Thomas Meseraull passed Kevin Thomas Jr. with six laps to go and then held off Thomas and teammate Justin Grant to win the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series’ Saturday night feature at Tri-State Speedway in a Toyota one-two-three finish.
The win is the fourth for Meseraull in USAC competition this season and the 52nd national midget feature victory for a Toyota-powered driver in 2021.
“I thought before the race that we could win this, we’re going to win this, but then I also thought, I can come back on the hook too,” Meseraull said. “I’m super pumped we didn’t come back on the hook with the RMS Racing number 7x. It’s the last race of the year in the Midwest, we won it last year and we picked it off again.”
“It’s so tricky,” Meseraull added. “It’s tough because I started peddling it there and I moved back a couple spots. Then I burned it in there wide open and got the right rear to stick and then just started doing that. When in doubt, stand on it.”
Thomas dominated the early going, taking the lead on the opening lap over Daison Pursley, with Cannon McIntosh in third, followed by Buddy Kofoid in fourth. As Thomas settled in, McIntosh would overtake Pursley for second on lap five, with Kofoid taking over third on lap six. By lap nine, Meseraull had moved up into the top four, with a three-way battle soon to follow for second place.
On lap 14, Kofoid would go high to move past McIntosh for second going into turn four, but McIntosh would go back underneath him with Meseraull by his side as they came to the flag stand. The three cars would make contact with Kofoid flipping, while McIntosh damaged a tire. Both would be able to continue, but the incident would end chance either had for the victory.
Thomas continued to lead after the restart as Pursley took over second and Meseraull running in the third position. Mastering the bottom of the track, Meseraull would overtake Pursley on lap 19 and then set his sights on Thomas.
On lap 25, Meseraull would run low through turns one and two and take over the lead coming onto the back straight and would be able to hold the lead as they came back to the scoring stand. By lap 26, Grant would move past Pursley and begin to close on Meseraull and Thomas. The three battled down the stretch, but Meseraull was able to maintain the top spot, winning by two car lengths as Thomas narrowly took second.
Pursley would finish fourth, while Chris Windom climbed up from 13th to take fifth as Toyotas captured each of the top-five finishing positions. Logan Seavey would finish seventh, with Bryant Wiedeman in eighth and Kofoid recovering to take ninth to give Toyota eight of the top 10.
The USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series is off until November 12 when the series kicks off the western Swing with a double-header at Arizona November 12-13.
Feature Results:
1. Thomas Meseraull (7), 2. Kevin Thomas Jr. (2), 3. Justin Grant (17), 4. Daison Pursley (1), 5. Chris Windom (14), 6. Kyle Cummins (10), 7. Logan Seavey (5), 8. Bryant Wiedeman (20), 9. Buddy Kofoid (3), 10. Tanner Thorson (6), 11. Kaylee Bryson (16), 12. Jace Park (9), 13. Carson Garrett (19), 14. Emerson Axsom (18), 15. Chance Crum (15), 16. Sam Johnson (12), 17. Tyler Rust (22), 18. Cannon McIntosh (4), 19. Brenham Crouch (11), 20. Ethan Mitchell (8), 21. Jake Neuman (21), 22. Chase Randall (13).
See the full recap by Richie Murray:
Photo: USAC Racing (@USACNation)
Content provided by John Procida / Toyota USAC/POWRi PR