CONCORD, N.C. — Thomas Meseraull’s first career feature win with the Xtreme Outlaw Midget Series two weeks ago in the Southern Illinois Center put him in rare air.
He now stands as the only driver in Xtreme Outlaw Series history to win with both midgets and the sprint cars (Volusia Speedway Park 2022).
The 43-year-old from San Jose, Calif., has accomplished plenty in his lengthy career, and though the Xtreme Outlaw Series is young — going on its third year of operation in 2024 — Meseraull knows the weight of the accolade and its distinction in the sport.
“It’s pretty cool to just get your name in the record books,” Meseraull said. “Because a lot of the time, that’s all people will ever remember is who won these races.”
The midget win was the fourth in Meseraull’s career on the indoor oval at the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds and second in-a-row driving the Tim Engler-owned MF1/EA Stealth No. 7x after he and the team were victorious in the Junior Knepper 55 event held at the venue in December.
Combined with 10 career Chili Bowl Nationals A-Main starts at the Tulsa Expo Raceway, Meseraull has become one of the best indoor midget racers of the 21st century. Both tracks are home to some of the tightest and most intense action that midget racing offers, and, over the years, Meseraull has developed a recipe for repeated success indoors.
“I feel like indoor races are really technical and some of the toughest because it’s so easy to overdrive,” Meseraull said. “I’m starting to get calmed down and be able to keep the car underneath me, and I feel like that helps me a lot at the indoor stuff.”
The car he drove to the win in Du Quoin is a new operation for Meseraull this year.
Engler — founder of Engler Machine & Tool — partnered with NASCAR engine builder Joey Arrington to create the first editions of the EA Stealth Midget engine, which Meseraull helped test and debut on the national scene in 2023.
Fabricator Jon Farrell, of Farrell FrameWorks, assembled the chassis in which the EA Stealth engine sits. Known as the MF1 Chassis, Meseraull has been pleased with the combination of engine and car thus far, which his wins in Du Quoin are a testament to.
“We’re kind of outside of the box with our program,” Meseraull said. “Our Farrell FrameWorks MF1 is the only chassis there like it; I’ve been building the second one this week. But with the motor package, midget racing is kind of cookie-cutter when it comes to everybody’s kind of running the same motor package and cars, so I feel like it was a big win for us because we’re starting to gain speed on our package.”
That speed has paid dividends for Meseraull and brought him his Xtreme Outlaw Series accolade as the first winner in both non-winged disciplines.
He remembers his Xtreme Outlaw Sprint Car Series win in 2022 well, driving the Chris Dyson Racing No. 20 Non-Wing Sprint Car to Victory Lane at Volusia Speedway Park during Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals for the first time in his career, making his first mark in the Xtreme Outlaw Series history books.
“I first think of Volusia — that was one of the most epic nights,” Meseraull said. “If you race 100 nights a year, you might have two or three nights where it’s just perfect. Volusia’s fast, and we were just so spot-on. I think we led most of the race, picked up the big win and we got a gator — this amazing trophy.”
Now, it’s all eyes on his next Xtreme Outlaw Series win. He and the Engler team are currently finishing a second MF1/EA Stealth car to take with them to several series events in 2024 — the next of which comes April 4-5 at US36 Raceway and Sweet Springs Motorsports Complex.
“I am super pumped to go to Sweet Springs; that’s one of my favorite tracks to run the midget at,” Meseraull said. “It’s just a great, racey little track. It’s two lanes, it’s usually curbed-up, it’s always juiced-up. One of the highlight tracks of the year, honestly.”