MOSTIN SCORES SECOND LAKEPORT MIDGET WIN

By Floyd Busby

LAKEPORT, CA., JULY 3: Eric Mostin raced to victory on his hometown track, the Lakeport Speedway, in the Bay Cities Racing Association Midget feature at the 16th Annual Kelseyville Lumber Deake Lyndall Memorial.

Mostin backed up his earlier win at the Clear Lake resort fairgrounds quarter-mile paved oval to score his second career BCRA victory in his second season on the circuit. He drove the family Gaerte powered Beast to the 30-lap victory in the crowd-standing hard-fought battle.

Three-time BCRA champion Glenn Carson led off the feature from the pole with fourth-starting Thomas Meseraull darting into second on the first lap over outside front row starter Steve Roza as Mostin charged to fourth from his sixth starting berth.

The only caution to slow the quick-paced event came on the second lap when Cliff Servetti's Custom Engine Stealth/Gaerte was nudged from behind and he spun toward the wall.

The race quickly evolved into the "haves and have-nots" as Michael Hubert III moved into the fray and the front-five pulled from the pack to compete for the lead.

On lap-four Hubert's Gaerte Chevy/Beast slipped by Mostin for fourth, then displaced Roza's Esslinger/Stewart for third one lap later.

Meseraull, driving the Bill Ferrari Brayton Ford/Beast, applied pressure on Carson, taking the lead from the Bock Esslinger/Stealth on the fifth circuit. Lap-nine saw both Hubert and Mostin drop Carson to fourth as Brian Gard broke from the second echelon to enter the leading pack, dropping Roza to sixth on the tenth round.

At this point Meseraull seemed to be in complete control of the race, setting a blistering pace in hopes of putting behind his five second-place finishes to claim his first win of the season. Hubert ran second over Mostin with Gard's Borghesani Kelseyville Lumber Gaerte Chevy/Beast now claiming fourth. Roza moved back up to fifth at Carson's expense.

Veteran Meseraull continued his lead over the three youngsters, two of which are vying for the '04 rookie honors. Mostin, finding the high groove to his liking, challenged Hubert for second for several laps, making good his claim on the 18th circuit and immediately began putting pressure on Meseraull.

Mostin moved alongside Meseraull on several occasions, but fell back, later stating, "I knew I couldn't pass Meseraull coming out of the turns with his car drifting wide, so I knew that I had to pass him going into the turns".

That is the method that the 22-year old driver used and it worked for him on the 22nd lap. "Meseraull had to back off for a lapped car on the lower part of the track and it gave me an opportunity to overtake him on the high side through turns three and four", he stated.

Clearly in the lead to the partisan crowd's delight, Mostin throttled through the remainder of the race as the battle for second grew more intense. Rookies Hubert and Gard circled the oval battling each other while both applying pressure on Meseraull. On the 26th lap Gard, from nearby Kelseyville, inched by Hubert for third.

At the finish Mostin took the win with Meseraull narrowly claiming his sixth second-place finish over Hubert and Gard. Roza finished his career-best in fifth over trophy dash winner John Sarale, Ryan Kaplan, Jim Silva, Carson and Pete Davis completing the 30-lap distance with six lapped cars in the mix.

Meseraull, disappointed that he did not win his first race of the season, simply stated, "The fastest car won".

Ryan Kaplan outqualified the 19-car field, driving the Mr. Espresso/Ardent Winery entry.

John Sarale took the trophy dash over Gard, Silva and Kaplan. Floyd Alvis won the first heat over Tim Joyce and Joe Lindsey with Mostin taking the second ten-lapper ahead of Gard and Hubert.

SUMMARY:

QUAL: 1. Ryan Kaplan, #4 Rosen 12.265; 2. Jim Silva, #18 Chandler 12.299; 3. John Sarale, #32 Arata/Sarale 12.305; 4. Brian Gard, #57 Borghesani 12.317; 5. Eric Mostin, #12 Mostin 12.337; 6. Michael Hubert III, #56 Hubert 12.384; 7. Thomas Meseraull, #69 Ferrari 12.387; 8. Cameron Beard, #1 Beard 12.432; 9. Steve Roza, #20 Roza 12.452; 10. Glenn Carson, #26 Bock 12.456; 11. Pete Davis, #00 Davis 12.647; 12. Greg Dennett, #47 3D Racing 12.677; 13. Cliff Servetti, #83 Custom Engine 12.721; 14. Tim Joyce, #99 Segur 12.796; 15. Eddie Abrew, #25 Abrew 12.984; 16. Floyd Alvis, #18 Alvis 13.020; 17. Joe Lindsey, #23X Lindsey 13.161; 18. Scott Pierovich, #35
Pierovich 13.484; 19. Mike Donaldson, #87 Donaldson 14.016.

TROPHY DASH: Sarale, Gard, Silva, Kaplan.

HEAT-1: Alvis, Joyce, Lindsey, Abrew, Servetti, Dennett, Carson, Davis, Donaldson, Pierovich.
HEAT-2: Mostin, Gard, Hubert, Meseraull, Beard, Sarale, Roza, Silva, Kaplan.

MAIN: Eric Mostin, Thomas Meseraull, Brian Gard, Michael Hubert III, Steve Roza, John Sarale, Ryan Kaplan, Jim Silva, Glenn Carson, Pete Davis, Greg Dennett, Cliff Servetti, Eddie Abrew, Floyd Alvis, Scott Pierovich, Joe Lindsey, Cameron Beard, Tim Joyce.

LAP LEADERS: 1-4 Carson, 5-21 Meseraull, 22-30 Mostin.