Meseraull Wins Twice on His Birthday;
Roberts, Fincher and Headley Jr. Also Take Checkereds
As Gas City I-69 Speedway Kicks Off Its 2021 Season
GAS CITY, Ind., May 8 – Thomas Meseraull of Waveland, Ind., celebrated his 40th birthday in victory lane following both the 25-lap non-wing sprint car feature and the 20-lap USAC Midget Cup series feature Friday night as Gas City I-69 Speedway opened its 2021 season.
Following a bizarre lap 19, Bub Roberts of Warren, Ind., got the lead for the second time on the 20th and final lap to win the modified feature. Mike Fincher of Rochester, Ind., had a bit more padding, as he led the final two laps to win the 15-lap street stock feature. A familiar name was in victory lane following the 15-lap hornet feature, as James Headley Jr. of Wabash, Ind., won that main event after a spirited battle with Nick Edwards of Marion, Ind., who was making his first start in the No. 02.
Scotty Weir of Marion, Ind., got the best of polesitter Clinton Boyles of Brownsburg, Ind. at the start of the sprint feature before Boyles flipped the famous Paul Hazen No. 57 in Turn 4 before one lap of the sprint feature was in the books. Luckily the rest of the field missed him and the former track champion crawled out unhurt.
Weir led the first seven laps, holding off Ricky Lewis of Ventura, Calif. first, then Zack Pretorius of Yorktown, Ind., and finally Meseraull, who passed Pretorius for second on lap six. Meseraull charged to the outside of Weir in Turn 4 working lap eight and led the rest of the way. His rivals had another chance on a restart following a red for Harley Burns of Brazil, Ind., who flipped between Turns 3 and 4 with nine laps down. Luckily he was unhurt too.
Jason McDougal of Turtletown, Okla., who originally lined up beside Meseraull in row three in the 24-car field in the Michael Dutcher Motorsports No.17GP, passed Weir on lap 16 and went on to finish second, 3.263 seconds after Meseraull took the checkered. Meseraull also set the fastest lap of the race on lap 11 with a time of 12.168 seconds for the quarter-mile dirt oval. He was in the Don Whitney Racing No. 00 Hawk/Stensland, which advertises Stensland Racing Engines and Shop.TMez.myshopify.com.
Weir held on for third followed by Shane Cottle of Kansas, Ill. Garrett Aitken of Paris, Ill., started 24th and last but finished fifth.
The USAC Midget Cup feature, which was for open midgets, SpeeD2 midgets and 1,000cc mini-sprints, had a flip before one lap was in the books just like the sprint car feature did. This time it was Greg Mitchell of Washington, W.Va., who caught a tractor tire on the inside of Turn 4 near the frontstretch and flipped, but emerged under his own power.
Young Emerson Axsom of Franklin, Ind., led from lap one through lap 14, when Adam Taylor of DeMotte, Ind. flipped in Turn 2 while running tenth. Meseraull, who had started 16th after qualifying by winning the B-main, passed Axsom for the lead on the outside of Turn 4 on lap 15 after the restart and never looked back. His margin of victory over Axsom was 1.633 seconds with the RMS Racing/EnviroFab/Guess Performance Parts Spike/Speedway Toyota No. 7X.
Cottle, who like Meseraull was driving in both the sprint and midget divisions, finished third. Jarett Andretti of Indianapolis finished fourth and Chett Gehrke of Bardtown, Ky., rounded out the top five.
Roberts led the first 14 laps of the 20-lap modified feature before Todd Sherman of Churubusco, Ind., got around him using the outside groove. Dylan Woodling of Warsaw, Ind., passed Roberts for second on lap 16.
With just one lap to go, however, there was contact between Woodling and Sherman in Turn 4 which caused Sherman to spin and Woodling to flip on the frontstretch, collecting Nick Richards too. All were uninjured.
That accident put Roberts at the head of the field for the one-lap shootout, and he went on to win. Garrett Rons of Livonia, Mich., finished second followed by Tim Monroe of Elmwood, Ill.; Tony Anderson of Lima, Ohio, and Cole Sink of Fort Wayne, Ind. Sherman had to go to the back of the field for the restart but he still finished seventh, right behind Bill Griffith of Van Buren, Ohio.
Fincher chased Gerald Mullenix of Marion, Ind., for 13 laps of the 15-lap street stock feature before he made the winning move under him on the frontstretch. Dalton Bishop of Gas City finished third followed by his father, Andy, also of Gas City, and Jason Fritz of Winamac, Ind. Fincher’s winning No. 79, a Venom chassis, is sponsored by S&S Bait and Tackle, Bontrager Overhead Door and Paul Family Enterprises.
Headley Jr. started fifth in the 15-lap hornet feature and had to pass Edwards twice before he could take the checkered flag. Edwards pulled into the infield at the end with mechanical difficulties and Brandon Lines of Marion, Ind., emerged with the runner-up honors. Polesitter Greg Marlow of Greentown, Ind., was third followed by Josh Edwards and the Silver Bullet, Eric Solms of Fairmount, Ind.
Headley Jr.’s No. 00 is sponsored by Dudding’s Heating and Cooling, Garriott Electric, Edwards Automotive and TJR Trucking, among other companies.
In preliminary action Carl Peterson of Waterford, Wis., flipped in Turn 4 with two laps down in the third midget heat. Joe Wiggins of Jonesboro, Ind., was transported to a local hospital with unknown injuries after a crash with Maygin Collis of Greenfield, Ind., in Turn 2 with five laps down in the first street stock heat.
The event was delayed about 90 minutes due to rain.
The track’s next show is “Who’s the Boss?” this coming Friday night, May 14. It will feature the Buckeye Outlaw Sprint Series (BOSS) non-wing sprint cars. The winner of that feature will take home $2,000, and even last place will pay $300 to start. The ground-pounding modifieds will also be in action, as will the exciting street stock and hornet divisions.
Other big shows coming up this month at Gas City include the Flo Racing All Star Circuit of Champions winged sprint cars and TQ midgets on Saturday night, May 22, and a Memorial Day Tribute on Friday, May 28. The latter will showcase non-wing sprint cars, modifieds, street stocks and hornets.
The complete schedule for 2021 and more information is on the track’s website at GasCityI69Speedway.com. Fans and competitors can also follow it on Twitter: @GasCitySpeedway; Instagram: @GasCitySpeedway and Facebook: GasCitySpeedwayOnTheGas.
Gas City I-69 Speedway is located on State Road 22, approximately a half-mile west of I-69, exit 259. The quarter-mile dirt oval is about halfway between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, and attracts drivers and fans from all over the Midwest.
Photo credit: Indy Racing Images
