ohio City, Ohio (Pavement)
2014: Austin Nemire, Sylvania, Ohio (Dirt)
2014: Austin Nemire, Sylvania, Ohio (Pavement)
2015: Alex Watson, Columbus, Ohio (Overall)
2016: Gage Etgen, Celina, Ohio (Overall)
2017: Aaron Leffel, Springfield, Ohio (Overall)
2018: Aaron Leffel, Springfield, Ohio (Overall)
2019: Aaron Leffel, Springfield, Ohio (Overall)
2020: Jacob Denney, Galloway, Ohio (Overall)
2021: Jacob Denney, Galloway, Ohio (Overall)
2022: Stratton Briggs, Anna, Ohio (Overall)
2023: Zach Wigal, Belpre, Ohio (Overall)
2024: Bryce Massingill, Troy, Ohio (Overall)
USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET ROOKIES OF THE YEAR:
2018: Jon Steed, Milroy, Indiana
2019: Zane Briggs, Anna, Ohio
2020: Abby Hohlbein, Cloverdale, Ohio
2021: Josh Yenser, Columbus, Ohio
2022: Carl Peterson, Waterford, Michigan
2023: Cale Coons, Greencastle, Indiana
2024: Ryan Fleming, Cedarville, Ohio
