Gabe Sommers kicked off his Midwest racing season Sunday at Madison International Speedway with the ARCA Midwest Tour. The Plover, WI driver had a strong No. 15 machine and practiced in the top-ten all day Saturday and Sunday at Madison International Speedway. He then went on to qualify in the seventh position in a field of more than 20 cars.
With the invert, Sommers started the 200-lap race from the fifth position. After letting things shake out over the first few laps, Sommers found himself holding steady in the top-five and closing in on the leaders.
The 15-year-old driver remained around the top-five, but just after a restart on lap 62, Sommers and his No. 15 car were collected in an incident he could not avoid which ended his day early.
The damage to the Kwik Trip, Wysocki Family of Companies, Allied Cooperative machine was mostly cosmetic, and the Gabe Sommers Racing team is already working hard to make repairs.
Thank you to the entire GSR crew, