That victory was followed quickly by another and he has 10 career USAC national sprint car wins to date. Another key triumph came in the 2015 Fall Nationals at Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway, and in 2017 and ’19 he was an Indiana Sprint Week winner at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway. In 2017, he won three USAC national sprint car races for three different teams.
He was the non-winged sprint car track champion at Indiana’s Gas City I-69 Speedway in 2010 and ’19. That track is less than 100 miles from his current home in Waveland, Ind., a town of maybe 1,000 people.
Meseraull won a Golden Driller in the 1,200cc non-winged mini-sprint division during the Tulsa Shootout in 2017.
He made his first appearance in the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals at Tulsa Expo Raceway in 2000. He’s made the Saturday night finale seven times with his best finish being eighth in 2016. He was 12th in 2020. His best finish in the preliminary night action was also in 2020, when he finished second in Thursday night’s feature.
Now 39 years old and the father of two daughters, Meseraull was scheduled to drive one of five RMS Racing entries in the 35th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Jan. 11-16.
Meseraull and Justin Grant will be RMS Racing teammates for the entire USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget Series campaign.
“We were looking for an experienced driver, and actually, Thomas was the one who recommended Justin to us,” RMS Racing owner Dave Estep said. “We wanted that experience so they could bounce ideas off each other. That’s the main reason. We want to win and with those two we have a very good opportunity. I think we’re going to have a very good team.”
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Meseraull said. It’ll be the first time he has ever done a whole season in USAC national midgets.
Both Meseraull and Grant are Bay City Racing Ass’n midget champions. Meseraull won that title in 2004 and Grant did it in ’07.
And how has Meseraull found success in so many places and in so many different cars?
Without a lot of money at his disposal, it all really boils down to one thing —talent. And when one adds personality to the equation, it’s a combination that’s hard to ignore.
Meseraull also believes his experience plays a big factor.
“I’ve raced everything,” he said. “I spent hours and hours as a kid racing quads and I think the quads are the dirt side of me. I’ve driven everything from the Grave Digger monster truck to pavement winged sprint cars, modifieds and late models and I feel that has helped me be able to hop into different cars.
“But for years I wasn’t in good equipment. Still, I was able to hop into a car and knock out a win for a car owner. That’s just how it was until about five years ago when the good rides started coming. That’s really helped my job.”
What would he tell his 18-year-old self?
“When I was younger, I was always impatient to try to get to the front in a sprint car race. But sometimes a sprint car race is really an endurance race and you have to be patient,” he explained. “And I’d tell myself that if you keep your name clean by not partying after the races and work hard, good things will come your way later in life.”
Grant summed it up nicely.
“T-Mez isn’t boring,” Grant said. “He’s on the wild side. You’re never sure what you’re going to get. All the things that make sprint car racing exciting. He has talent by the truckload, and when he’s on he can do things in a race car very few can.
“He has as much or more riding on how he runs on any given night, and he has more fun than anyone doing it. I love T-Mez. But, love him or hate him, you’d miss him if he wasn’t there.”