Montpelier, Indiana (October 5, 2024)………Michael Magic made some late-race magic of his own to score the victory in Saturday night’s USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget non-point special event at Indiana’s Montpelier Motor Speedway.
After steadily working his way from his ninth-place starting spot, Magic (Winder, Ga.) made the winning move past racelong leader Chett Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Okla.) on lap 19, then led the final seven laps en route to victory.
Behind Magic at the finish line was Gehrke who led a race-high 18 of the 25-lap distance before finishing in the runner-up spot. After being unable to make a qualifying run or start his heat race, 2024 series champion Bryce Massingill (Troy, Ohio) successfully overcame the obstacles during his charge from 19th to finish third. Tyler Nelson (Olathe, Kan.) took fourth while Jakeb Boxell (Zanesville, Ind.) rounded out the top-five.
Matt Lux (Manilla, Ind.) crossed the line in the sixth position after claiming VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifying time earlier in the evening at a time of 14.591 seconds around the 1/4-mile dirt oval. Bryce Lucius (Athens, Ohio), Lux and Ian Creager (Covington, Ohio) claimed each of the three heat race wins presented by Performance Electronics, Stiefel’s Home & Auto and Hoosier Auto Racing Fans.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: October 5, 2024 – Montpelier Motor Speedway – Montpelier, Indiana
FIRST VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Bryce Lucius, 74, Heitmeyer-15.198; 2. Cole Morgan, 7m, Morgan-15.363; 3. Brayden Schwartz, 55s, Schwartz-15.708; 4. Jim Jones, 97, Jones-15.830; 5. Bryce Dues, 0H, Sniper-16.657; 6. Jason Shaffer, 40, Shaffer-NT; 7. Bryce Massingill, 35, Massingill-NT.
SECOND VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Matt Lux, 5, Wells-14.591; 2. Tyler Nelson, 10, Nelson-14.868; 3. Chett Gehrke, 10c, Moore-14.937; 4. Jake Roell, 4, Roell-15.572; 5. Nolan Kiefer, 97N, Kiefer-15.755; 6. Luke Lemons, 33L, Lemons-15.762; 7. Larry Rice, 7R, Rice-17.469.
THIRD VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Michael Magic, 5m, Magic-14.793; 2. Jakeb Boxell, 21, Fedorczyk-15.101; 3. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-15.121; 4. Jimmie Guidry, 21G, Guidry-15.626; 5. Derrick Noffsinger, 14, Noffsinger-15.937; 6. Tommy Bigelow, 2B, Bigelow-16.163.
PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bryce Lucius (4), 2. Brayden Schwartz (2), 3. Cole Morgan (3), 4. Bryce Dues (5), 5. Jim Jones (1). NT
STIEFEL’S HOME & AUTO SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Matt Lux (4), 2. Tyler Nelson (3), 3. Chett Gehrke (2), 4. Nolan Kiefer (5), 5. Jake Roell (1), 6. Luke Lemons (6), 7. Larry Rice (7). NT
HOOSIER AUTO RACING FANS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Ian Creager (2), 2. Michael Magic (4), 3. Jakeb Boxell (3), 4. Jimmie Guidry (1), 5. Derrick Noffsinger (5), 6. Tommy Bigelow (6). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Michael Magic (9), 2. Chett Gehrke (2), 3. Bryce Massingill (19), 4. Tyler Nelson (6), 5. Jakeb Boxell (1), 6. Matt Lux (5), 7. Ian Creager (4), 8. Cole Morgan (8), 9. Luke Lemons (17), 10. Brayden Schwartz (3), 11. Jake Roell (14), 12. Tommy Bigelow (18), 13. Jim Jones (13), 14. Derrick Noffsinger (15), 15. Jimmie Guidry (12), 16. Larry Rice (20), 17. Nolan Kiefer (11), 18. Bryce Dues (10), 19. Bryce Lucius (7), 20. Jason Shaffer (16). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-18 Chett Gehrke, Laps 19-25 Michael Magic.
