Meseraull grabs first WRP win in 2010 on Toy Drive night

WAYNESFIELD, Ohio
September 4, 2010

by Gerry Keysor

When the gates opened at Waynesfield Raceway Park, a feeling of excitement was in the air. Between the 2nd Annual “Racing For Children With Cancer” Toy Drive, DARF representatives being in attendance, and an amazing field of cars in the pit area, the crowd knew right away it was going to be a great night of racing. Fans donated toys by the boxload for the youngsters fighting cancer at Nationwide Childrens Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, setting the stage for a very special night of racing at the 1/3 mile speedplant.

Kicking off feature action were the Lee's Hydraulics Non Wing Sprint Cars. The 33 Non Wing Warriors in the pit area were whittled down to 20 starter via preliminary action, and the field took the green flag with young #60 Kory Crabtree leading the first 6 laps from his starting spot outside row 1, before #54 “The Flyin' Buckeye” Matt Westfall began to make his move on Crabtree. While this was going on, #68 Jonathan Hendrick, #57 Thomas Meseraull, and #5J Joss Moffat were mixing it up in a tremendous battle for 3rd. Just when those three were closing on the leaders, Westfall and Crabtree came together, with Crabtree spinning in turn 2. Crabtree was able to keep his foot in the throttle and spin the car back around the right direction, but that move left Westfall with no room to avoid the front end of the #60, and Westfall ended up on his lid in a gentle rollover, bringing out the red flag, while Crabtree was able to keep rolling and drive away from the incident. Westfall's E&E Machine and Tool #54 was taken to the pit area, and with the quick work of his crew, was able to rejoin the field for the restart. When the race resumed, it didn't take long before things got wild again, with the #5J of Joss Moffat making heavy contact with the outside guardrail and bouncing back down the track right in front of the field. As the racers took evasive action, the Lee's Hydraulics sponsored #37k of Kyle Conaway got turned into the path of the #63 of Jim Dues, causing Dues to get upside down on the frontstretch, ending both drivers' race. During the red flag, Westfall's crew came onto the track and retrieved the #54, ending the night for the Lee's Hydraulics Non Wing Sprint points leader. When racing resumed, Kory Crabtree was able to pull away by a few car lengths from Thomas Meseraull who was feeling the pressure from Jonathan Hendrick. Hendrick, the winner of the 2nd Annual Jack Hewitt Classic back on August 7th, made his way past T-Mez on lap 13 to grab the 2nd spot. Meanwhile, the Team Fenner #34 driven by “The Ohio Hammer” Luke Hall, was locked in a tremendous battle with the #9N of Jon Nelson for the fourth spot. The two would battle side by side for several laps until lap 15, when Hall would get by for good. The battle up front went up in flames on lap 19 as T-Mez and Jonathan Hendrick began dueling once again. As the pair headed toward turns one and two, Meseraull threw the car into the corner with a masterful slide job that allowed the San Jose, CA native to bang off the cushion to grab the 2nd spot and set his sights on the race leader, Crabtree. On lap 20, T-Mez made his move powering by the #60 down the front straightaway. Hendrick also cleared Crabtree on lap 21, and mounted one final charge against Meseraull, but came up 5 car lengths short at the line. Meseraull, who wrapped up the 2010 Gas City(IN) I-69 Speedway track championship on Friday night, climbed from his car to a very appreciative crowd after picking up his first win at WRP in 2010, although he has been close to winning on several occasions. Before the celebration began, T-Mez immediately thanked track promoter Dean Miracle, saying “That track was AWESOME”. Hendrick would finish in the runner up spot, with Crabtree in 3rd, Luke Hall 4th, and Jon Nelson 5th. Heat races were won by #68 Jonathan Hendrick, #57 Thomas Meseraull, #60 Kory Crabtree, and #54 Matt Westfall. B Main was won by #2W Zac Osborn

Taking the Speedway next were the JR and Son's Service Center Compacts. 16 Compacts were in attendance to take part in the $300 to win “Compact Clash”, as Jerry Butler of JR and Sons Service Center in Jackson Center, and Kurt Frazier of Frazier's Garage in Ridgeway Ohio, put up the additional money for the mighty Compacts. As the green flag waved over the A Main, #77 Justin Pope, and #82 Harvey Yoder led the field out of turn 4. Immediately, #7 Ethan Pope, #31 Jeff Kimes, and #71 Nick Frazier began racing 2 and 3 wide, none of them giving an inch as they navigated by Yoder. Ethan Pope was the first to clear the battle and set his sight on his brother Justin, grabbing the lead on lap 4. Caution would wave on lap 5 for the stopped vehicle of #Nick Kelly on the inside of turn 1. Kelly was in a new ride this week after trashing the frame on the 7x vehicle he had been driving last weekend. The new car had a steep learning curve for Nick as the 15 year old had to learn how to drive a stick shift in just a couple hours before the racing action began. When racing resumed, it was Ethan Pope checking out on the field, grabbing the $300 win over #31 Jeff Kimes, #1S Mike Sawmiller, #17 Justin Durflinger, and #71 Nick Frazier. Heat races were won by #1S Mike Sawmiller, and #31 Jeff Kimes. Ethan Pope would win big later on as well, winning the awesome gift basket donated by Jerry and Travis Plunkett of J and T Photos. Ethan very unselfishly walked through the front of the grandstand and gave the contents of the gift baskets to some of our young fans at WRP, in one of the unselfish moves that makes our sport so wonderful. Thank you Ethan, for that awesome gesture!

