DAGER IS SHARP, DELIVERS FIRST USAC MW THUNDER WIN AT GAS CITY
By: Linda Mansfield
Gas City, Indiana (Mary 20, 2022)………Kyle Dager of Fort Wayne, Ind. won the 20-lap USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget feature on Friday night at Gas City (Ind.) I-69 Speedway.
Dager started second, then passed polesitter Carl Peterson of Waterford, Mich. on the outside in turn two on the first lap. He survived four restarts and led all 20 laps for his first career series victory in his Briggs Racing/CRIT Motorsports No. 2, a Beast/Focus sponsored by SBM, Armor Coat and BMI Karts.
Dager had a 1.582-second margin of victory over Wes Pinkerton of Reynolds, Ind., who started sixth but took second on lap 11, by dipping under Stratton Briggs of Anna, Ohio at the end of the backstretch and going into turn three.
Pinkerton, who is a lab technician, drove a Ripper midget sponsored by I-65 Truck Sales, MAGS Logistics, All In Transport and Full Tilt Fabrication.
Drew Rader of Findlay, Ohio and Briggs had a heated battle for third, with Rader getting the show spot in his Hawk/Ecotec sponsored by Heitmeyer Concrete, Ohio Logistics and Hawk Racing. Briggs finished fourth in his Triple X/Honda sponsored by SBM, BMI Karts and Superior Bearing and Supply. Sixteen-year-old Bryce Massingill of Troy, Ohio rounded out the top-five in his Boss/Ecotec sponsored by Creative Labels, Summit Flooring and Double Jay Construction.
Bryce Dues of Minster, Ohio, Peterson, Ryan Thomas of Indianapolis, Josh Yenser of Plain City, Ohio, and Ian Creager of Covington, Ohio rounded out the top-10.
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USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGETS PRESENTED BY PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS RACE RESULTS: May 20, 2022 – Gas City I-69 Speedway – Gas City, Indiana
FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Stratton Briggs, 71, Briggs-13.297, 2. Jakeb Boxell, 49JB, Boxell-13.362, 3. Drew Rader, 74, Bassett-13.636, 4. Wes Pinkerton, 9p, Pinkerton-13.714, 5. Josh Yenser, 5, Yenser-13.762, 6. Ryan Thomas, 1FR, Thomas-13.930, 7. Michael Magic, 5m, Magic-13.959, 8. Cody Dye, 4T, Dye-14.660, 9. Bryce Massingill, 35, Massingill-NT.
SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-13.476, 2. Kyle Dager, 2, Briggs-13.523, 3. Carl Peterson, 49p, Peterson-13.532, 4. Abby Hohlbein, 11H, Hohlbein-13.566, 5. Bryce Dues, 23D, Dues-13.790, 6. Luke Lemons, 33L, Lemons-14.232, 7. Chuck Taylor, 11T, Taylor-14.444, 8. Jim Jones, 97, Jones-16.096.
FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Stratton Briggs, 2. Drew Rader, 3. Wes Pinkerton, 4. Jakeb Boxell, 5. Ryan Thomas, 6. Josh Yenser, 7. Bryce Massingill, 8. Michael Magic, 9. Cody Dye. NT
SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Kyle Dager, 2. Abby Hohlbein, 3. Carl Peterson, 4. Bryce Dues, 5. Ian Creager, 6. Jim Jones, 7. Chuck Taylor, 8. Luke Lemons. NT
FEATURE: (20 laps, with starting position in parentheses) 1. Kyle Dager (2), 2. Wes Pinkerton (6), 3. Drew Rader (3), 4. Stratton Briggs (5), 5. Bryce Massingill (13), 6. Bryce Dues (8), 7. Carl Peterson (1), 8. Ryan Thomas (9), 9. Josh Yenser (11), 10. Ian Creager (10), 11. Abby Hohlbein (4), 12. Jim Jones (12), 13. Chuck Taylor (14), 14. Jakeb Boxell (7), 15. Luke Lemons (16), 16. Cody Dye (17). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-20 Kyle Dager.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET POINTS: 1-Bryce Massingill-262, 2-Stratton Briggs-256, 3-Ian Creager-220, 4-Bryce Dues-192, 5-Carl Peterson-185, 6-Josh Yenser-163, 7-Abby Hohlbein-156, 8-Jim Jones-132, 9-Wes Pinkerton-87, 10-Kyle Keaton-83.
NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGETS PRESENTED BY PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS RACE: May 29, 2022 – Waynesfield Raceway Park – Waynesfield, Ohio
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
K & M Tool & Die First Heat Winner: Stratton Briggs
Brewhouse Drive Thru Second Heat Winner: Kyle Dager
Rosewood Machine Precision Move of The Race: Bryce Dues
Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Bryce Massingill (13th to 5th)
