Thomas Meseraull

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GETTING PHILOSOPHICAL WITH T-MEZ

By Ashley Zimmerman

THOMAS MESERAULL is primarily known for two things - a unique driving style that even he references as “leaving it all out on the track” and a leave-itall-out-there personality that garners nothing less than incredible interviews and insights. After a roller coaster ride of a Chili Bowl, TMez spared a few moments of shop time for Dirt Empire to answer a variety of racing questions for us. Nothing short of what could be dubbed as “on brand”, he answered each one with as much honesty and flare as fans witness on the racetrack.

DIRT EMPIRE (DE): After the strangeness of 2020, what are you most looking forward to in 2021?

TOM MESERAULL (TM): I’m definitely looking forward to chasing a USAC title with the RMS team in the midget. There’s also a new track in Indianapolis at Circle City, and they are going to do some Thursday night shows – which is exciting. Since I also have a wing car, I can go there and run whatever they have, too.

DE: Aside from racing with RMS for 2021, do you have any other plans on the race season schedule?

TM: Definitely still the same as last year. Running the 47 car; I was second last year at Kokomo in points, we missed winning by just a couple of points. Same as in previous years, the 00, it is kind of a field filler for me as far as just keeping me busy in between driving for Tom [Eades] and the RMS team. I always have a car sitting there with the wing and without a wing, so I’m always ready.

DE: Do you feel like you might have shocked people with your overall speed and performance early in 2021?

TM: I had a lot of people pumped about how we were running. Ya know, if I did shock them, they need to get used to

Photo: David Campbell

it. This RMS Racing is bringing nothing but the best, we’ve built all new cars, whatever we need, we get. These guys are the best, it’s a World of Outlaws caliber team racing USAC.

DE: Do you feel that it is beneficial as a driver to not have many moments of down time? Do you feel it is an advantage to have other cars you can hop in and go make laps; when others might be waiting for the next race on the schedule?

TM: I mean, the older I get, the more I realize at the racetrack, the guys that have more experience are the guys that I have to worry about. And, nowadays there’s not a lot of those people at the track, you know, so experience is everything. Racing for me, I’m trying to pay my bills, more nights at the track gives me more opportunities to make money. Racing is a gamble, and on average you only get half of the money won. When you have good nights, you

don’t have to worry about it. But, when you consistently have bad nights, that’s when it gets tough and affects your livelihood, at least in my situation. It helps drive me to the front. Right now, a lot of times, the guy I might be racing against doesn’t have to worry about feeding his two daughters, so I’m going to absolutely outrace him into the corner because I have to.

DE: You have a new teammate at RMS; Justin Grant. Do you feel having a teammate with the experience that Justin has is going to be beneficial for you?

TM: Oh absolutely, yeah. That’s a big part of the reason Justin is here, to make the entire team better; me included. He’s going to be a big asset, to see what kind of changes we need to make and how to make ourselves successful, to win, and to chase a USAC championship.

DE: Do you have any aspirations to run a winged sprint car more than you have?

TM: Oh, I would, if I had my choice to just go run, I’d go run with the All Stars. It’s just a matter of getting experience, but it seems to be a logical next step. Especially in terms of pay.

DE: You didn’t start on dirt with your racing career, what was it about

TM: I would have to say a win that means a lot to me is my win at Four Crown. It was my first national sprint car win, and to do it at Eldora was huge for me. One that I feel that got away was my first BC 39 at Indianapolis. We had a really good car, we led some laps. I ended up destroying the car trying to run up through holes. I didn’t do a good job of using my better judgement - I knew I had flat tires but I Photo: John Dadalt kept running the car like I didn’t think I open wheel racing that caught your was going to crash the car, and I did.

eye? DE: What are some of your worst or

TM: Originally, I had the pavement scariest wrecks? dream, the stock car dream, the NASCAR TM: I crashed the 66 car at Port Royal dream. In the late 90s, early 2000s, I and it was life changing. I literally don’t lost my ride, we blew up three motors remember names of people I was friends that year and I was just kind of sitting in with before that day. I didn’t really get limbo. This guy let me drive his midget, hurt, but I did, but I didn’t. I still raced and then I just kind of fell in love. I’m the next day, I shouldn’t have, but I did. I kind of the out of control over the top would be aiming to run the middle, and driver, that’s kind of what my courage I’d be on the high side. So, then I’d start is, trying to control the uncontrollable; running the bottom, so I would be in the setting up a dune buggy to go sideways. middle. I shouldn’t have raced the next I fell in love with sprint cars and the day. raw power. The changing conditions of the racetrack, the constant search for speed. I’ve found my home here in dirt I’m kind of the out racing. I’ve driven a lot of race cars, and of control over the there’s just nothing like it. DE: Aside from winning a USAC top driver.

championship, do you have any other major goals on your bucket list?

