Jason McDougal came out on top over Kevin Thomas Jr. in a thriller at the USAC NOS Energy Drink National Midget Series feature at Tri-State Speedway Saturday, with Kyle Cummins finishing third to give Toyota a top-three podium sweep for the night.
The victory is the second of the USAC season for McDougal and the Frank Manafort Racing team after winning at Jefferson County in July. It’s the 38th national midget feature win for a Toyota-powered driver in 2019.
It was Logan Seavey who took the lead at the green flag, though, with Thomas taking the second spot, followed by Tyler Courtney, McDougal, Cummins and Gio Scelzi.
Seavey would hold down the lead in the early going, while McDougal had moved up to into the top three would begin a battle for second with close friend and mentor Thomas. After trading the position for two laps, Thomas would hold on to the position as they began to close on Seavey for the lead.
Thomas would take over the point position on lap eight, with McDougal soon moving up to second, with an epic battle for the lead soon to follow. The two traded the lead over and over again, throwing slider after slider at one another before a yellow flag slowed the action with Thomas holding the top spot with 13 laps remaining.
On the restart, Thomas would move inside on McDougal heading through turn one and coming out of two, with the pair making slight contact, which opened the door for Thomas Meserault to dive to the inside of the lead pair and take the lead into turn three. McDougal would recover to retake the lead with a slider through turns three and four, only to see Meserault go back inside of him to officially lead lap 18.
The two would continue to exchange the top spot with Meserault leading laps 19 through 21, while Thomas was right on their tail in third. Finally, McDougal would dive inside of Meserault to take the lead into turn one. The two ran side-by-side down the back straight with Meserault on the inside, but as he slid through three and into four, he would get high and make contact with McDougal, with Meserault spinning and bringing out a yellow. He would restart from the back of the lead lap cars.
As the race returned to green flag action, McDougal would lead Thomas and Meserault’s RMS Racing teammate Cummins moving into third. At that point, McDougal took command of the race and eventually pulled out to almost a straight-away lead as he took the checkered flag in front of Thomas and Cummins. Courtney would finish fourth, followed by Justin Grant.
“That was some of the most fun I’ve had in racing,” relayed a victorious McDougal. “Racing like that with guys who you respect is just so much fun. Hats off to KTJ (Thomas) for racing us clean.”
Seavey would finish sixth, followed by Tucker Klaasmeyer, who recovered from a first-lap incident that left him upside down. Despite the late incident, Meserault would place eighth to give Toyota six of the top-eight finishers for the night.
Saturday night’s feature closed out the Midwest portion of the USAC schedule as the series heads west for the final six races of the season, beginning with a pair of races at the Arizona Speedway, Nov. 15-16.
Toyota Tri-State Speedway A Main Results
Jason McDougal – 1st
Kevin Thomas Jr. – 2nd
Kyle Cummins – 3rd
Logan Seavey – 6th
Tucker Klaasmeyer – 7th
Thomas Meserault – 8th
Tyler Thomas – 11th
Jerry Coons Jr. – 12th
Tanner Carrick – 17th
Karsyn Elledge – 18th
Gio Scelzi – 21st
Toyota Racing PR
