NELSON EFFECT! 2026 USAC MIDWEST THUNDER SPEED2 MIDGET SEASON REVIEW

By Richie Murray

One championship is pretty nice. But a second one was twice as nice for Tyler Nelson.

The Olathe, Kansas racer successfully defended his USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget championship in 2026 by racking up three feature victories, plus a series-leading 10 top fives, 13 top tens, three fast qualifying times, and seven heat race wins during the 13-race series to defeat Bryce Massingill by a 40-point margin in the final tally.

During the 2025 season, Nelson finished 4th at Moler, 3rd at Lawrenceburg, and 2nd at Lincoln Park. This year, Nelson won at all three as he quadrupled his career win count from one to four throughout the 2026 campaign. Along the way, he increased his average feature finishing position from 4.5 to 4.3 between 2025 to 2026.

Nelson’s goal coming off a championship season was modest but very precise. That was primarily to up his game on the racetracks that had the upper hand on him in recent years. Box checked.

“What a season,” the 29-year-old Nelson exclaimed. “At the start of the year, we had one goal in mind, and that was to finish better at the places we struggled at in 2025. I would definitely say we accomplished that.”

Nelson led all 25 laps in wire-to-wire fashion in a dominating score at Williamsburg, Ohio’s Moler Raceway Park in May as he ran the high line to perfection toward a whopping winning margin of 6.054 seconds.

In what he described as “the biggest win of my career,” Nelson charged from seventh to first in the first two laps en route to the winner’s circle at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway in August.

Up to this point, and throughout much of the season, the point lead exchanged hands between Nelson, Matt Lux, and Bryce Massingill. However, with his fifth to first run to the win in the next to last race in September at Putnamville, Indiana’s Lincoln Park Speedway, Nelson vaulted into the point lead for good.

Nelson sealed the deal with a solid fifth place result in the October finale at Indiana’s Montpelier Speedway. In doing so, Nelson became the third driver in the 11-year history of the series to capture consecutive titles: Aaron Leffel (2017, 2018 & 2019) and Jacob Denney (2020 & 2021).

“None of this would be possible without the support from Mike Hurst, Jeff Hurst, Justin Axline, and all of our amazing partners,” Nelson added. “Plus, LynK Chassis for the best midget chassis on the planet, 4 Piston Cylinder Heads and Luke Wilson for the reliable power plant. Advanced Racing Suspensions for their shocks and tuning support. Alchemy Engineering for their fueling service. Superior Bearing & Supply for their rod ends and bearings. The Auto Spot for their support to help us get to the racetrack. Hoosier Tire Midwest for their fantastic customer service and support. Earl’s Indy Service Shop for the best hoses and hardware in racing. TJ Forged for the amazing wheels. West Evans for his fantastic products and customer service, and Curtis Motor Sales for giving me the ability to race.”

Meanwhile, Bryce Massingill finished inside the top three of the standings for the sixth year in a row. He was 3rd with the series in 2021, 2nd in 2022, 2nd in 2023, 1st in 2024, 3rd in 2025, and 2nd in 2026. The all-time winningest driver in series history (23) and a current University of Northwestern Ohio collegiate bowler added five more wins to his total in 2026, all in the latter half of the year. After going winless for 364 straight nights, he was victorious in five of the final eight races, taking Moler twice, Millstream, Circle City, and Montpelier. Massingill also led a series high 96 laps and equaled Nelson as the series leader with 10 top fives and seven heat race wins.

Matt Lux slotted into third in the standings with one victory to his credit during the season. His lone win came in the season opener at Indiana’s Montpelier Speedway after finding the lead early before losing it, then gaining it back at the midway point. Bookending the year with memorable performances, Lux made the biggest charge of the season in the series finale at Montpelier, gaining 16 positions after starting 22nd and finishing 6th.

Ian Creager chimed in fourth in the final points, equaling his career best finish with the series after also taking fourth in 2020, 2021, and 2022. After a five-year absence from victory lane, Creager returned in 2026 with a July score on the red clay of Bloomington Speedway. Creager charged from the seventh starting position to get the win.

Luke Hall added a pair of full points wins and a non-points special event triumph to his credit during the season. He first took top honors in May’s special round at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway for the second straight year. In June, he reigned at the rain delayed Mike Streicher Memorial at Ohio’s Limaland Motorsports Park. At Montpelier in August, Hall miraculously drove from third to first on the final turn of the final lap to get the victory over a sputtering Zach Wigal and Bryce Massingill.

Past series champ Zach Wigal also notched two non-points special event scores in 2026. He feasted on the low line to prevail in May at Circle City. He then set a torrid pace in June at Ohio’s Waynesfield Raceway Park where he led all 20 laps to take the checkered flag.

Kole Kirkman was named Rookie of the Year after finishing sixth in the standings. He earned his first career series victory in June at Atomic Speedway in just his third career series start aboard the No. 5m owned by Mike Magic. Sadly, less than two months later, Magic passed away at the age of 57. The series raced on with heavy hearts, and Kirkman even competed in Magic’s car two days after his passing. Thereafter, Kirkman finished the season in his own No. K10.

Six drivers started all 13 points-paying feature events: Stratton Briggs, Buddy Hollmeyer, Bryce Massingill, Tyler Nelson, Parker Perry, and Brayden Schwartz.

