Thomas Meseraull took the lead on lap 26 of 30 and went on win Saturday’s POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League feature at the Lake Ozark Speedway. The victory comes in the first race for Meseraull and RMS Racing with Toyota.
With the triumph, Meseraull becomes the 14th different Toyota-powered driver to win a national midget feature race this year. Overall, the manufacturer has recorded 30 national feature wins in 2019.
Starting from the outside of the front row, Meseraull immediately went to the front, pacing the race for the initial five laps before the first caution waved, with Cannon McIntosh in second, followed by Zach Daum, Jesse Colwell, Jesse Love, Holley Hollan and Michael Pickens, Meseraull’s RMS teammate, in seventh.
On the ensuing restart, the 16-year-old McIntosh would overtake Meseraull for the lead as Meseraull fell back to second with Daum and Colwell in pursuit. The four drivers would prove to be the class of the field, maintaining the top four positions past the midway point and as the laps began to wind down.
McIntosh would lead through lap 25 in the pursuit of his first POWRi win and his second national feature win of the season with Meseraull in hot pursuit. That’s when things would change quickly as McIntosh’s night came to a sudden end with an incident on lap 26, resulting in a lengthy caution.
On the restart, Meseraull brought the field back to green and would never relinquish the lead on the way to the victory with Daum placing second, Colwell third, Tucker Klaasmeyer fourth, Pickens fifth, Hollan sixth and Tyler Thomas in seventh as Toyotas swept the top-seven finishing positions.
Also earning top-10 showings were Jesse Love in ninth and Hank Davis finishing tenth. Daison Pursley placed 11th, Maria Cofer was 13th and McIntosh rounded out the Toyota contingent in 15th.
Colwell remains the series point leader, with Daum gaining ten points in closing the margin to 280 points with 13 races remaining.
The POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget League returns to Lake Ozark Speedway Sunday for the second half of the weekend doubleheader.
Toyota Lake Ozark Speedway Results
Thomas Meseraull – 1st
Zach Daum – 2nd
Jesse Colwell – 3rd
Tucker Klaasmeyer – 4th
Michael Pickens – 5th
Holley Hollan – 6th
Tyler Thomas – 7th
Jesse Love – 9th
Hank Davis – 10th
Daison Pursley – 11th
Mario Cofer – 14th
Cannon McIntosh – 15th
POWRi Point Standings
1. Jesse Colwell – 4960
2. Zach Daum – 4680
3. Jake Neuman – 4190
4. Holley Hollan – 4160
5. Daison Pursley – 3940
*Toyota Drivers in Bold
Toyota Racing PR