MESERAULL CHARGES TO WIN AT SHASTA RACEWAY PARK

By Floyd Busby

ANDERSON, CA., SEPT. 25: Thomas Meseraull did it the hard way, charging from his 13th starting position to win the Bay Cities Racing Association Midget feature in the "Pop Porter Memorial" at the Shasta Raceway Park in Anderson, CA., doing so after receiving a penalty.

Meseraull's spectacular win came amidst a letdown for the large partisan crowd who had come to watch local hero Michael Hubert III. The 16-year-old third generation driver, champion in the Legend cars at the track last season, thrilled his local supporters with a record qualifying run, but scratched before the feature when metal particles were found in his Gaerte Chevy following his heat race.

Tim Joyce led off the 40-lap feature aboard the Segur Ellis/Wirth Gaerte with Rob Lindsey jumping into second from the second row over dad Joe Lindsey and Steve Roza.

On the second round John Sarale and Pete Davis displaced Roza, then Davis passed Sarale two laps later.

On lap five the caution flag was thrown when Ryan Kaplan, Eric Mostin and visiting WMRA driver Brad Curtis tangled in the third turn. All three restarted.

On the next lap Rob Lindsey charged his Beast/Gaerte into the lead with Davis and Sarale moving in directly behind second-place Joyce. One lap later Davis spirited his Beast/Esslinger into second with Sarale's Beast Chevy following one lap later.

At this point Meseraull, who had been steadily moving forward on the 3/8-mile paved oval in the Bill Ferrari Beast/Esslinger, was up to fifth, then claimed fourth over Joyce one lap later. It took only one more lap to reign in and pass Sarale to hold third behind Lindsey and Davis.

Nearly following in Meseraull's footsteps was rookie Brian Gard, who moved his Borghasani Beast/Gaerte Chevy into fifth by the 13th round, then dropped Sarale to claim fourth on the 17th circuit.

At the halfway point Lindsey displayed his prowness on pavement with a steady lead as Meseraull nipped at the heels of Davis.

Sixth-running WMRA rookie standout Scott Walker ran up over the left rear of Sarale's mount, spinning into the turn-one infield to bring out the caution.

As the leaders paced the field, Mostin was charging his Beast/Gaerte from the rear after his earlier tangle, moving into the sixth slot on the 27th lap.

At this point the leaders began encountering slower cars. Meseraull took the opportunity to nudge by Davis for second on the 34th lap.

On the 37th round Lindsey drove low in turns three and four in an attempt to lap slower cars. As his left side wheels slightly dipped off-track into the earthen infield, he was forced to brake, resulting in a plume of dirt as he spun to a stop.

Meseraull was now the leader - or so it seemed. By way of the one-way radio communications from the scoring tower, referee Tom Manning directed scoring to set the new leader back two positions for having jumped the green following the earlier caution period, handing the lead to Davis with Gard second and Meseraull third.

The top three remained in position to complete the 37th lap, then the determined Meseraull picked off Gard, then Davis, to lead the 38th round.

At the finish point leader Meseraull took his second win of the season over Davis, Gard, Mostin, Sarale, Scott Pierovich, Roza, Joyce, Curtis, Greg Dennett, Joe Lindsey, Rob Lindsey, Kaplan and Cliff Servetti on the leader's lap.

With the BCRA Midgets making their first appearance since the speedway was enlarged, Michael Hubert III's time of 15.196 became an automatic Midget track record to the delight of his many fans.Meseraull came from the second row to grab the trophy dash over Hubert, Mostin and Curtis.

Floyd Alvis jumped into the lead to win the first heat over Cliff Servetti and Scott Pierovich. Meseraull claimed the second eight-lapper with a last turn pass to win by inches over John Sarale and Pete Davis.

SUMMARY: QUAL.: 1. Michael Hubert III, #56 Hubert 15.196 (Record); 2. Thomas Meseraull, #69 Ferrari 15.235; 3. Eric Mostin, #12 Mostin 15.279; 4. Brad Curtis, #12W Curtis 15.430; 5. Greg Dennett, #47 Dennett 15.500; 6. Ryan Kaplan, #21X Kaplan 15.544; 7. Pete Davis, #00 Davis 15.561; 8. Scott Walker, #34 Walker 15.563; 9. John Sarale, #32 Arata/Sarale 15.595; 10. Brian Gard, #57 Borghasani 15.642; 11. Rob Lindsey, #23 Lindsey 15.669; 12. Steve Rosa, #20 B. Roza 15.727; 13. Tim Joyce, #99 Segur 15.773; 14. Joe Lindsey, #23X Lindsey 15.803; 15. Scott Pierovich, #35 Pierovich 15.976; 16. Cliff Servetti, #83 Servetti 15.977; 17. Floyd Alvis, #18 Alvis 16.019; 18.
Eddie Abrew, #25 Abrew 16.128.

DASH: Meseraull, Hubert, Mostin, Curtis.
HEAT-1: Alvis, Servetti, Pierovich, Abrew, J. Lindsey, Roza, Gard, R. Lindsey, Joyce.
HEAT-2: Meseraull, Sarale, Davis, Kaplan, Curtis, Hubert, Walker, Dennett, Mostin.

MAIN: Thomas Meseraull, Pete Davis, Brian Gard, Eric Mostin, John Sarale, Scott Pierovich, Steve Roza, Tim Joyce, Brad Curtis, Greg Dennett, Joe Lindsey, Rob Lindsey, Ryan Kaplan, Cliff Servetti, Floyd Alvis, Eddie Abrew, Scott Walker, Michael Hubert III (NS).

LAP LEADERS: 1-5 Joyce, 6-36 R. Lindsey, 37 Davis, 38-40 Meseraull.

NOTES: Hubert's misfortune could play heavily on his chances for the '04 Rookie of the Year honors. He trailed Dennett by 40 points in the standings going into the event. This is the second engine that they have lost and the team hopes to be ready for the final two dirt races of the season. Gard's third place finish moved him to within striking distance of Hubert for third.

WMRA rookie Scott Walker drives the former Frank Guerrini Jr. BCRA pavement car.

After scratching from the feature, Hubert's crew solicited many of the other teams in hopes of securing a ride for Michael in the main event, but came up empty-handed.

The promotion of the raceway indicated that BCRA will be invited back next season. The track announcing duo of Gary Moore and Dave Tappan is among the most professional, informative and well-balanced that I have encountered in many years of officiating at 69 different tracks. The track also has one of the best pit speakers systems around.