TM: I’d love to run a road course car. I’d love to do some Formula 1 stuff, some Formula 1 drifting. I’d love to do some professional drifting, they run courses at like Long Beach, Atlanta, and some other really cool tracks.

DE: Let’s spend some time revisiting your career overall. What is a win that means a lot to you? What is a

loss that still haunts you? Photo: Gregg Teel

Meseraull made a rare winged start in Australia in 2015 and would like to eventually run the All Star tour in America.

Photo: Brett Swanson

T-MEZ DRIFTING THROUGH LIFE

T-Mez has talked about his love of drifting. We have some video clips of his drifting antics. If you are easily offended by cars on asphalt, please avert your eyes.

POINT YOUR SMART CAMERA PHONE AT THE QR CODE ABOVE TO CHECK OUT THE VIDEO! DE: We’ve talked about the wins, the losses, and the wrecks. There’s only one thing left - what’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

TM: I broke my collarbone flipping a car at the Oval Nationals in California. I couldn’t drive for two weeks since all of my cars are manuals. I was in so much pain.

DE: Any rituals or superstitions when it comes to race day?

TM: I’m pretty superstitious about green. To the point where my girlfriend, my kids, they aren’t wearing green. I was always told green was bad luck back in the early years. They wouldn’t even carry money. Mostly, I just like to have a good start to the day, your attitude, your mindset, your mood when you get to the track is huge. My main ritual is after the races, we’re always in the truck and trailer, it’s late, and we can’t ever go anywhere. I stop at the gas station, I get a Lunchable, chocolate milk, water, a Coke, a thing of pickles, and a bag of chips. That’s my track food.

DE: You’ve mentioned drifting now a few times, what got you hooked on drift cars?

TM: It’s very grassroots, the way grassroots racing used to be, where you could actually go buy junkyard parts and go compete with what you built. It was the draw that I bought a little 240 Nissan, and I could pull the motor, put a V8 in it, and go drifting. If I needed parts, like brakes, I could go to the junkyard and get brakes off a Nissan 300. Need a rear rotor? You could get an inch bigger rear rotor off an Altima, and with the brackets off of that, you could make it work. I think that was really more what kind of drew me in, and then just being able to drive it. Drifting to me is kind of like flat tracking in a quad, you know, you’re just out there sideways, manhandling.

DE: Do you feel there are skills that you’ve acquired from drifting that have made you better in an open wheel car?

TM: Absolutely, it’s all about car control, it’s all about weight distribution. There this Japanese guy, because it all started in Japan on their tight little roads, he made a video called the “Drift Bible”. This whole video is about the fundamentals, gravity, and weight transfer, what you can do once you transfer weight to the corner, and it changed my whole outlook of what was possible. If you don’t know how to drive, whether it’s sprint cars, modifieds, or off road trucks, go watch that video. It’s fundamental.

DE: Any crazy “I’m about to die” moments in a drift car?

TM: I used to go out to the Speedrome, and they would have little drift days on the actual track. I was backwards on the layout that day, where I was coming through the infield, straight towards the exit of the track. I broke a spindle or tie rod on the right front wheel, it was going into it, as it was a left hander, and I plugged it into the gate right there. It wasn’t actually that bad, but I destroyed the car. Compared to crashing a sprint car, I was caged up, but it broke a part

and just straight into the fence.

DE: Where is the coolest place they’ve let you take a drift car?

TM: They let me drift the Indy Mile. It was probably five years ago. It was sketchy because it was so big. I don’t think I’ve ever been that fast on the dirt drifting. It was like third gear, probably 85-90 mph. I was in a Miata on dirt, it was crazy.

DE: Let’s get philosophical for a minute. Many know you had a more grassroots start to your racing career, so for those following a similar path or start, what kind of advice would you offer them?

TM: Be persistent, be kind, and don’t give up. Sometimes finding a ride, or finding the right people is an endurance race. You just gotta be there at the right time, right place. I feel like all of my friends that have kept after this, we got the bug, and we just never gave it up, and we never stopped searching for it. Guys like myself, Justin Grant, Robert Ballou, we didn’t move to the Midwest from California for anything but chasing our dreams.

DE: What is a life lesson that dirt track racing has taught you?

TM: Patience, gotta have patience in the racing part. With the open wheel cars, they’re so high horsepower, for me, it’s easy to overdrive the car. You got to keep your cool, you got to keep your patience when a guy cuts you off or slides you dirty. For me, if I don’t keep my patience, I’ll destroy something because I overdrove the car.

“Right now, a lot of times, the guy I might be racing against doesn’t have to worry about feeding his two daughters, so I’m going to absolutely outrace him into the corner because I have to.” - T-Mez

Photo: Mike Campbell

SHAWN COONEY, from Des Moines, Iowa held on tight in his number 301 Late Model as he was hit from behind during heat qualifying at Bristol Motor Speedway during the Bristol Dirt Nationals in March. Photos: Michael Boggs

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