T-MEZ” Celebrates the 4th with an Angell Park Victory

Thomas Messeraull Photo courtesy of Quinn McCabe

By Quinn McCabe
July 4, Sun Prairie, WI– The second half of the doubleheader weekend for the Badger Midget Series culminated at the Fireman’s Angell Park Speedway Sunday, in front of another impressive crowd.

The action started with Schoenfeld Headers Qualifying, where current series point leader Chase McDermand grabbed top honors. Auto Meter Heat 1 went to Zach Boden and San Jose California’s “T-Mez” Thomas Messeraull wowed the crowd as he went from worst to first to capture the win in Simpson Race Products Heat 2. McDermand picked up the win in Behling Racing Equipment Heat 3 and Lamont Critchett rebounded from his Beaver Dam struggles to claim the Madison Extinguisher Services Non-Qualifier race. Springfield, Illinois driver Kevin Battefeld scored his first win at Angell Park Speedway by claiming top honors in the B-Main and advancing to the evening’s A-Main.

The fans were expecting a post-race fireworks extravaganza, and were treated to one of the best ground shows you’ll see all season. Kyle Stark and Adam Taylor led the field to the green flag with Stark getting the opening advantage. Stark was never able to get comfortable while leading as he faced heavy fire right from the onset. The five-time series champion Scott Hatton worked past Taylor and immediately began applying pressure to the young gun by working the bottom side of the racetrack. Hatton was able to slip by for half a lap, but Stark would power his way back and run wheel to wheel with the veteran. While the leaders were duking it out, there was a hornet’s nest of action taking place from third on the back, and right on the leader’s tails. Andy Baugh, McDermand, Jeff Zelinski, Sean Murphy, T-Mez, Taylor, and Zach Boden were all locked together swapping spots sometimes four wide, without losing ground to the lead duo. Stark was able to wrestle the lead back from Hatton which sent him into the fray of hungry competitors trying to move up. Zelinski, the winner a night earlier, jumped into 2nd around Hatton before giving it up to T-Mez and Baugh. T-Mez and Stark went to war swapping the lead several times before T-Mez was able to secure the spot with a slider in two. McDermand worked his way through the pack to climb into the second spot. A late race red bunched the field together for one final restart. When the green flew, T-Mez received a tremendous launch from his Ray Honda which opened his lead by several car lengths. McDermand finished second, adding to his current point lead, followed by Hatton, Murphy, and Stark.

The Badger Midgets will be in action just once next Saturday night at Sycamore Speedway before gearing up for the first-ever “Three for All” on July 15, 16, and 17. A three-race mini-series crowning its own champion. Teams will compete at Gravity Park and Tomahawk for the first time ever before crowning the “Three for All” champion at the Bryan Gapinski 25 at Angell Park Speedway.

Howard Law Cash Draw Winner: Jake Dohner

Advanced Racing Suspension Hard Charger: RJ Corson

Badger Midget Series Points: 1. Chase McDermand 713; 2. Zach Boden 520; 3. Kevin Olson 507; 4. Lamont Critchett 481; 5. Andy Baugh 417; 6. Scott Hatton 417; 7. Mike Stroik 393; 8. Kyle Stark 381 9. Kyle Koch 348; 10. Cody Weisensel 339
Badger Midgets 29 Entries
Lap Leaders: Scott Hatton 1-4, Kyle Stark 5-10, Thomas Meseraull 11-25

A Feature 25 Laps | 11:23.174

1. 18X-Thomas Meseraull[8]; 2. 40-Chase McDermand[9]; 3. 5X-Sean Murphy[4]; 4. 1-Scott Hatton[3]; 5. 2-Kyle Stark[1]; 6. 51-Zach Boden[7]; 7. 7T-Adam Taylor[2]; 8. 19E-Daltyn England[11]; 9. 5K-Kevin Douglas[13]; 10. 15C-RJ Corson[22]; 11. 87-Jake Dohner[17]; 12. 6-Jeremy Douglas[19]; 13. 71-Kyle Koch[20]; 14. 6B-Andy Baugh[5]; 15. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[14]; 16. 14-Lamont Critchett[18]; 17. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[6]; 18. 21K-Kurt Mayhew[12]; 19. 42-Kevin Battefeld[16]; 20. 98-Jordan Nelson[21]; 21. 9K-Kevin Olson[10]; 22. 9S-Mike Stroik[15]
B Feature 12 Laps | 3:48.767 | High Performance Lubricants

