Kokomo — Awesome. Incredible. Wow.

Those are but three words that could describe the Omni-Source Corporation Sprint Car Series feature event in the Vince Osman Memorial Sunday night at the Kokomo Speedway.

The driver who made the above-mentioned adjectives possible was California driver Thomas Meseraul after a stirring charge led him to his first career win at the local oval.

Piloting Paul Hazen’s Bud’s Auto Sales/Geiger Seamless Guttering/Kercher Engines No. 57, Meseraul overcame at least two obstacles in recording the thrilling win.

Meseraul started the 30-lap feature event outside the 10th row with a stellar field of cars on hand. All but one of those cars began the feature in front of him, but on this night, Meseraul was a driver on a mission.

“I wanted this one,” said Meseraul. “I’ve been close here before and I wasn’t going to let this one get away. I love racing for [Hazen] and I really love the Kokomo Speedway and getting the chance to race here.”

Prior to the feature, things looked bleak at best for the driver who signed into Kokomo on the heels of wrapping up the 2010 track title at Gas City on Friday night, then a feature win at Waynesfield (Ohio) Motorsports Park on Saturday. Early on Sunday, it appeared that Meseraul’s good fortune had run out after failing to transfer to the feature through his heat race, then struggling to make it in through one of two B-mains, finishing in the final transfer spot.

Second-year driver J.J. Hughes started outside the front row and led the opening lap before Billy Puterbaugh Jr. shot past both Scotty Weir and Hughes on the second lap to snare the lead.

For the next 17 circuits, Puterbaugh held the point but was under heavy pressure by Weir. Meanwhile, while Puterbaugh, Weir, Hughes and Casey Shuman were battling for the lead, Meseraul was methodically picking his way to the front, cracking the top-10 on the 11th lap.

By the 19th lap he had moved past Shuman and settled into third behind Puterbaugh and Weir, hammering the cushion lap after lap while the front two were running the bottom.

On the 23rd lap, a crazy turn of events took place that could have easily changed the complexion of the race.

It appeared that some track officials had given the one-lap-to-go signal to the field, however the caution lights were still on around the track. When the pace truck pulled off the track, Weir, who had taken the lead from Puterbaugh on the 19th lap, began to accelerate off turn four to bring the field to life.

Upon seeing that flagman Jim Winnington had not waved the green, he checked up which resulted in Puterbaugh running over his left rear tire. The contact flattened Weir’s left rear as well as Puterbaugh’s right front.

Track officials determined that since the incident was due to miscommunication between them, both drivers could retain their positions if repairs could be made to their respective machines.

Following a lengthy delay, both drivers returned to the fray with mixed emotions from the crowd.

Meseraul made any possible controversy a mute point, though, as he took the lead from Weir with five to go. Weir countered on the next lap and held the lead until the 27th lap when Meseraul again shot by up high. On the final lap, after a bobble by Meseraul, both Weir and Shuman got by, however Meseraul got a good run off turn two and a great run around the cushion through three and four to sweep by the former track champion, Weir, much to the delight of the big crowd.

“I feel like I had to win this race twice,” said Meseraul. “I don’t think those guys should have gotten their positions back. That’s racing. But I’m not a crybaby. You didn’t see me out there complaining, I just did what I had to do. I was determined to win this race.”

Weir finished second and Shuman third. Quick-qualifier Caleb Armstrong was fourth and Andrew Elson fifth. Jon Siscoe, Chris Gurley, Josh Spencer, Hughes and Wes McIntire completed the top-10. Kokomo drivers Jamie Frederickson and Conner Donelson were 17th and 18th, respectively.

Street Stocks

Mitchell’s Lee Hobbs wrapped up his dominant 2010 season at the local oval with yet another win, continuously holding off Glen Gamblin’s charges in the Speed Queen Racing and Design Street Stock Series feature.

Hobbs led the first two laps of the 20-lap main event only to see Gamblin power by on the third circuit. The nine-time champion at the track then paced the field until Hobbs reclaimed the lead on the 15th lap. From there he thwarted charge after charge by Gamblin the rest of the way.

“I’ve been helping Glen and those guys out quite a bit since the beginning of the year to get them back up to speed,” said Hobbs. “After the last few weeks, I don’t think I’m going to be helping them as much. They are making me work too hard now.”

Gamblin came home second and Dave Hurst third. Travis Wolford and Brandon Roundtree took fourth and fifth. Kokomo drivers Bobby Burton (13th) and Kaleb Nutter (15th) made the feature as well.

Thunder Cars

After being so close all season, Nick Glassburn broke through to pick up the Thunder Car feature win.

The win didn’t come without its tense moments, however, for Glassburn. He battled both Ron Flaugh and Jason Shrout throughout the 20-lap feature and couldn’t afford any missteps.

On the sixth lap, Flaugh nosed out to the lead after passing Glassburn, but Glassburn countered with a pass a lap later to reclaim the top spot. On the 18th lap, Shrout got by Glassburn in a bid to notch his fourth straight feature win at the track.

Glassburn again was up to the task, getting by a lap later and never relinquishing the lead the last two laps.

“This is good,” said Glassburn from victory lane. “We’ve been close all season, but [Sunday] the car held together and here we are.”

Shrout was second, Jason Fritz third, Josh Presley fourth and Ray Molder fifth.