Montpelier, Indiana (August 31, 2024)………Bryce Massingill led the final 13 laps to earn the victory in Saturday night’s Jake & Jenson Memorial USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget Non-Points Special Event at Indiana’s Montpelier Motor Speedway.
Starting sixth, Massingill (Troy, Ohio) worked his way up through the pack as pole sitter Alex Watson (Columbus, Ohio) and seventh starting Luke Hall (Ludlow Falls, Ohio) paced the field early on. Watson led the first six circuits while Hall ran up front for the following six from lap 7-12.
By lap 13, Massingill surpassed the rim-riding Hall, and from there, running the low line, led the balance of the second half of the 25-lapper to score the win. Hall crossed the line in second with Matt Lux (Manilla, Ind.) third, VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifier Zach Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) fourth and Jakeb Boxell (Zanesville, Ind.) fifth.
Massingill was also the Performance Electronics First Heat winner while Hall was the Stiefel Home & Auto Second Heat winner. Tyler Nelson (Olathe, Kan.) scored the Hoosier Auto Race Fans Third Heat.
Gunnar Lucius (Athens, Ohio) received a Competition Suspension Inc. gift certificate for drawing the No. 9 pill for the feature. Brayden Schwartz (Troy, Ohio) won the semi-feature and went on to finish 13th in the feature. Travis Stickels (Bloomington, Ind.) received the $25 bonus as the first non-qualifier in the semi.
Cody Dye (Newton Falls, Ohio) earned the Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger award for his +9 performance. Dye transferred through the semi, then started 21st in the feature before advancing to a 12th place result.
Jim Jones (Ventura, Calif.) was the recipient of the Rosewood Machine and Tool Company Precision Move of the Race for securing the sixth spot in his heat and locking into a transfer position for feature. Jones finished 14th in the feature.
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USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: August 31, 2024 – Montpelier Motor Speedway – Montpelier, Indiana
FIRST VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Abby Hohlbein, 11H, Hohlbein-15.703; 2. Michael Magic, 21, Fedorczyk-15.728; 3. Alex Watson, 3w, Watson-15.737; 4. Bryce Massingill, 35, Massingill-15.831; 5. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-15.914; 6. Jim Jones, 97, Jones-16.636; 7. Cody Dye, 4T, Dye-16.641; 8. Travis Stickels, 87, Stickels-NT; 9. Jake Roell, 3, Roell-NT.
SECOND VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Chett Gehrke, 10c, Moore-15.696; 2. Gunnar Lucius, 22, Lucius-15.802; 3. Luke Hall, 74, Heitmeyer-15.861; 4. Ryan Fleming, 11T, Taylor-16.303; 5. Brayden Schwartz, 55s, Schwartz-16.378; 6. Luke Lemons, 33L, Lemons-16.411; 7. Martin Andrew, X, Andrew-17.957; 8. Derrick Noffsinger, 14, Noffsinger-19.056; 9. Ryan Moran, 01, Moran-NT.
THIRD VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Zach Wigal, 18, Wigal-14.999; 2. Jakeb Boxell, 44JB, Boxell/Merkler-15.067; 3. Matt Lux, 5KB, Wells-15.239; 4. Tyler Nelson, 10, Nelson-15.390; 5. Kayla Roell, 4K, Roell-15.474; 6. Cole Morgan, 7m, Morgan-15.995; 7. Tommy Bigelow, 2B, Bigelow-16.437; 8. Jody Paul, 5J, Paul-17.313; 9. Jeff Hoying, 0H, Sniper-NT.
PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bryce Massingill (1), 2. Michael Magic (3), 3. Alex Watson (2), 4. Ian Creager (5), 5. Abby Hohlbein (4), 6. Jim Jones (6), 7. Cody Dye (7), 8. Travis Stickels (8). NT
STIEFEL’S HOME & AUTO SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Luke Hall (2), 2. Gunnar Lucius (3), 3. Chett Gehrke (4), 4. Luke Lemons (6), 5. Ryan Fleming (1), 6. Ryan Moran (9), 7. Brayden Schwartz (5), 8. Martin Andrew (7). NT
HOOSIER AUTO RACING FANS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Nelson (1), 2. Matt Lux (2), 3. Jakeb Boxell (3), 4. Zach Wigal (4), 5. Kayla Roell (5), 6. Cole Morgan (6), 7. Tommy Bigelow (7), 8. Jeff Hoying (9). NT
SEMI: (10 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Brayden Schwartz (2), 2. Tommy Bigelow (3), 3. Cody Dye (1), 4. Martin Andrew (5), 5. Jeff Hoying (6), 6. Derrick Noffsinger (8), 7. Travis Stickels (4). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bryce Massingill (6), 2. Luke Hall (7), 3. Matt Lux (2), 4. Zach Wigal (12), 5. Jakeb Boxell (4), 6. Alex Watson (1), 7. Ian Creager (10), 8. Luke Lemons (11), 9. Tyler Nelson (3), 10. Michael Magic (5), 11. Ryan Fleming (14), 12. Cody Dye (21), 13. Brayden Schwartz (19), 14. Jim Jones (16), 15. Chett Gehrke (8), 16. Martin Andrew (22), 17. Abby Hohlbein (13), 18. Jeff Hoying (23), 19. Tommy Bigelow (20), 20. Kayla Roell (15), 21. Gunnar Lucius (9), 22. Cole Morgan (18), 23. Ryan Moran (17), 24. Derrick Noffsinger (24). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-6 Alex Watson, Laps 7-12 Luke Hall, Laps 13-25 Bryce Massingill.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE: September 13, 2024 – Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, Indiana
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifier: Zach Wigal
Performance Electronics First Heat Winner: Bryce Massingill
Stiefel’s Home & Auto Second Heat Winner: Luke Hall
Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Third Heat Winner: Tyler Nelson
Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Cody Dye (21st to 12th)
Rosewood Machine & Tool Precision Move of the Race: Jim Jones
Competition Suspension Inc. Gift Certificate: Gunnar Lucius
Impact Lucky 7th Place Feature Finisher: Ian Creager
Saldana Racing Products Gift Certificate: Chett Gehrke