1. 42-Kevin Battefeld[1]; 2. 87-Jake Dohner[9]; 3. 14-Lamont Critchett[6]; 4. 6-Jeremy Douglas[2]; 5. 71-Kyle Koch[3]; 6. 98-Jordan Nelson[4]; 7. 15C-RJ Corson; 8. 8-Jake Goeglein[5]; 9. 10-Denny Smith[7]; 10. 29-Harrison Kleven[8]; 11. 4-Brad Hensen[12]; 12. (DNS) 28-Jim Fuerst; 13. (DNS) 31-Shay Sassano
Non Qualifier 8 Laps | 4:11.830 | Madison Extinguisher Service

1. 14-Lamont Critchett[5]; 2. 10-Denny Smith[4]; 3. 29-Harrison Kleven[3]; 4. 4-Brad Hensen[7]; 5. 87-Jake Dohner[2]; 6. 28-Jim Fuerst[6]
Heat 1 10 Laps | 5:29.990 | Auto Meter

1. 51-Zach Boden[7]; 2. 5X-Sean Murphy[6]; 3. 7T-Adam Taylor[5]; 4. 9S-Mike Stroik[1]; 5. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr[2]; 6. 18-Tyler Roth[4]; 7. 8-Jake Goeglein[3]
Heat 2 10 Laps | 3:06.168 | Simpson

1. 18X-Thomas Meseraull[7]; 2. 6B-Andy Baugh[6]; 3. 5K-Kevin Douglas[2]; 4. 9K-Kevin Olson[4]; 5. 1-Scott Hatton[5]; 6. 6-Jeremy Douglas[1]; 7. 98-Jordan Nelson[3]
Heat 3 10 Laps | 3:05.984 | Behlings Racing Equipment

1. 40-Chase McDermand[7]; 2. 2-Kyle Stark[4]; 3. 21K-Kurt Mayhew[2]; 4. 19E-Daltyn England[3]; 5. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski[6]; 6. 42-Kevin Battefeld[5]; 7. 71-Kyle Koch[1]
Qualifying | Schoenfeld Headers

1. 40-Chase McDermand, 15.020[28]; 2. 18X-Thomas Meseraull, 15.051[29]; 3. 51-Zach Boden, 15.105[13]; 4. 15Z-Jeff Zelinski, 15.112[10]; 5. 6B-Andy Baugh, 15.354[16]; 6. 5X-Sean Murphy, 15.487[22]; 7. 42-Kevin Battefeld, 15.603[21]; 8. 1-Scott Hatton, 15.649[23]; 9. 7T-Adam Taylor, 15.798[18]; 10. 2-Kyle Stark, 15.862[24]; 11. 9K-Kevin Olson, 15.929[17]; 12. 18-Tyler Roth, 15.968[2]; 13. 19E-Daltyn England, 15.998[8]; 14. 98-Jordan Nelson, 16.090[20]; 15. 8-Jake Goeglein, 16.164[4]; 16. 21K-Kurt Mayhew, 16.168[15]; 17. 5K-Kevin Douglas, 16.271[3]; 18. 40JR-Dave Collins Jr, 16.373[26]; 19. 71-Kyle Koch, 16.399[1]; 20. 6-Jeremy Douglas, 16.554[14]; 21. 9S-Mike Stroik, 16.555[6]; 22. 28-Jim Fuerst, 16.836[27]; 23. 14-Lamont Critchett, 16.843[5]; 24. 10-Denny Smith, 16.933[9]; 25. 4-Brad Hensen, 17.499[7]; 26. 29-Harrison Kleven, 17.657[25]; 27. 15C-RJ Corson, 17.657[11]; 28. 87-Jake Dohner, 17.657[12]; 29. 31-Shay Sassano, 17.657[19]