HALL BLOWS ENGINE, BUT STILL GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN AT WAYNESFIELD
Waynesfield, Ohio (October 7, 2023)………Luke Hall had his engine expire on the final lap, but it wasn’t enough to deny him a victory during Saturday night’s USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget feature at Ohio’s Waynesfield Raceway Park.
Hall (Ludlow Falls, Ohio) led the first 19 laps relatively comfortably after starting from the pole position. However, on the 20th and final lap, Hall’s engine blew, but still managed to hold off Jakeb Boxell by a narrow .059 sec. margin at the finish line.
For Hall, it was his third series victory of the season and his second consecutive at Waynesfield after also winning there on July 3.
Boxell (Zanesville, Ind.) finished second with Chett Gehrke (Broken Arrow, Okla.) third, Zach Wigal (Belpre, Ohio) fourth and Stratton Briggs (Anna, Ohio) fifth. Gunnar Lucius advanced 15 spots from 21st to 6th to earn Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger honors.
Wigal became the new series point leader, erasing a 29-point point deficit in the penultimate race of the season. Bryce Massingill (Troy, Ohio), who dropped out and finished 20th due to mechanical issues, fell to second in the standings, nine points behind Wigal with one event remaining on October 21 at Indiana’s Gas City I-69 Speedway.
==============
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE RESULTS: October 7, 2023 – Waynesfield Raceway Park – Waynesfield, Ohio
FIRST VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Abby Hohlbein, 11H, Hohlbein-13.744; 2. Aaron Leffel, 11L, Taylor-13.995; 3. Chett Gehrke, 21, Fedorczyk-14.006; 4. Josh Yenser, 16y, Yenser-14.061; 5. Brayden Schwartz, 55s, Schwartz-14.314; 6. Cole Morgan, 7m, Morgan-14.371; 7. Jimmie Guidry, 2, Briggs-14.445; 8. Tyler Kalb, 32, Kalb-14.603.
SECOND VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jakeb Boxell, 44JB, Boxell/Merkler-13.658; 2. Tyler Nelson, 10, Nelson-13.768; 3. Luke Hall, 74, Heitmeyer-13.844; 4. Zach Wigal, 18, Wigal-13.893; 5. Adam Taylor, 5m, Magic-14.026; 6. Ryan Moran, 01, Moran-14.170; 7. Page Perrine, 55, Perrine-14.548; 8. Bryce Massingill, 35, Massingill-NT (Time of 13.850 disallowed).
THIRD VMS MOTORSPORTS QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Matt Lux, 5KB, Wells-13.654; 2. Tate Martz, 34, GMB-13.677; 3. Stratton Briggs, 71, Briggs-13.804; 4. Cale Coons, 11T, Taylor-14.176; 5. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-14.205; 6. Gunnar Lucius, 22, Lucius-14.208; 7. Jody Paul, 5J, Paul-16.172.
U.S. LAWNS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Chett Gehrke (2), 2. Abby Hohlbein (4), 3. Aaron Leffel (3), 4. Tyler Kalb (8), 5. Josh Yenser (1), 6. Cole Morgan (6), 7. Jimmy Guidry (7), 8. Brayden Schwartz (5). NT
PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Jakeb Boxell (4), 2. Luke Hall (2), 3. Adam Taylor (5), 4. Zach Wigal (1), 5. Bryce Massingill (8), 6. Tyler Nelson (3), 7. Ryan Moran (6), 8. Page Perrine (7). NT
STIEFEL’S HOME & AUTO THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stratton Briggs (2), 2. Matt Lux (4), 3. Cale Coons (1), 4. Tate Martz (3), 5. Ian Creager (5), 6. Jody Paul (7), 7. Gunnar Lucius (6). NT
FEATURE: (20 laps) 1. Luke Hall (1), 2. Jakeb Boxell (4), 3. Chett Gehrke (6), 4. Zach Wigal (11), 5. Stratton Briggs (5), 6. Gunnar Lucius (21), 7. Matt Lux (3), 8. Adam Taylor (8), 9. Josh Yenser (13), 10. Aaron Leffel (7), 11. Tyler Kalb (10), 12. Tyler Nelson (17), 13. Ryan Moran (20), 14. Ian Creager (15), 15. Tate Martz (12), 16. Page Perrine (23), 17. Cole Morgan (16), 18. Jimmie Guidry (19), 19. Abby Hohlbein (2), 20. Bryce Massingill (14), 21. Cale Coons (9), 22. Jody Paul (18), 23. Brayden Schwartz (22). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Luke Hall.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Zach Wigal-1144, 2-Bryce Massingill-1135, 3-Stratton Briggs-1091, 4-Matt Lux-1068, 5-Gunnar Lucius-996, 6-Ian Creager-994, 7-Abby Hohlbein-882, 8-Jakeb Boxell-853, 9-Josh Yenser-674, 10-Cale Coons-591.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE: October 21, 2023 – Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Indiana
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
VMS Motorsports Fast Qualifier: Matt Lux
U.S. Lawns First Heat Winner: Chett Gehrke
Performance Electronics Second Heat Winner: Jakeb Boxell
Stiefel’s Home & Auto Third Heat: Stratton Briggs
Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Gunnar Lucius (21st to 6th)
Rosewood Machine Precision Move of the Race: Jakeb Boxell
HARF/DARF Hard Luck: Brayden Schwartz
Performance Powder Coating Winner Bonus: Luke Hall