Next up was the 20 lap A Main for the Miracle Motorsports Tuff Trucks. #1x Jerry Butler, and #1W Matt Twining would lead the 21 truck field to the green flag, with Twining jumping out to the early lead over Butler, #X Buzz Jacobs, #25G Gabe Twining, and #18N Darren Noffsinger. On lap 2, Gabe Twining nearly spun at the exit of turn 2, losing several spots, as he saved the truck and rejoined the field in 10th. #26 Jessica Nuss would bring out the caution on lap 3 as she would spin and rejoin the field. On the restart, #X Buzz Jacobs would pull along side Butler and challenge for the second spot. Butler showed his truck was better on a longer run as he pulled away from Jacobs and began to reel in race leader Matt Twining on lap 10 who had built a 15 truck length lead. As the leaders worked through lapped traffic, Butler closed in on “Fat Matt”. On lap 14, #2X of Russ Wagner and #7x Trent Mullen got together right in front of the leader, cutting down the left front tire on the 2X, sending him to the infield while racing continued. On lap 15, Butler closed to within a couple lengths of Twining, and was poised to make his move in traffic as disaster nearly struck the leader again, as the #01H of Randy Hamp and #43 of Dan Crowder got together in turn 4, bringing out the caution and nearly collecting Twining who was able to miss the wreck and keep rolling. On the restart, Twining was able to pull away from Butler by 6 truck lengths, and Butler would begin to close in once again, but laps would run out as the checkered flag waved over the Village Cafe #1W of Matt Twining, Butler would finish 2nd, Jacobs third, #71 Chris Hicks fourth, and #18N Darren Noffsinger would be fifth. Heat races were won by #X Buzz Jacobs, #25G Gabe Twining, and #1W Matt Twining.

As the Post Agri-Service UMP Modifieds hit the racetrack, the drivers and teams knew that this would be their last chance to get a feel for the Waynesfield clay before Big Dawg 100 weekend on Friday September 17th and Saturday September 18th. #28 Chad Rosenbeck and #20K Bill Keeler would lead the 20 car field to the green flag, with Rosenbeck grabbing the top spot over Keeler who would immediately have the #15 of Nick Katterhenry challenging for second. Katterhenry would clear Keeler on lap 2 and set his sights on Rosenbeck. On lap 4, #555 Justin Coulter would spin in turns 3 and 4, bringing out the caution. On the restart, Katterhenry would stick to the bumper of Rosenbeck, trying to show him a nose on the inside through the corners, but the young man from Versailles, Ohio maintained the lead. #44 Zach Schroeder would bring out the caution next on lap 8 as he spun in turn 2, making contact with the #36 of Brandon Vaughan, with Vaughan continuing on. Rosenbeck would continue to lead on the restart with Katterhenry close in tow. #40 Terry Hull, #16 Jim Haager, #45p Brian Post, #5x Jerry Bowersock, and #4s Andy Bishop all battled wheel to wheel for 3rd on back until lap 12 when #ZERO Brent Hole spins in turn 2. Hole would rejoin the field from the tail, but caution would immediately wave again for the spinning #18 in turns 1 and 2. On the restart, Bowersock made his way to the 5th spot and was closing on the battle for 3rd, until he suddenly slowed on the front stretch and nearly came to a stop in turns one and two, bringing out the caution before the car refired and Bowersock restarted from the tail. On the restart, Post, Haager and Bishop would start battling 3 wide for the third spot, which Bishop would grab. On lap 17, Bishop would get by Katterhenry for second and try to reel in Rosenbeck, but the E&R's Pub #28 would cross the line first, picking up their first feature win in 2010 at Waynesfield. #4S Andy Bishop would be second, #15 Nick Katterhenry third, #16 Jim Haager fourth, and #40 Terry Hull completing the top 5. Heat races were won by #16 Jim Haager, #5x Jerry Bowersock, and #4s Andy Bishop. B Main was won by #555 Justin Coulter.

Special thanks to Lynn Cook from DARF for being with us last night, and presenting the winning drivers with DARF memberships and T-shirts. Its always a pleasure having the folks from DARF at WRP.