IT’S A WRAP: WIGAL WINS CLOSEST TITLE RACE IN USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET HISTORY
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana (October 26, 2023)………Points weren’t top of mind for Zach Wigal at the beginning of the 2023 USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget season.
Among the Belpre, Ohio driver’s initial plans for the year were to compete only on a part-time basis with the USAC Midwest Thunder series due to scheduling conflicts with his busy racing slate which routinely took him back and forth between his Ohio home and North Carolina’s Millbridge Speedway in the micro sprint ranks.
As it turned out, however, Wigal managed to accomplish it all, starting all 21 events on the season en route to capturing the USAC Midwest Thunder driving title by the narrowest margin in series history – three points and one single position.
Zach Wigal opened the year with the first of his six victories on the season with a May win at Montpelier (Ind.) Motor Speedway, finishing just ahead of Bryce Massingill (Troy, Ohio). In the series’ next outing in June at Ohio’s Moler Raceway Park, Massingill turned the tables by passing Wigal for the lead and the first of his own six wins on the season with Wigal finishing a distant second.
Massingill and Wigal duels became a familiar theme throughout the season as the two Buckeyes continuously traded feature wins and the point lead, which they did, as fate would have it, six different times.
Wigal reeled off successive wins at Limaland Motorsports Park, Moler, Paragon Speedway, Atomic Speedway and Circle City Raceway. Meanwhile, Massingill grabbed first place trophies thereafter at Atomic, Limaland, Moler twice and at Montpelier late in the year.
During that late August stop at Montpelier, Wigal’s 12-point lead turned into a 35-point deficit due to a miraculous charge by Massingill after, ironically, having no charge earlier in the night. That, coupled with an avalanche of issues for Wigal, loomed large on the title race.
Electrical issues in his heat race forced Bryce Massingill to start near the tail end of the field, but as it turned out, it still couldn’t keep him out of victory lane. Massingill blitzed through the field from the outside of row 10, then raced into the lead with two laps remaining to win from the 20th spot by a 0.156 second margin. At the same time, an engine issue plagued Wigal on lap four while he was leading, subsequently dropping him from first to 22nd in the finishing order.
Wigal dug in and answered in the ensuing rounds with authority, taking a win at Circle City followed by a third at Montpelier, a fourth at Waynesfield and another fourth at Gas City. The Waynesfield race spelled doom for Massingill (Troy, Ohio), who dropped out early with a 20th place finish due to mechanical issues, sending Wigal back to the top of the points with one race remaining in October at Gas City.
For the final race of the season, Wigal enlisted the assistance of USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship driver Chase McDermand who owned the car that Wigal drove in this year’s Driven2SaveLives BC39 at The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. McDermand served as Wigal’s crew chief for the night at Gas City.
Needing to finish three spots ahead of Wigal in the finale, Massingill led the opening two laps of the feature before Matt Lux (Manilla, Ind.) took over for good. For Wigal, a fourth-place result provided him with a three-point edge in the title race, which proved to be the difference over Massingill who finished as the runner-up in the feature and in the points.
For Wigal, it was pure joy to conclude his first full year with the series as a champion. On the other hand, it was a bitter pill for Massingill who has now finished third (2021), second (2022) and second (2023) in the series standings over the past three years.
Four drivers earned their first feature victories with the series in 2023, including three-time winner Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, Ohio), a home state winner at Fremont Speedway and twice more at Waynesfield Raceway Park, the latter of which saw his engine expire on the final lap before coasting across the finish line just a half-car length ahead of Jakeb Boxell.
Past TQ Midget champion Matt Lux made his initial foray into the USAC Midwest Thunder series this past year, winning four times overall. Two of those wins came in non-points special events in May at Ohio’s half-mile Eldora Speedway and weeks later at Circle City Raceway in Indianapolis, Ind. He also picked off a pair of full points wins in the second half of the year at Montpelier and again in the season finale at Gas City.
