So much of the drama of the Chili Bowl Midget Nationals is simply the work that goes into making the main event.
After all, there were 375 entries and the Championship Saturday Feature took only 24 of them, a testament to how challenging it is to even have a chance to compete for the coveted Golden Driller trophy.
So, tempers can boil over when someone feels as though a chance to take the green flag was stripped from them. That was the case on Saturday when Cannon McIntosh threw a last lap, last corner slider on Thomas Meseraull and eliminated him from contention.
What made it even more frustrating for Meseraull, is that both drivers were posed to advance if they stayed where they were. Both McIntosh and Meseraull had been engulfed in a battle with Briggs Danner for the final transfer spot but they had each cleared him.
Danner ended up with the last spot.
They were in when this happened.
Meseraull, who had several run-ins with McIntosh, called him Cant Drive Cannon and referred to the slider as a Cannonball.
But even more dramatic is that Meseraull was ejected from the Tulsa Expo Center for what race officials first articulated as the veteran driver throwing a steering wheel at an on-track worker.
Everyone talked it over outside and Meseruall was allowed back in the building where he explained his side of it. His car caught fire after tumbling and he was sprayed in the face with a fire extinguisher. That’s why he tossed the wheel.
He wasn’t shouting at the official but just because of what happened.
“When I take the helmet off form being inside the race car, give me 10 minutes to not say some dumb shit, because 10 minutes after the flip I am still screaming for no reason,” Meseraull said. “It was a big misunderstanding. We got it worked out in the back of the pit area.
“Hats off to the Chili Bowl and everyone who makes this event what it is. Tens of thousands of people fill up this building. So, it’s chaos all the time.”
At the time, he still hadn’t fully digested what happened on the track, and he teased the next episode of his popular YouTube channel TMez TV a full breakdown.
For his part, McIntosh said he thought that was for the transfer position.
“At the time, I thought we were one out and I pushed for it, we’re in the show and that’s a good thing,” McIntosh said. “We didn’t make many friends there. Thankful to be in the show. Unfortunate to end those guys week. If I had known we were both in a transfer, I probably would have treated it different.
“He races hard. I race hard. It’s the Chili Bowl. I slid him and I think he stayed in it too. We wanted the same real estate.”
McIntosh did not finish the feature and was credited with a 20th place finish. Danner went on to finish 16th.
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.