INDIANAPOLIS — From the first practice lap to the wave of the checkered flag on Thursday night at the Driven2SaveLives BC39, it was Thomas “T-Mez” Meseraull’s race to lose.
The No. 7x was out front early in hot laps, with Meseraull being the only driver to crack an 11-second lap time at the quarter-mile dirt oval. He then dominated his heat race, finished third in his qualifier and started second in the feature.
From there, it was a wire-to-wire victory for the RMS Racing driver as he surged past polesitter Chase McDermand to take the lead on lap one and expertly fended off runner-up Taylor Reimer throughout the 30-lapper.
Notably, it was Meseraull’s first USAC National Midget Championship win of the year. But to make it to victory lane on a prelim night at the BC39 made the triumph even more memorable for the California native.
“Winning anything here — I was quick time in practice, so at that point I was like, ‘Check, I won something!’” Meseraull said. “I knew we were really good and it was hard to keep that pressure off my shoulders tonight.”
Pressure or no pressure, Meseraull executed when it mattered and kept his No. 7x on cruise control out front. Meanwhile, Reimer was charging hard to catch Meseraull in the closing laps and attempted to throw a slider on the No. 7x in the final corner.
“I was pushing as hard as I could,” Reimer said. “I thought he (Meseraull) was blowing up for a second, so I kind of went to the bottom just in case. But I did my best and gave it all I had there at the end. I knew I wasn’t going to clear him, but that was my only shot.”
Reimer’s second-place result in her No. 25k entry marked her career-best finish in USAC.
Previously, her highest result was fourth.
McDermand held on to finish third, rounding out the podium. However, after earning a dominant win in his qualifier and entering the A main as the high point man, the Mounce-Stout Motorsports driver was expecting a little more from himself in the feature.
“We have some things to work on still. I think starting on the bottom maybe hindered the first few laps or so, but we needed to be better in the center part of the race,” McDermand said. “I feel like we were probably a top-three car for sure and that showed. I’m happy with the results overall.”
Podium finishers Meseraull, Reimer and McDermand are now locked into Saturday night’s A main.
Jacob Denney moved up from seventh to finish fourth.
Defending BC39 winner Buddy Kofoid finished fifth in his No. 67k Keith Kunz Motorsports midget. Kameron Key, Jade Avedisian, Gary Taylor, Kaylee Bryson and Hayden Reinbold completed the top 10 during Thursday night’s prelim.
The Boxscore
USAC NOS Energy Drink Midget National Championship, The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis, Ind., Sept. 28, 2023
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Hayden Reinbold (#19AZ Reinbold/Underwood), 2. Blake Brannon (#40B Brannon), 3. Taylor Reimer (#25K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 4. Taylor Courtney (#22p RAMCO), 5. Chris Baue (#136 Baue), 6. Tommy Colburn (#10A MWR), 7. John Heydenreich (#22 Heydenreich), 8. Weston Gorham (#18N Gorham), 9. Adam Andretti (#44 Johnson). NT
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Buddy Kofoid (#67K Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 2. Gary Taylor (#32 Dunlap), 3. Jade Avedisian (#71 Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 4. Keith Rauch (#27 Bourke), 5. Mitchel Moles (#19T Reinbold-Underwood), 6. Randi Pankratz (#8 Pankratz), 7. Josh Bilicki (#7c RAMCO), 8. Justin Dickerson (#21D Dickerson), 9. Josh Hodge (#5J Hodge). 1:42.10
T.J. FORGED THIRD HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Kameron Key (#21J THK), 2. Kaylee Bryson (#89 CBI), 3. Matt Westfall (#84 Bordner), 4. Chelby Hinton (#4 Klatt), 5. Kevin Thomas Jr. (#1 Crouch), 6. Kyle Jones (#7m RAMCO), 7. Nick Drake (#55D Cline), 8. Robert Carson (#99K LOK/Carson-Segur), 9. Kevin Cook (#9p Cook). NT
CAR IQ FOURTH HEAT: (8 laps, passing points) 1. Thomas Meseraull (#7x RMS), 2. Bryant Wiedeman (#81 CBI), 3. Chase McDermand (#40 Mounce-Stout), 4. Jacob Denney (#25 Malloy), 5. Jerry Coons Jr. (#85 Central), 6. Daniel Whitley (#58 Abacus), 7. Mariah Ede (#71E Kunz/Curb-Agajanian), 8. C.J. Leary (#14 Legacy), 9. Preston Lattomus (#23 Mounce-Stout). 1:42.14
SIMPSON RACE PRODUCTS FIRST QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Jade Avedisian, 2. Jacob Denney, 3. Kameron Key, 4. Buddy Kofoid, 5. Chelby Hinton, 6. Daniel Whitley, 7. Tommy Colburn, 8. Weston Gorham, 9. Adam Andretti. 2:09.58
ROD END SUPPLY SECOND QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Kevin Thomas Jr., 2. Matt Westfall, 3. Jerry Coons Jr., 4. Taylor Reimer, 5. Nick Drake, 6. Randi Pankratz, 7. Justin Dickerson, 8. Robert Carson, 9. Blake Brannon. 2:08.42
T.J. FORGED THIRD QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Kyle Jones, 2. Gary Taylor, 3. Thomas Meseraull, 4. Mitchel Moles, 5. Hayden Reinbold, 6. Josh Bilicki, 7. Preton Lattomus, 8. John Heydenreich, 9. C.J. Leary. 2:10.82
CAR IQ FOURTH QUALIFIER: (10 laps, passing points) 1. Chase McDermand, 2. Mariah Ede, 3. Kaylee Bryson, 4. Bryant Wiedeman, 5. Taylor Courtney, 6. Josh Hodge, 7. Keith Rauch, 8. Kevin Cook, 9. Chris Baue. NT
ELLIOTTS’ CUSTOM TRAILERS & CARTS SEMI: (12 laps, top-6 transfer to the feature) 1. Mitchel Moles, 2. Chelby Hinton, 3. Taylor Courtney, 4. Keith Rauch, 5. Daniel Whitley, 6. Weston Gorham, 7. Chris Baue, 8. Nick Drake, 9. Josh Bilicki, 10. Tommy Colburn, 11. John Heydenreich, 12. Kevin Cook, 13. Randi Pankratz, 14. Blake Brannon, 15. Preston Lattomus, 16. C.J. Leary, 17. Robert Carson, 18. Justin Dickerson, 19. Josh Hodge. NT
FEATURE: (30 laps, starting positions in parentheses) 1. Thomas Meseraull (2), 2. Taylor Reimer (4), 3. Chase McDermand (1), 4. Jacob Denney (7), 5. Buddy Kofoid (3), 6. Kameron Key (5), 7. Jade Avedisian (6), 8. Gary Taylor (8), 9. Kaylee Bryson (10), 10. Hayden Reinbold (14), 11. Mitchel Moles (17), 12. Bryant Wiedeman (15), 13. Daniel Whitley (21), 14. Jerry Coons Jr. (13), 15. Mariah Ede (16), 16. Chelby Hinton (18), 17. Kyle Jones (12), 18. Weston Gorham (22), 19. Keith Rauch (20), 20. Taylor Courtney (19), 21. Kevin Thomas Jr. (11), 22. Matt Westfall (9).