Gabe Sommers made a few changes to his 2019 schedule and now it has opened the opportunity to run the full ARCA Midwest Tour and compete for Rookie of the Year. The 16-year-old driver has competed in three career Midwest Tour events and now looks forward to following one of the country’s premier short track series full-time.
“At the beginning of the season we didn’t think we wanted to run an entire series,” said Sommers. “When you start point racing and not just racing for wins sometimes it can change the way you approach races. We made a few changes to our schedule, however, and it opened up the chance to run the Tour full-time and honestly, I’m really excited about it. The Tour has always been the top series around here and to race with those guys race in and race out will be exciting.”
Sommers’ start to the Midwest Tour season didn’t go exactly as planned, as he was involved in an incent prior to lap 100 at Madison International Speedway at the beginning of the month. With that race behind him, he gears up for a busy weekend with the series, racing Saturday at Jefferson Speedway and Monday at Wisconsin International Raceway (WIR). Sommer’s most recent visit to Jefferson was last year with the TUNDRA series where he earned a fourth-place finish.
“We had a pretty good run at Jefferson last year and I feel like we have upped the game with our racing program, so I am really looking forward to going back there,” said Sommers.
The Plover, WI driver returns to WIR after competing there in the TUNDRA Series race two weeks ago. Sommers was involved in an early incident there, but still brought home a top-20 finish.
“It’s definitely a tricky track,” said Sommers. “I think the seat time we had there will help us on Monday and give us a good baseline for where to start. Hopefully we can improve on our performance from a few weeks ago.”
The Gabe Sommers Racing (GSR) team has partnered with Wimmer Motorsports for the 2019 season and know the experience of their crew chiefs, Chris Wimmer and Travis Sauter, in the Midwest Tour will help Sommers navigate his first full-year in the series.
“Obviously Chris and Travis have a lot of experience with the Midwest Tour, so I think that will be a huge help,” said Sommers. “I’m looking forward to getting back on track this weekend.”
“It’s been awhile since I’ve been with the Tour full-time, but both Travis and I are looking forward to helping Gabe run the full year and for Rookie of the Year honors,” said Wimmer. “I think the Tour has done a great job in getting together one-day shows with some of the best competition in the Midwest and it will be great to compete with them all season long.”