POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (June 11, 2018) – One issue with competing in multiple racing series, as Chris Dyson is in 2018, is date conflicts. With Dyson committed to racing his Plaid Ford Mustang this weekend in the 4th round of the Trans Am Series Championship on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Thomas Meseraull will take the wheel of CD Racing’s new #20 sprint car for the six-race USAC Eastern Storm series that begins Thursday evening at Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville, PA and runs for the next five evenings in eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Upstate New York.
“I’d have loved to do the Eastern Storm this year, but I’m running for the Trans Am championship and can’t afford to miss any of those races,” said Dyson, who has one win and a second place in the three series races so far. He is currently a close second in the point standings. “It didn’t make sense to do the first Eastern Storm race, skip the next three and then do the last two. Last year Sean Michael, who prepares my sprint, midget and Silver Crown cars, ran Thomas Meseraull in the Eastern Storm and they won a race, had a second place and ran well in the other three races.
“I spoke with Sean and we both thought it would make sense to have Thomas drive our car this year. We were pleased that he was available,” Dyson said. “The Eastern Storm offers excellent visibility for our commercial branding partners, and we want to take advantage of that.”
This will be the first outing for the new CD Racing sprint car that Michael has built around a Maxim frame. “This car is pretty close to the one we ran last year in the Eastern Storm, with a few improvements I was able to make,” Michael said. “Thomas did a great job for me last year running against all the USAC regulars and I expect he’ll do the same for Chris and me this time.”
I’m tickled to be able to drive this car,” Meseraull said. “Sean doesn’t cut any corners. He builds as good a car as anyone in any series. That’s a big advantage.”
Meseraull said that unlike competitors who bring a spare car along, he will need to temper his aggression with a bit of discretion. “It’s a fine line. If you want to win you’ve got to be aggressive, but if you tear up the car you have to fix it before then next race, you can’t just roll the spare out of the trailer.”
Michael noted that even without any major incidents, running six races in six nights demands a lot from the team. “At the end of the night, we clean the car and then get to bed right away, so we can get as much sleep as we can. In the morning we do whatever work we need to on the car and then get on the road to the next race.”
Dyson and Michael plan to contest a variety of winged and non-winged sprint car events together this summer and fall, following the USAC Eastern Storm swing.
“The Eastern Storm was a perfect spur for us to kick off the sprint car part of CD Racing, and I am confident that Sean and Thomas will have a competitive week of racing, with the #20 right up front and in the mix at all the races,” Dyson said. “I will be checking in with them the whole time I am in Indy. And I am hopeful that I will be able to attend one of the final rounds of the Eastern Storm. It’s sure going to be an action-packed week for CD Racing.”