IT’S A KIND OF MAGIC AT GAS CITY

By: Linda Mansfield

Gas City, Indiana (August 12, 2022)………Michael Magic of Winder, Ga., didn’t use any hocus pocus to win the 20-lap non-points special event feature for the USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget series, which is sponsored by Performance Electronics.

Magic got busy immediately in the USAC SpeeD2 Midwest Thunder midget feature after starting 11th in the 16-car field. Polesitter Gunnar Lucius of Delphos, Ohio, led the first lap before giving way to Jakeb Boxell of Zanesville, Ohio, who led laps two through 13. That included the red for Zach Wigal who flipped after contact with Lucius in turn four with two laps down while he was running third, but the high school student from Belpre, Ohio returned to win the 15-lap micro-sprint feature.

But Magic was already on the move behind the frontrunners. He was eighth on lap one, sixth on lap two, fourth on lap three, and second on lap five after passing Lucius on the outside.

Boxell had a 1.5-second lead at that time, and he had stretched his advantage to nearly two seconds by lap eight. But Magic got the opportunity he was hoping for with 10 laps down when Tyler Watkins of Marion, Ind., spun off course in turn four to bring out a yellow and close up the field.

Boxell led three laps after the restart until Magic passed him at the start-finish line on lap 14. Magic led the rest of the race, and he had a 0.474 second margin of victory over Boxell.

The other big mover in the race was Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio, who won here on July 29. He started 13th, cracked the top 10 on lap five, and moved into the top five on lap 12. He passed Alex Watson of Columbus, Ohio for fourth on lap 13 and Lucius for third with five laps remaining to nail down the show position.

Lucius placed fourth and Chris Dickey of Westfield, Ind., rounded out the top five.

Magic’s winning car is a Stealth chassis with a Honda powerplant and Kahne shocks. He’s sponsored by Full Circle Fabrication, Atlantic Powder Coating and PBH Indy Honda.

=================

USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGETS PRESENTED BY PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS RACE RESULTS: August 12, 2022 – Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Indiana – Non-Points Special Event

FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Zach Wigal, 18, Wigal-13.218; 2. Chris Dickey, 12, Pinkerton-13.347; 3. Tommy Kouns, 98, Kouns-13.532; 4. Connor Wolf, 11L, Taylor-13.648; 5. Tyler Watkins, 5, Watkins-13.985.

SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Gunnar Lucius, 22, Lucius-13.080; 2. Ryan Moran, 01, Moran-13.283; 3. Cody Beard, 7, Beard-13.294; 4. Tom Fedorczyk, 21, Fedorczyk-13.739; 5. Wes Pinkerton, 9p, Pinkerton-13.818; 6. Jim Jones, 97, Jones-14.178; 7. Aaron Sanders, 15, Sanders-14.953.

THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jakeb Boxell, 44JB, Boxell-12.865; 2. Michael Magic, 5m, Magic-13.066; 3. Alex Watson, 11T, Taylor-13.134; 4. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-13.170; 5. Bryce Massingill, 12, Massingill-13.235; 6. Cory Guingrich, 62, Guingrich-13.481.

PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Zach Wigal, 2. Connor Wolf, 3. Chris Dickey, 4. Tommy Kouns, 5. Ryan Moran, 6. Tyler Watkins. NT

BREWHOUSE DRIVE-THRU SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Gunnar Lucius, 2. Wes Pinkerton, 3. Tom Fedorczyk, 4. Jim Jones, 5. Aaron Sanders, 6. Cody Beard. NT

K & M TOOL & DIE THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, all transfer to feature) 1. Jakeb Boxell, 2. Alex Watson, 3. Ian Creager, 4. Michael Magic, 5. Bryce Massingill, 6. Cory Guingrich. NT

FEATURE: (20 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Michael Magic (11), 2. Jakeb Boxell (6), 3. Bryce Massingill (13), 4. Gunnar Lucius (1), 5. Chris Dickey (7), 6. Alex Watson (3), 7. Tommy Kouns (9), 8. Ian Creager (8), 9. Cory Guingrich (16), 10. Ryan Moran (12), 11. Jim Jones (10), 12. Tyler Watkins (14), 13. Wes Pinkerton (5), 14. Cory Beard (15), 15. Connor Wolf (4), 16. Zach Wigal (2). NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Lap 1 Gunnar Lucius, Laps 2-13 Jakeb Boxell, Laps 14-20 Michael Magic.

**Zach Wigal flipped on lap 3 of the feature.

PPC PERFORMANCE POWDER COATING HARD CHARGER: Michael Magic (11th to 1st) & Bryce Massingill (13th to 3rd)

ROSEWOOD MACHINE PRECISION MOVE OF THE RACE: Jakeb Boxell

NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGETS PRESENTED BY PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS RACE: August 27, 2022 – Montpelier Motor Speedway – Montpelier, Indiana