By Richie Murray
Montpelier, Indiana (October 3, 2026)………Bryce Massingill spent the early part of Saturday on the bowling lane. By Saturday night, he was back in victory lane at Indiana’s Montpelier Speedway.
The Troy, Ohio racer took over the lead from Buddy Hollmeyer with four laps remaining to score the win in the USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget season finale at the 1/4-mile dirt oval.
Massingill, who is a member of the University of Northwestern Ohio bowling team, finished his racing season with a flourish, winning five of the final eight feature events to extend his series record to 23 career victories.
Meanwhile, with his fifth place finish, Tyler Nelson captured his second consecutive USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget championship by a 40-point margin over Massingill.
In a 25-lap feature that consisted of six lead changes among three different drivers, it was Massingill who surged up through the pack from his ninth starting position to get the job done.
The first 21 circuits involved a see-saw battle for the lead between Jakeb Boxell and Buddy Hollmeyer. Boxell led laps one through three before Hollmeyer got by him on lap four to lead the first four laps of his career with the series. Boxell emerged at the front once more on lap eight, then Hollmeyer raced back by to lead nine and 10. Boxell briefly led again on lap 11, then once Hollmeyer got past on the 12th lap, he was able to keep Boxell at bay for the next 10 laps.
Massingill slotted into second on lap 18, then tracked down Hollmeyer on the 22nd go around. Leading the final four laps, Massingill edged away to grab a 0.473 second margin of victory over Boxell. Luke Hall took third with Hollmeyer fourth and Tyler Nelson fifth.
Hollmeyer received the Rosewood Machine & Tool Precision Move of the Race following his best career feature finish with the series. Starting fourth, Hollmeyer raced into the lead on lap four, starting a heated battle with early leader Boxell along with Hall. With Hollmeyer on the bottom line and Boxell up top, Hollmeyer held a narrow advantage, with the exception of laps eight and 11 when Boxell was able to beat him back to the stripe. Massingill turned the race into a four-way battle following Hollmeyer on the low line and was able to squeeze inside for the lead and the eventual win on lap 22.
Matt Lux received the Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger award, landing a sixth place result after starting 22nd and finishing sixth (+16) following a fifth to second performance in the semi-feature. Lux and crew made a valiant comeback after making extensive repairs following contact with the turn four wall in his heat race.
Ashley Schloss received the LynK Chassis bonus as the first non-transfer in the semi-feature, an event which was won by Dylan Trost. Jon Watson was the recipient of the Wilwood Disc Brakes Tough Brake award after pulling the number 10 pill in the feature redraw.
Gunnar Lucius was the Velocita by Borsos Racing Fast Qualifier with a top lap of 15.608 seconds.
Heat races presented by Jeff Hill Trailer Sales, Stiefel’s Home & Auto, Hoosier Auto Racing Fans, and Performance Electronics were won by Michael Magic, Tyler Nelson, Jonathan Decker, Luke Hall, and Stratton Briggs.
USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET RACE RESULTS: October 3, 2026 – Montpelier Speedway – Montpelier, Indiana
VELOCITA BY BORSOS FIRST QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Matt Lux, 5, Wells-15.696; 2. Landen Francis, 85L, Francis-15.996; 3. Ashley Schloss, 11s, Schloss-16.073; 4. Jon Watson, 2w, Watson-16.582; 5. Michael Magic, 36N, Cozzolino-16.881; 6. Ayden Perkins, 48, Perkins-17.296; 7. Parker Perry, 27G, Gresham-NT.
VELOCITA BY BORSOS SECOND QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Tyler Nelson, 91N, Nelson-15.631; 2. Cody Beard, 7, Beard-16.031; 3. Seth Crandall, 91, Crandall-16.524; 4. Taylor Nibert, 11N, Nibert-16.534; 5. Troy Borsos, 21T, Borsos-16.733; 6. Jason Bennett, 29, Bennett-16.791; 7. Tommy Bigelow, 2B, Bigelow-16.897.
VELOCITA BY BORSOS THIRD QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Jalen Cox, 11x, Cox-15.966; 2. Buddy Hollmeyer, 11, Taylor-16.182; 3. Jonathon Decker, 5D, Decker-16.453; 4. Jason Shaffer, 40J, Shaffer-17.021; 5. Jeff Hoying, 0H, Sniper-17.047; 6. Jim Jones, 97, Jones-17.278; 7. Tyler Watkins, 7w, Watkins-17.508.
