4/19/16 2:18 PM ETGEN GRABS MIDWEST THUNDER OPENER AT MONTPELIER

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ETGEN GRABS MIDWEST THUNDER OPENER AT MONTPELIER

Montpelier, IN…….Gage Etgen of Celina, Ohio captured Saturday night’s opening race of the new USAC Midwest Thunder Midget Series at Montpelier Motor Speedway. Etgen led all 25 laps of the USAC MTM portion of the event, while the second-place USAC car was driven by Connor Lucius. Corey Bedwell was third among USAC drivers, while 2015 USAC Midwest HPD Champion Alex Watson was fourth and Tommy Bigelow was fifth. The series resumes May 7 at Montpelier.

USAC MIDWEST THUNDER MIDGET SERIES RACE RESULTS: April 16, 2016 – Montpelier, Indiana – Montpelier Motor Speedway

ALSO AT THE TRACK: Tom Hunt (#12 Hunt) and Alfred Galedrige (#29 Sexton).

FEATURE: (25 laps) 1. Gage Etgen (#99 Etgen), 2. Conner Lucius (#22 Lucius), 3. Corey Bedwell (#11 Bedwell), 4. Alex Watson (#41 Sexton), 5. Tommy Bigelow (#2B Bigelow), 6. Jacob Taylor (#11T Taylor), 7. Corey Guingrich (#2 Guingrich), 8. Taylor Cox (#7x Cox). NT

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FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-25 Etgen.

NEW USAC MIDWEST THUNDER MIDGET POINTS: 1-Etgen-70, 2-Lucius-67, 3-Bedwell-64, 4-Watson-61, 5-Bigelow-58, 6-Taylor-55, 7-Guingrich-52, 8-Cox-49, 9-Hunt and Galedrige-10.

NEXT USAC MIDWEST THUNDER MIDGET RACE: May 7 – Montpelier (IN) Motor Speedway

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Gage Etgen - Montpelier Motor Speedway - April 16, 2016 - FEATURE WINNER

Tommy Bigelow. Any relation to USAC's Tom Bigelow?

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Wes Stafford

How many real midgets were there .....I'm pretty sure the winner was a Lightning sprint .....correct me if I'm wrong ....

The overall winner was a Spike/Esslinger. There were 14 unlimited Midgets. Etgen was the highest finishing D2 car.

Thomas is related to Tom. Tom is typically in the pits with the Bigelow team.

14 unlimited midgets, 5 Focus powered midgets, 5 mini sprints. Watson was the top finishing Focus.

Ok Questions

No Ecotecs?

Did the thunder cars run a separate 25 lap race or where they just combined with the field of the A main?

It would be nice if USAC or Montpelier could come up with some rather large decals the racers could display on their cars so that the fans could distinguish the D2 cars from the Unlimited Midgets.

I like Unlimited Midget, sounds good. Some day somebody is going to show up at Montpelier with a late model 3.0-3.5 Liter V6 Stock Block engine and change everybody's way of thinking about a Midget.

Honest Dad himself

Montpelier has committed to running a separate 'Shootout' feature for the MTM cars, but given the challenges associated with opening night, the fact that 4 midgets broke in the heats races and scratched (so that the remaining 20 cars would all go straight to the A), Harold asked that we work with him to avoid curfew issues, and track the MTM cars within the Midget A main for the purposes of USAC points and bonus payout. Every driver was informed before the feature and none had issues with this approach. Gage was recognized with a trophy and photo on the front stretch after the feature as the MTM winner, and received the $100 bonus along with $200 standard payout for 7th. All cars in the feature received at least $125 start money, and Harold paid out $75 tow money to those who did not. In the future we will go back to a separate Shootout as planned. We are aware of several Ecotec powered cars planning to participant in the future.