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2026 STAT LEADERS

Driver Champion: Tyler Nelson

Rookie of the Year: Kole Kirkman

Most Feature Wins: 5-Bryce Massingill

Laps Led: 96-Bryce Massingill

Top-Fives: 10-Bryce Massingill & Tyler Nelson

Top-Tens: 13-Tyler Nelson

Fast Qualifying Times: 3-Tyler Nelson

Heat Race Wins: 7-Bryce Massingill & Tyler Nelson

Semi-Feature Wins: 2-Kole Kirkman & Parker Perry

Feature Starts: 13-Stratton Briggs, Buddy Hollmeyer, Bryce Massingill, Tyler Nelson, Parker Perry & Brayden Schwartz

Biggest Charge of the Year: (+16) Oct 3 at Montpelier Speedway – Matt Lux (22nd to 6th)

2026 DRIVER POINTS

Pos. Pts. Driver, Hometown

1 941 Tyler Nelson, Olathe, Kansas

2 901 Bryce Massingill, Troy, Ohio

3 886 Matt Lux, Manilla, Indiana

4 798 Ian Creager, Covington, Ohio

5 772 Stratton Briggs, Anna, Ohio

6 668 (R) Kole Kirkman, Kokomo, Indiana

7 646 Buddy Hollmeyer, Cincinnati, Ohio

8 628 (R) Parker Perry, North Vernon, Indiana

9 624 Dylan Trost, Pleasant Hill, Ohio

10 555 (R) Landen Francis, Troy, Ohio

11 554 Brayden Schwartz, Troy, Ohio

12 428 (R) Trisdon Brown, Danville, Indiana

13 415 Luke Hall, Ludlow Falls, Ohio

14 404 Tyler Watkins, Marion, Indiana

15 390 (R) Taten Long, Miller City, Ohio

16 360 (R) Ashley Schloss, Jamestown, Ohio

17 294 Chett Gehrke, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

18 287 (R) Chase Hodge, Pittsboro, Indiana

19 283 Jalen Cox, Winchester, Indiana

20 276 Zach Wigal, Belpre, Ohio

21 255 (R) Troy Borsos, Wauseon, Ohio

22 249 Cole Morgan, Brookville, Ohio

23 215 Cody Dye, Covington, Ohio

24 215 (R) Jonathon Decker, Orient, Ohio

25 210 Jon Watson, Columbus, Ohio

26 194 (R) Seth Crandall, Canal Winchester, Ohio

27 184 Jim Jones, Ventura, California

28 182 Alex Watson, Columbus, Ohio

29 176 (R) Chris Hartman, Boulder, Colorado

30 144 (R) Jason Shaffer, Piqua, Ohio

31 129 Drew Rader, Findlay, Ohio

32 94 Taylor Nibert, South Vienna, Ohio

33 79 (R) Bryan Klein, Dayton, Ohio

34 78 (R) Darin Horton, Lindley, New York

35 76 Jakeb Boxell, Zanesville, Indiana

36 23 Jody Paul, Grove City, Ohio

37 10 (R) John Ralsten, Vienna, West Virginia

(R) represents a USAC Midwest Thunder SpeeD2 Midget Rookie

2026 ROOKIE OF THE YEAR POINTS

Pos. Pts. Driver, Hometown

1 668 Kole Kirkman, Kokomo, Indiana

2 628 Parker Perry, North Vernon, Indiana

3 555 Landen Francis, Troy, Ohio

4 428 Trisdon Brown, Danville, Indiana

5 390 Taten Long, Miller City, Ohio

6 360 Ashley Schloss, Jamestown, Ohio

7 287 Chase Hodge, Pittsboro, Indiana

8 255 Troy Borsos, Wauseon, Ohio

9 215 Jonathon Decker, Orient, Ohio

10 194 Seth Crandall, Canal Winchester, Ohio

11 176 Chris Hartman, Boulder, Colorado

12 144 Jason Shaffer, Piqua, Ohio

13 79 Bryan Klein, Dayton, Ohio

14 78 Darin Horton, Lindley, New York

15 10 John Ralsten, Vienna, West Virginia

2026 FEATURE WINNERS

Apr 25: Montpelier Speedway – Montpelier, Indiana

WINNER: Matt Lux (Bill Wells #5)

May 2: Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio (SE)

WINNER: Luke Hall (Kyle Heitmeyer #74)

May 21: Circle City Raceway – Indianapolis, Indiana (SE)

WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)

May 29: Moler Raceway Park – Williamsburg, Ohio

WINNER: Tyler Nelson (Tyler Nelson #91)

Jun 6: Atomic Speedway – Chillicothe, Ohio

WINNER: Kole Kirkman (Mike Magic #5m)

Jun 12: Limaland Motorsports Park – Elida, Ohio

WINNER: Luke Hall (Kyle Heitmeyer #74)

Jun 18: Waynesfield Raceway Park – Waynesfield, Ohio (SE)

WINNER: Zach Wigal (Lee Wigal #18)

Jul 10: Bloomington Speedway – Bloomington, Indiana

WINNER: Ian Creager (Tod Creager #36)

Jul 31: Moler Raceway Park – Williamsburg, Ohio