Tate Martz’s most recent USAC victory had come all the way back in 2010. More than 13 years later, the three-time USAC Midwest Ford Focus Midget champion (2004-05-06) from Rushville, Ind. earned his first career victory under the USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget banner at Gas City. Martz became the third veteran racer to earn his first career Midwest Thunder feature triumph this season, all of whom are over the age of 40 (Matt Lux & Luke Hall).
The Coons name is synonymous in USAC racing lore with Jerry Coons Jr. earning a total of four career national championships with the club in his Triple Crown career. The next generation of the Coons racing family entered victory lane for the first time in USAC competition when Jerry’s son, Cale Coons (Greencastle, Ind.), raced to his first career USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget victory in September at Montpelier and was named series Rookie of the Year.
Series stalwarts West Pinkerton and Chett Gehrke each returned to the win column in 2023 with dubs on back-to-back nights when the series ran in conjunction with USAC NOS Energy Drink Indiana Sprint Week Presented By Honest Abe Roofing. Pinkerton (Reynolds, Ind.) made only two starts on the year, finishing first at Gas City then finishing as the runner-up to winner Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Okla.) at Kokomo.
Wigal topped all drivers with 107 laps led, five fast qualifying times and eight heat race scores. Massingill led all competitors with 16 top-fives while 2022 series champion Stratton Briggs (Anna, Ohio) took third in the final standings on the strength of 18 top-ten results.
Wigal, Massingill and Briggs were among the six drivers who started all 21 feature events in 2023 along with Lux, Gunnar Lucius (Delphos, Ohio) and Abby Hohlbein (Cloverdale, Ohio).
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET STAT LEADERS:
Driver Champion: Zach Wigal
Most Feature Wins: 6-Bryce Massingill & Zach Wigal
Laps Led: 107-Zach Wigal
Top-Fives: 16-Bryce Massingill
Top-Tens: 18-Stratton Briggs
Fast Qualifying Times: 5-Zach Wigal
Heat Race Wins: 8-Zach Wigal
Feature Starts: 21-Stratton Briggs, Abby Hohlbein, Gunnar Lucius, Matt Lux, Bryce Massingill & Zach Wigal
Biggest Charge of the Season: Aug 26 at Montpelier Motor Speedway – Bryce Massingill (20th to 1st)
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER POINT STANDINGS:
POS. PTS. DRIVER, HOMETOWN
1. 1205 Zach Wigal, Belpre, Ohio
2. 1202 Bryce Massingill, Troy, Ohio
3. 1143 Stratton Briggs, Anna, Ohio
4. 1138 Matt Lux, Manilla, Ind.
5. 1040 Ian Creager, Covington, Ohio
6. 1039 Gunnar Lucius, Delphos, Ohio
7. 946 Abby Hohlbein, Cloverdale, Ohio
8. 876 Jakeb Boxell, Zanesville, Ind.
9. 674 Josh Yenser, Hilliard, Ohio
10. 646 Cale Coons, Greencastle, Ind.
11. 618 Cole Morgan, Brookville, Ohio
12. 577 Luke Lemons, Moraine, Ohio
13. 571 Alex Watson, Columbus, Ohio
14. 557 Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, Okla.
15. 511 Luke Hall, Findlay, Ohio
16. 503 Tate Martz, Rushville, Ind
17. 479 Kayla Roell, Dillsboro, Ind.
18. 471 Michael Magic, Winder, Ga.
19. 416 Tyler Nelson, Olathe, Kan.
20. 353 Brayden Schwartz, Troy, Ohio
21. 316 Cody Dye, Covington, Ky.
22. 241 Logan Prickett, Shelbyville, Ohio
23. 240 Tyler Kalb, Columbus, Ohio
24. 239 Page Perrine, Fort Jennings, Ohio
25. 212 Marcel Berndt, Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, Ger.
