Putnamville, Indiana (May 25, 2024)………Matt Lux led the final 17 laps to land Saturday night’s USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget victory at Putnamville, Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway.
Lux (Manilla, Ind.) maneuvered his way to the front of the pack by lap nine despite starting all the way back in the eighth position. Josh Yenser (Plain City, Ohio) paced the opening eight laps of the feature before Lux took over for good on the ninth trip around the 5/16-mile dirt oval.
For Lux, it’s his second victory of the 2024 Midwest Thunder season after capturing last Saturday’s main event at Rossburg, Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. However, it’s his first points-paying win of the season and pushed him up to second in the series standings, just three markers behind leader Cale Coons.
Coons (Greencastle, Ind.) earned Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger honors by advancing from 19 positions from his 21st starting spot to a second-place result behind Lux.
Jakeb Boxell (Zanesville, Ind.) took third in the feature with Yenser fourth and Cole Morgan (Brooksville, Ohio) rounding out the top-five.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE RESULTS: May 25, 2024 – Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville, Indiana
VMS MOTORSPORTS FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jakeb Boxell, 44JB, Boxell/Merkler-13.816; 2. Scott Albrecht, 74, American Dream-14.123; 3. Cole Morgan, 7m, Morgan-14.370; 4. Ryan Fleming, 11L, Taylor-14.371; 5. Carl Peterson, 49p, Peterson-14.816; 6. Brayden Schwartz, 55s, Schwartz-15.273; 7. Tommy Bigelow, 2B, Bigelow-15.309; 8. Brian Sims, 4, Sims-16.040.
VMS MOTORSPORTS SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Tate Martz, 34, GMB-14.045; 2. Bryce Massingill, 35, Massingill-14.054; 3. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-14.219; 4. Alex Watson, 3E, Watson-14.320; 5. Steve Gresham, 27G, Gresham-15.062; 6. Casey Meyer, 9, Meyer-15.660; 7. Zachary Sims, 19, Sims-16.363; 8. Travis Stickels, 87, Stickels-16.568.
VMS MOTORSPORTS THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Stratton Briggs, 71, Briggs-13.427; 2. Matt Lux, 5, Wells-13.556; 3. Zach Wigal, 18, Wigal-13.702; 4. Josh Yenser, 16y, Yenser-13.732; 5. Michael Magic, 21, Fedorczyk-13.744; 6. Cale Coons, 63, Dooling/Curb-Agajanian-13.871; 7. Chett Gehrke, 93c, Gehrke-14.035.
PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jakeb Boxell (4), 2. Cole Morgan (2), 3. Ryan Fleming (1), 4. Scott Albrecht (3), 5. Carl Peterson (5), 6. Tommy Bigelow (7), 7. Brayden Schwartz (6), 8. Brian Sims (8). NT
STIEFEL’S HOME & AUTO SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tate Martz (4), 2. Alex Watson (1), 3. Steve Gresham (5), 4. Casey Meyer (6), 5. Travis Stickels (8), 6. Zachary Sims (7), 7. Bryce Massingill (3), 8. Ian Creager (2). NT
HOOSIER AUTO RACING FANS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Zach Wigal (2), 2. Matt Lux (3), 3. Josh Yenser (1), 4. Stratton Briggs (4), 5. Michael Magic (5), 6. Chett Gehrke (7), 7. Cale Coons (6). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Matt Lux (8), 2. Cale Coons (21), 3. Jakeb Boxell (7), 4. Josh Yenser (1), 5. Cole Morgan (4), 6. Alex Watson (2), 7. Bryce Massingill (20), 8. Michael Magic (15), 9. Zach Wigal (5), 10. Stratton Briggs (12), 11. Ryan Fleming (9), 12. Scott Albrecht (10), 13. Ian Creager (23), 14. Brayden Schwartz (19), 15. Tommy Bigelow (16), 16. Tate Martz (3), 17. Casey Meyer (11), 18. Zachary Sims (17), 19. Chett Gehrke (18), 20. Carl Peterson (13), 21. Travis Stickels (14), 22. Brian Sims (22), 23. Steve Gresham (6). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-8 Josh Yenser, Laps 9-25 Matt Lux.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Cale Coons-128, 2-Matt Lux-125, 3-Bryce Massingill-122, 4-Jakeb Boxell-122, 5-Tate Martz-95, 6-Cole Morgan-95, 7-Ian Creager-89, 8-Ryan Fleming-82, 9-Stratton Briggs-74, 10-Brayden Schwartz-70.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE: May 31, 2024 – Moler Raceway Park – Williamsburg, Ohio
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifier: Stratton Briggs
Performance Electronics First Heat Winner: Jakeb Boxell
Stiefel’s Home & Auto Second Heat Winner: Tate Martz
Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Third Heat Winner: Zach Wigal
Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Cale Coons (21st to 2nd)
Rosewood Machine & Tool Precision Move: Bryce Massingill
Lynn Cook Hard Luck Award: Ian Creager
Competition Suspension Inc. Gift Certificate: Ryan Fleming
Impact Gift Certificate: Bryce Massingill
Saldana Gift Certificate: Tommy Bigelow
