Late Charge Puts Meseraull in USAC Winner’s Circle At Tri-State Speedway

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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.

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.

Toyota Driver Quotes: 

Thomas Meseraull, RMS Racing: “I’ve run second enough here to know the bottom eventually comes back. Hats off to my guys. I almost wadded it up with Buddy and Cannon. Midget racing is tough. It’s so tricky here, but when in doubt, stand on it.”

Kevin Thomas Jr. , Petry Motorsports: “I just couldn’t stick the bottom like those guys and at the end of that’s where you needed to be. We had a good run at the end. We just have to go out west and make a good run there.”

TRD PR

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