26. 186 Carl Peterson, Waterford, Mich.
27. 166 Wes Pinkerton, Reynolds, Ind.
28. 132 Jim Jones, Ventura, Calif.
29. 121 Jody Paul, Orient, Ohio
30. 117 Blake Adams, Decatur, Ind.
31. 113 Steven Gresham, Seymour, Ind.
32. 111 Travis Walters, Van Buren Township, Mich.
33. 107 Adam Taylor, Wheatfield, Ind.
34. 105 Kyle Ford, Needham Ind.
35. 99 Casey Meyer, Columbus, Ind.
36. 88 Rylan Gray, Greenfield, Ind.
37. 87 Kyle Keaton, Lucasville, Ohio
38. 66 Chris Dickey, Westfield, Ind.
39. 60 Jon Watson, Columbus, Ohio
40. 33 Taylor Nibert, South Vienna, Ohio
41. 31 Tommy Kouns, Lebanon, Ind.
42. 31 Brad Strunk, Wilmington, Ohio
43. 31 Scott Albrecht, Danville, Ind.
44. 23 Bryan Brewer, Vallonia, Ind.
45. 20 Cody Downard, Lima, Ohio
46. 20 John Ralsten, Vienna, W.Va.
47. 10 Elijah Knoke, Columbus, Ind.
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINNERS:
May 6: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, IN
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
May 20: (SE) Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
WINNER: Matt Lux (Bill Wells #5KB)
May 25: (SE) Circle City Raceway - Indianapolis, IN
WINNER: Matt Lux (Bill Wells #5KB)
Jun 2: Moler Raceway Park - Williamsburg, OH
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Jun 3: Atomic Speedway - Chillicothe, OH
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Jun 16: Limaland Motorsports Park - Lima, OH
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Jun 16: Limaland Motorsports Park - Lima, OH
WINNER: Bryce Massingill – (Jason Massingill #35)
Jun 17: Fremont Speedway - Fremont, OH
WINNER: Luke Hall (Kyle Heitmeyer #74)
Jun 23: Moler Raceway Park - Williamsburg, OH
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Jul 3: Waynesfield Raceway Park - Waynesfield, OH
WINNER: Luke Hall (Kyle Heitmeyer #74)
Jul 8: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, IN
WINNER: Matt Lux (Bill Wells #5KB)
Jul 14: Moler Raceway Park - Williamsburg, OH
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Jul 15: Paragon Speedway - Paragon, IN
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Jul 21: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, IN
WINNER: Wes Pinkerton (Jerry Pinkerton #9p)
Jul 22: Kokomo Speedway - Kokomo, IN
WINNER: Chett Gehrke (Chett Gehrke #93c)
Aug 4: Moler Raceway Park - Williamsburg, OH
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Aug 5: Atomic Speedway - Chillicothe, OH
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Aug 18: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, IN
WINNER: Tate Martz (GMB Racing #34)
Aug 26: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, IN
WINNER: Bryce Massingill (Jason Massingill #35)
Sep 15: Circle City Raceway - Indianapolis, IN
WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)
Sep 16: Montpelier Motor Speedway - Montpelier, IN
WINNER: Cale Coons (Team Taylor Racing #11T)
Oct 7: Waynesfield Raceway Park - Waynesfield, OH
WINNER: Luke Hall (Kyle Heitmeyer #74)
Oct 21: Gas City I-69 Speedway - Gas City, IN
WINNER: Matt Lux (Bill Wells #5KB)
(SE) represents a non-point, special event
