FIRST LADY: ROELL BECOMES MIDWEST THUNDER’S FIRST FEMALE WINNER AT U.S. 24
Logansport, Indiana (September 25, 2021)………Kayla Roell became the first female winner in USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget history with her victory Saturday night at U.S. 24 Speedway in Logansport, Ind.
Polesitter Stratton Briggs (Anna, Ohio) opened up the 25-lap feature by leading the first lap before three-time series champ Aaron Leffel (Springfield, Ohio) assumed the point on the second lap after starting alongside Briggs.
With six laps remaining, Roell (Dillsboro, Ind.) tracked down Leffel for the lead, then completed a successful pass of Leffel on lap 19.
Roell, also a multi-time winner on the Midwest Mini Sprint Association tour this year, finished her first Midwest Thunder win ahead of Leffel, Briggs, Chett Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Okla.) and Ian Creager (Covington, Ohio).
She also became the third female driver to win a Midwest Thunder heat race in 2021, joining Abby Hohlbein (Cloverdale, Ohio) and Taylor Nibert (South Vienna, Ohio).
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USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE RESULTS: September 25, 2021 – U.S. 24 Speedway – Logansport, Indiana
FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jacob Denney, 11T, Taylor-11.752, 2. Tommy Kouns, 98, Kouns-11.939, 3. Stratton Briggs, 71, Briggs-11.950, 4. Corey Guingrich, 42, Guingrich-11.974, 5. Keith Ousley, 0, Ousley-11.984, 6. Kyle Dager, 2, Briggs-12.067, 7. Jim Jones, 97, Jones-13.066.
SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Abby Hohlbein, 11H, Hohlbein-11.874, 2. Wes Pinkerton, 9p, Pinkerton-11.892, 3. Aaron Leffel, 11L, Taylor-12.030, 4. Kayla Roell, 4K, Martin-12.088, 5. Bill Dunham, 84, Dunham-12.792, 6. Page Perrine, 55, Perrine-NT.
THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Bryce Massingill, 12m, Massingill-11.754, 2. Drew Rader, 74, Rader-11.936, 3. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-11.990, 4. Chett Gehrke, 93c, Gehrke-11.995, 5. Zack Gingerich, 8z, Gingerich-12.213, 6. Josh Yenser, 12Y, Yenser-12.245.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Jacob Denney (4), 2. Stratton Briggs (2), 3. Tommy Kouns (3), 4. Kyle Dager (6), 5. Cory Guingrich (1), 6. Keith Ousley (5), 7. Jim Jones (7). NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Kayla Roell (1), 2. Aaron Leffel (2), 3. Wes Pinkerton (3), 4. Abby Hohlbein (4), 5. Bill Dunham (5). NT
THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, starting positions in parentheses, all transfer to the feature) 1. Chett Gehrke (1), 2. Bryce Massingill (4), 3. Ian Creager (2), 4. Drew Rader (3), 5. Zack Gingerich (5), 6. Josh Yenser (6). NT
FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Kayla Roell (3), 2. Aaron Leffel (2), 3. Stratton Briggs (1), 4. Chett Gehrke (4), 5. Ian Creager (9), 6. Tommy Kouns (7), 7. Wes Pinkerton (8), 8. Kyle Dager (10), 9. Josh Yenser (18), 10. Drew Rader (12), 11. Cory Guingrich (13), 12. Abby Hohlbein (11), 13. Zack Gingerich (15), 14. Keith Ousley (16), 15. Bill Dunham (14), 16. Jim Jones (19), 17. Jacob Denney (6), 18. Bryce Massingill (5). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Stratton Briggs, Laps 2-19 Aaron Leffel, Laps 20-25 Kayla Roell.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Jacob Denney-785, 2-Stratton Briggs-744, 3-Bryce Massingill-708, 4-Ian Creager-700, 5-Chett Gehrke-677, 6-Abby Hohlbein-624, 7-Josh Yenser-554, 8-Zack Gingerich-491, 9-Kyle Dager-453, 10-Aaron Leffel-383.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE: October 2, 2021 – Montpelier Motor Speedway – Montpelier, Indiana – Non-Points Special Event
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
K & M Tool & Die First Heat Winner: Jacob Denney
Performance Powder Coating Second Heat Winner: Chett Gehrke
Brewhouse Drive Thru Second Heat Winner: Kayla Roell
Hard Charger: Josh Yenser