Chillicothe, Ohio (June 22, 2024)………Zach Wigal was the last man standing in a race in which two other leaders experienced heartache during Saturday night’s USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget round at Chillicothe, Ohio’s Atomic Speedway.
Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) started sixth as he watched two other drivers control the pace throughout the majority of the 25-lap main event. Stratton Briggs (Anna, Ohio) led the opening lap from the pole position before giving way to VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifier Jakeb Boxell (Zanesville, Ind.) on lap two.
Boxell remained in charge until he flipped between turns three and four while leading on lap 10, knocking him back to a 13th place result. Briggs inherited the lead for the lap 10 restart, then proceeded to pace the field the next five laps.
Nearing the completion of lap 14, Briggs suddenly slowed at the exit of turn four with an engine issue. Wigal nearly collided with Briggs on the front straightaway before diving low in turn one to avoid contact. Briggs ultimately bowed out with a 12th place finish.
From there, Wigal went untouched for the remaining 11 laps en route to his second consecutive series victory at Atomic after winning at the 3/8-mile dirt oval in August of 2023.
The win also marked Wigal’s third of the series season and his second-straight after winning a week earlier at Ohio’s Millstream Speedway.
Luke Lemons (Moraine, Ohio) was initially credited with a runner-up finish. However, in post-race tech inspection, Lemons’ car was found to be light at the scales. As a result, he was repositioned to the 16th position in the final rundown.
Wigal was followed to the finish line by Tate Martz (Rushville, Ind.), point leader Bryce Massingill (Troy, Ohio) and Cale Coons (Greencastle, Ind.) with Matt Lux (Manilla, Ind.) rounding out the top-five.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE RESULTS: June 22, 2024 – Atomic Speedway – Chillicothe, Ohio
VMS MOTORSPORTS FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Zach Wigal, 18, Wigal-15.382; 2. Tate Martz, 34, GMB-15.459; 3. Luke Lemons, 33, Lemons-15.905; 4. Taylor Nibert, 11N, Taylor-15.950; 5. Ryan Fleming, 11T, Taylor-16.233; 6. Brayden Schwartz, 55s, Schwartz-16.266; 7. Jim Jones, 97, Jones-16.525; 8. Jacob Taylor, 11L, Taylor-17.530.
VMS MOTORSPORTS SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jakeb Boxell, 44JB, Boxell/Merkler-15.179; 2. Bryce Massingill, 35, Massingill-15.395; 3. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-15.408; 4. Stratton Briggs, 10, Briggs-15.436; 5. Cale Coons, 63, Dooling/Curb-Agajanian-15.557; 6. Matt Lux, 5, Wells-15.599; 7. Jimmie Guidry, 21G, Guidry-16.264; 8. Alex Watson, 3, Watson-16.264.
PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Zach Wigal (4), 2. Tate Martz (3), 3. Luke Lemons (2), 4. Ryan Fleming (5), 5. Taylor Nibert (1), 6. Brayden Schwartz (6), 7. Jim Jones (7), 8. Jacob Taylor (8). NT
STIEFEL’S HOME & AUTO SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stratton Briggs (1), 2. Jakeb Boxell (4), 3. Matt Lux (6), 4. Cale Coons (5), 5. Bryce Massingill (3), 6. Ian Creager (2), 7. Alex Watson (8), 8. Jimmie Guidry (7). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Zach Wigal (6), 2. Tate Martz (8), 3. Bryce Massingill (10), 4. Cale Coons (5), 5. Matt Lux (4), 6. Ian Creager (12), 7. Ryan Fleming (7), 8. Alex Watson (14), 9. Brayden Schwartz (11), 10. Jacob Taylor (15), 11. Jimmie Guidry (16), 12. Stratton Briggs (1), 13. Jakeb Boxell (2), 14. Taylor Nibert (9), 15. Jim Jones (13), 16. Luke Lemons (3) (originally finished 2nd, but was repositioned to 16th for not meeting minimum weight requirements). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Stratton Briggs, Laps 2-9 Jakeb Boxell, Laps 10-14 Stratton Briggs, Laps 15-25 Zach Wigal.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Bryce Massingill-375, 2-Cale Coons-360, 3-Jakeb Boxell-348, 4-Tate Martz-342, 5-Ian Creager-312, 6-Matt Lux-306, 7-Stratton Briggs-272, 8-Ryan Fleming-256, 9-Zach Wigal-242, 10-Brayden Schwartz-229.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE: June 28, 2024 – Limaland Motorsports Park – Elida, Ohio
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifier: Jakeb Boxell
Performance Electronics First Heat Winner: Zach Wigal
Stiefel’s Home & Auto Second Heat Winner: Stratton Briggs
Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Bryce Massingill (10th to 3rd)
Lynn Cook Hard Luck Award: Jakeb Boxell
Rosewood Machine & Tool Precision Move of the Race: Matt Lux
Impact Gift Certificate: Ian Creager
Competition Suspension Inc. Gift Certificate: Tate Martz
Saldana Racing Products Gift Certificate: Cale Coons