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS)
6-Bryce Massingill (Jun 2 at Moler Raceway Park, Jun 3 at Atomic Speedway, Jun 16 at Limaland Motorsports Park, Jul 14 at Moler Raceway Park, Aug 4 at Moler Raceway Park & Aug 26 at Montpelier Motor Speedway)
6-Zach Wigal (May 6 at Montpelier Motor Speedway, Jun 16 at Limaland Motorsports Park, Jun 23 at Moler Raceway Park, Jul 15 at Paragon Speedway, Aug 5 at Atomic Speedway & Sep 15 at Circle City Raceway)
3-Luke Hall (Jun 17 at Fremont Speedway, Jul 3 at Waynesfield Raceway Park & Oct 7 at Waynesfield Raceway Park)
2-Matt Lux (Jul 8 at Montpelier Motor Speedway & Oct 21 at Gas City I-69 Speedway)
1-Cale Coons (Sep 16 at Montpelier Motor Speedway)
1-Chett Gehrke (Jul 22 at Kokomo Speedway)
1-Tate Martz (Aug 18 at Gas City I-69 Speedway)
1-Wes Pinkerton (Jul 21 at Gas City I-69 Speedway)
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)
2-Matt Lux (May 20 at Eldora Speedway & May 25 at Circle City Raceway)
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE LAPS LED:
107-Zach Wigal
72-Matt Lux
46-Jakeb Boxell & Luke Hall
43-Bryce Massingill
30-Tate Martz
20-Chett Gehrke
19-Wes Pinkerton
14-Stratton Briggs & Tyler Nelson
6-Cale Coons
4-Aaron Leffel
2-Ian Creager
1-Ryan Moran
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-5 FEATURE FINISHES:
16-Bryce Massingill
14-Zach Wigal
12-Stratton Briggs
9-Matt Lux
7-Jakeb Boxell & Gunnar Lucius
6-Ian Creager & Luke Hall
5-Cale Coons
4-Abby Hohlbein & Josh Yenser
3-Tate Martz
2-Chett Gehrke, Luke Lemons, Tyler Nelson & Wes Pinkerton
1-Marcel Berndt, Aaron Leffel, Adam Taylor & Alex Watson
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET TOP-10 FEATURE FINISHES:
18-Stratton Briggs
17-Ian Creager, Matt Lux, Bryce Massingill & Zach Wigal
16-Gunnar Lucius
13-Abby Hohlbein
12-Jakeb Boxell
9-Josh Yenser
8-Cale Coons
7-Luke Hall
6-Luke Lemons
5-Chett Gehrke, Tate Martz, Tyler Nelson, Kayla Roell & Alex Watson
4-Aaron Leffel, Michael Magic & Cole Morgan
3-Marcel Berndt
2-Wes Pinkerton & Adam Taylor
1-Brendon Cascadden, Chris Dickey, Bryce Dues, Kyle Ford, Ryan Moran, Darin Naida, Carl Peterson, Logan Prickett & Hilton Rowett
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FAST QUALIFYING TIMES:
5-Zach Wigal
2-Abby Hohlbein, Matt Lux & Bryce Massingill
1-Jakeb Boxell, Tate Martz, Tyler Nelson, Wes Pinkerton, Logan Prickett & Kayla Roell
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET HEAT RACE WINS:
8-Zach Wigal
6-Stratton Briggs, Matt Lux & Bryce Massingill
5-Jakeb Boxell
4-Luke Hall
3-Cale Coons, Gunnar Lucius & Tate Martz
2-Ian Creager, Chett Gehrke & Abby Hohlbein
1-Aaron Leffel, Michael Magic, Bryce Massingill, Tyler Nelson & Josh Yenser
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE STARTS:
21-Stratton Briggs, Abby Hohlbein, Gunnar Lucius, Matt Lux, Bryce Massingill & Zach Wigal
20-Ian Creager
18-Jakeb Boxell
17-Cole Morgan
14-Luke Lemons, Alex Watson & Josh Yenser
13-Cale Coons & Michael Magic
12-Chett Gehrke & Kayla Roell
10-Cody Dye, Tate Martz & Brayden Schwartz
9-Luke Hall, Ryan Moran & Tyler Nelson
8-Jimmie Guidry
