CANTON, ILL. (April 20, 2019) – Going where nobody else dared on Saturday night, Thomas Meseraull worked a treacherous and fine line around the top-side of turns one and two at Spoon River Speedway and stormed by Korey Weyant, Colten Cottle and Jarett Andretti to steal his first-career POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League victory. In thrilling T-Mez fashion, he capped the night with a broken front end due to a broken steering gear bolt during his wicked set of celebratory donuts.
A stout field of 29 WAR Sprints set the scene for the season opener at Spoon River, a much-anticipated event following a series of four consecutive rain outs that hampered the beginning of a new season. Wesley Smith (Hinchman Racewear Heat 1), Logan Faucon (Bell Helmets Heat 2), Korey Weyant (Schure Built Suspension Heat 3) and Thomas Meseraull (Wilwood Disc Brakes Heat 4) got the night rolling with preliminary wins.
Come feature time, Colten Cottle of Kansas, Illinois landed the pole position courtesy of his LRB, Inc. #HighPointMan honors and a zero draw for the feature inversion. With Mario Clouser of Auburn, Illinois to his outside, Cottle nor Clouser commanded the opening circuit as third-starter, Korey Weyant, snuck by them on the bottom and into the race lead.
Weyant and Cottle ran out front in the early running, but Jarett Andretti quickly maneuvered by Cottle into the second spot and set his sights on Weyant for the lead. By halfway, Andretti was hounding Weyant and finally made his move on lap 15 with a side-by-side move down the frontstretch.
Andretti assumed the lead on lap 16, but the battle was only beginning. With Andretti, Weyant and Thomas Meseraull going nearly three-wide, the Spoon River fans were treated to an epic mid-race brawl for the top spot. Meseraull made his presence felt on lap 18 with a high-side pass around both Weyant and then Andretti to move his No. 00 to the point.
A lap 19 caution abruptly brought the fiery action to a screeching halt and re-stacked the field with six laps to go. However, nobody offered a match to Meseraull’s run out front and T-Mez of San Jose, California snagged his first-career POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League victory at Spoon River Speedway.
Rounding out the podium along with Meseraull was Jarett Andretti in the Window World No. 18 with a second-place finish and Colten Cottle aboard the Cottle Flooring No. 5C. Closing out the top five was Wesley Smith in the Helm Racing No. 12 with a fourth-place result and Mario Clouser in the Yokahoma Tires No. 6 in fifth.
On tap next for the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League is a Missouri doubleheader in two weeks. A Friday, May 3 show at Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Mo. will lead into a Saturday, May 4 event at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo.
For more information on the POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League you can follow @WARSprints on Twitter, @WARSprints on Instagram, “like” POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprints on Facebook, or visit www.powri.com online.
Hinchman Racewear Heat One (8 Laps):
- 12-Wesley Smith, Nixa, MO (2); 2. 18-Jarett Andretti, Mooresville, NC (5); 3. 6B-Andy Baugh, Mason City, IL (3); 4. 22-Koby Barksdale, Norman, OK (1); 5. 90-Riley Kreisel, Warsaw, MO (8); 6. 54-Trey Gropp, Lincoln, NE (7); 7. 51-Brent Burrows, Lewistown, IL (4); 8. 73-Samuel Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (6).
Bell Racing USA Heat Two (8 Laps):
- 52F-Logan Faucon, Elkhart, IL (1); 2. 16-Anthony Nicholson, Bartlett, TN (3): 3. 77K-Katlynn Leer, Moulton, IA (4); 4. 56-Mitchell Davis, Auburn, IL (5); 5. 2A-Austin Archdale, Brimfield, IL (2); 6. 4-Braydon Cromwell, Lone Jack, MO (6), 7. 38-Chet Williams, Newburgh, IN (DNS).
Schure Built Suspension Heat Three (8 Laps):
- 99-Korey Weyant, Springfield, IL (3); 2. 6-Mario Clouser, Auburn, IL (6); 3. 1-Mitch Wissmiller, Saybrook, IL (4); 4. 22S-Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (1); 5. 57-TJ Artz, Lincoln, NE (7); 6. 28X-Brandon Mattox, Terre Haute, IN (5); 7. 31-Austin Sears, Macomb, IL (2).
Wilwood Disc Brakes Heat Four (8 Laps):
1 00-Thomas Meseraull, San Jose, CA (3); 2. 5C-Colten Cottle, Kansas, IL (7); 3. 28-Kory Schudy, Springfield, MO (5); 4. 77-Jack Wagner, Lone Jack, MO (4); 5. 8D-Justin Standridge, Springfield, IL (2); 6. 14J-Jadon Rogers, Worthington, IN (6); 7. 45-Eric Perrott, Sumner, IL (1).
Hoosier Tire B-Main (12 Laps):
- 22-Koby Barksdale (1); 2. 22S-Slater Helt (2); 3. 8D-Justin Standridge (5); 4. 14J-Jadon Rogers (7); 5. 54-Trey Gropp (3); 6. 51-Brent Burrows (10); 7. 28X-Brandon Mattox (8); 8. 4-Braydon Cromwell (6); 9. 73-Samuel Wagner (13); 10. 2A-Austin Archdale (4); 11. 31-Austin Sears (11); 12. 38-Chet Williams (DNS); 13. 45-Eric Perrott (12).
POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League Main Event (25 Laps):
- 00-Thomas Meseraull (4); 2. 18-Jarett Andretti (5); 3. 5C-Colten Cottle (1); 4. 12-Wesley Smith (6); 5. 6-Mario Clouser (2); 6. 90-Riley Kreisel (12); 7. 99-Korey Weyant (3); 8. 57-TJ Artz (15); 9. 8D-Justin Standridge (19); 10. 22S-Slater Helt (18); 11. 28-Kory Schudy (9); 12. 77-Jack Wagner (16); 13. 6B-Andy Baugh (13); 14. 56-Mitchell Davis (14); 15. 16-Anthony Nicholson (8); 16. 14J-Jadon Rogers (20); 17. 77K-Katlynn Leer (10); 18. 52F-Logan Faucon (7); 19. 1-Mitch Wissmiller (11); 20. 22-Koby Barksdale (17).
Lap Leader(s): Weyant 1-15, Andretti 16-17, Meseraull 18-25.
Hard Charger(s): Standridge +10.