THE NEXT GENERATION: CALE COONS WINS HIS FIRST AT MONTPELIER
Montpelier, Indiana (September 16, 2023)………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.
Now, the next generation of the Coons racing family has entered victory lane for the first time in USAC competition.
Cale Coons, son of Jerry Coons Jr., raced to his first career USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget victory on Saturday night at Indiana’s Montpelier Motor Speedway.
The Greencastle, Ind. native zipped by racelong leader Zach Wigal with six laps remaining to reign victorious in the 20-lap main event in his Team Taylor Racing ride.
Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) led the first 14 laps of the feature before falling back to third at the finish line. Bryce Massingill (Troy, Ohio) took the second spot from Wigal in the waning laps and was able to extend his series point lead over Wigal to 29.
Aaron Leffel (Springfield, Ohio) grabbed fourth while Luke Lemons (Dayton, Ohio) scored a fifth after starting all the way back in the 19th position, which earned him Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger honors.
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USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE RESULTS: September 16, 2023 – Montpelier Motor Speedway – Montpelier, Indiana
FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Cale Coons (#11T Taylor), 2. Bryce Massingill (#35 Massingill), 3. Zach Wigal (#18 Wigal), 4. Aaron Leffel (#11L Taylor), 5. Luke Lemons (#33L Lemons), 6. Matt Lux (#5KB Wells), 7. Stratton Briggs (#21 Fedorczyk), 8. Cole Morgan (#7m Morgan), 9. Gunnar Lucius (#22 Lucius), 10. Ian Creager (#36 Creager), 11. Tyler Nelson (#10N Nelson), 12. Tate Martz (#34 GMB), 13. Josh Yenser (#16y Yenser), 14. Michael Magic (#5m Magic), 15. Tyler Kalb (#32 Kalb), 16. Jimmie Guidry (#21G Guidry), 17. Abby Hohlbein (#11H Hohlbein), 18. Jon Watson (#20x Watson), 19. Ryan Moran (#01 Moran), 20. Jakeb Boxell (#44JB Boxell-Merkler). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-14 Zach Wigal, Laps 15-20 Cale Coons.
ALSO AT THE TRACK: Marcel Berndt (#2 Briggs), Luke Hall (#74 Heitmeyer), Blake Adams (#44 Adams), Jim Jones (#97 Jones), Jody Paul (#5J Paul), Thomas Bigelow (#2B Bigelow), John Ralsten (#6m Ralsten) & Brayden Schwartz (#55 Schwartz).
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Bryce Massingill-1112, 2-Zach Wigal-1083, 3-Stratton Briggs-1033, 4-Matt Lux-1016, 5-Ian Creager-959, 6-Gunnar Lucius-941, 7-Abby Hohlbein-857, 8-Jakeb Boxell-786, 9-Josh Yenser-581, 10-Luke Lemons-628.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE: October 7, 2023 – Waynesfield Raceway Park – Waynesfield, Ohio
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifier: Bryce Massingill
Performance Electronics First Heat Winner: Zach Wigal
U.S. Lawns Second Heat Winner: Aaron Leffel
Stiefel’s Home & Auto Third Heat: Bryce Massingill
Semi Winner: Jakeb Boxell
Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Luke Lemons (19th to 5th)
Rosewood Machine Precision Move of the Race: Cole Morgan
HARF/DARF Hard Luck: Jim Jones
Impact Racing Lucky Racer: Ian Creager
Larry Hajduk Memorial Crew Chief Awards: Thomas Briggs & Noah Lemons