7-Bryce Dues, Page Perrine & Logan Prickett
6-Tyler Kalb & Carl Peterson
5-Marcel Berndt & Aaron Leffel
4-Jim Jones
3-Blake Adams, Thomas Bigelow, Kyle Ford, Steven Gresham, Kyle Keaton, Casey Meyer, Jody Paul & Travis Walters
2-Chris Dickey, Rylan Gray, Oz Osborn, Wes Pinkerton, Hilton Rowett, Adam Taylor & Jon Watson
1-Scott Albrecht, Bryan Brewer, Brendon Cascadden, Jeff Champagne, Justin Dickerson, Jake Goeglein, Tommy Kouns, Darin Naida, Taylor Nibert, Keith Ousley, Isla Rowett, Tim Siner & Brad Strunk
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET SEMI WINS:
1-Jakeb Boxell & Kayla Roell
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2023 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET DASH WINS:
1-Tate Martz
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ALL-TIME USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (FULL POINTS EVENTS)
25-Tate Martz
17-Chett Gehrke
15-Stratton Briggs, Joe Liguori, Ross Rankine & James Robertson
14-Aaron Leffel
13-Bryce Massingill
11-Patrick Bruns & Jacob Denney
10-Robbie Ray
9-Toby Alfrey
8-Cooper Clouse, Austin Nemire & Zach Wigal
6-Jake Blackhurst & Alex Watson
5-Mario Clouser, Gage Etgen, Kyle Hamilton & Gage Walker
4-Tyler Cottongim, Nick Drake, Chris Lamb, Jordan Noblitt, Drew Rader & Ronnie Wuerdeman
3-Josh Clemons, Luke Hall, John Heydenreich, Scott Hunter & Michael Magic
2-Eric Fehrman, Craig Haack, Brandon Hartsell, Korbyn Hayslett, Ryan Krachun, Josh Lakatos, Matt Lux, Alison MacLeod, Tony Main, Steven Mathews, Jordan Pennington, Wes Pinkerton, Jimmy Simpson, Adam Taylor & Adam Wilsdon
1-Kobe Allison, Dalton Armstrong, Tony Ave, Andy Baugh, Jessica Bean, Corey Bedwell, Cale Coons, 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
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ALL-TIME USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET FEATURE WINS: (NON-POINTS SPECIAL EVENTS)
3-Aaron Leffel
2-Jacob Denney, Chett Gehrke, Korbyn Hayslett, Matt Lux & Wil Raber
1-Ian Creager, Trenton Darland, Tyson Hart, Steven Intravaia, Chris Lamb, Matthew Lundstrom, Michael Magic, Andy Malpocker & Dillon Morley
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USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET DRIVER CHAMPIONS:
2003: Robbie Ray
2004: Tate Martz
2005: Tate Martz
2006: Jordan Noblitt (Dirt) & Tate Martz (Pavement)
2007: James Robertson
2008: Kyle Hamilton
2009: Joe Liguori
2010: Joe Liguori (Overall), Joe Liguori (Dirt) & Jake Blackhurst (Pavement)
2011: Ross Rankine (Overall), Ross Rankine (Pavement) & Patrick Bruns (Dirt)
2012: Ross Rankine (Pavement) & Ross Rankine (Dirt)
2013: Cooper Clouse (Pavement) & Gage Walker (Dirt)
2014: Austin Nemire (Pavement) & Austin Nemire (Dirt)
2015: Alex Watson
2016: Gage Etgen
2017: Aaron Leffel
2018: Aaron Leffel
2019: Aaron Leffel
2020: Jacob Denney
2021: Jacob Denney
2022: Stratton Briggs
2023: Zach Wigal
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USAC MIDWEST SPEED2 MIDGET ROOKIES OF THE YEAR:
2018: Jon Steed
2019: Zane Briggs
2020: Abby Hohlbein
2021: Josh Yenser
2022: Carl Peterson
2023: Cale Coons