VELOCITA BY BORSOS FOURTH QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Luke Hall, 74, Heitmeyer-15.703; 2. Bryce Massingill, 35, Massingill-15.835; 3. Parker Leek, 7x, Leek-15.987; 4. Chett Gehrke, 21G, Fedorczyk-16.432; 5. Alex Watson, 3w, Watson-16.432]; 6. Derrick Noffsinger, 18N, Noffsinger-16.800; 7. Brayden Schwartz, 55s, Schwartz-NT.
VELOCITA BY BORSOS FIFTH QUALIFYING GROUP: 1. Gunnar Lucius, 22, Lucius-15.608; 2. Jakeb Boxell, 54, Westfall-15.718[5]; 3. Stratton Briggs, 71, Briggs-15.727; 4. Kole Kirkman, 10K, Kirkman-15.830[3]; 5. Dylan Trost, 21, Trost-16.226; 6. Ian Creager, 36, Creager-16.934.
JEFF HILL TRAILER SALES FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Michael Magic[5]; 2. Jon Watson[1]; 3. Parker Perry[7]; 4. Landen Francis[3]; 5. Ayden Perkins[6]; 6. Ashley Schloss[2]; 7. Matt Lux[4]. NT
STIEFEL’S HOME & AUTO SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Tyler Nelson[4]; 2. Cody Beard[3]; 3. Seth Crandall[2]; 4. Jason Bennett[6]; 5. Troy Borsos[5]; 6. Taylor Nibert[1]; 7. Tommy Bigelow[7]. NT
HOOSIER AUTO RACING FANS THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Jonathon Decker[2]; 2. Buddy Hollmeyer[3]; 3. Jalen Cox[4]; 4. Jim Jones[6]; 5. Jason Shaffer[1]; 6. Jeff Hoying[5]; 7. Tyler Watkins[7]. NT
PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Luke Hall (4), 2. Bryce Massingill (3), 3. Chett Gehrke (3), 4. Parker Leek (4), 5. Brayden Schwartz (7), 6. Alex Watson (5), 7. Derrick Noffsinger (6). NT
HOOSIER AUTO RACING FANS FIFTH HEAT: (8 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Stratton Briggs (2), 2. Jakeb Boxell (2), 3. Gunnar Lucius (3), 4. Kole Kirkman (4), 5. Dylan Trost (5), 6. Ian Creager (6). NT
PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS SEMI: (12 laps, top 4 transfer to the feature, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Dylan Trost (5), 2. Matt Lux (10), 3. Brayden Schwartz (4), 4. Alex Watson (9), 5. Ashley Schloss (6), 6. Jason Shaffer (3), 7. Jeff Hoying (8), 8. Derrick Noffsinger (12), 9. Tyler Watkins (11), 10. Troy Borsos (2), 11. Taylor Nibert (7). NT
JEFF HILL TRAILER SALES FEATURE: (25 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Bryce Massingill (9), 2. Jakeb Boxell (2), 3. Luke Hall (3), 4. Buddy Hollmeyer (4), 5. Tyler Nelson (7), 6. Matt Lux (22), 7. Stratton Briggs (1), 8. Chett Gehrke (14), 9. Cody Beard (8), 10. Kole Kirkman (20), 11. Parker Perry (11), 12. Michael Magic (5), 13. Landen Francis (16), 14. Jalen Cox (13), 15. Parker Leek (19), 16. Dylan Trost (21), 17. Alex Watson (24), 18. Brayden Schwartz (23), 19. Seth Crandall (12), 20. Gunnar Lucius (15), 21. Jason Bennett (17), 22. Jim Jones (18), 23. Jon Watson (10), 24. Jonathon Decker (6). NT
FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-3 Jakeb Boxell, Laps 4-7 Buddy Hollmeyer, Lap 8 Jakeb Boxell, Laps 9-10 Buddy Hollmeyer, Lap 11 Jakeb Boxell, Laps 12-21 Buddy Hollmeyer, Laps 22-25 Bryce Massingill.
CONTINGENCY AWARD WINNERS:
Velocita by Borsos Racing Fast Qualifier: Gunnar Lucius (15.608)
Jeff Hill Trailer Sales First Heat Winner: Michael Magic
Stiefel’s Home & Auto Second Heat Winner: Tyler Nelson
Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Third Heat Winner: Jonathon Decker
Performance Electronics Fourth Heat Winner: Luke Hall
Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Fifth Heat Winner: Stratton Briggs
Performance Powder Coating Hard Charger: Matt Lux (22nd to 6th)
Rosewood Machine & Tool Precision Move of the Race: Buddy Hollmeyer
LynK Chassis First Non-Transfer: Ashley Schloss
Wilwood Disc Brakes Tough Brake Award: Jon Watson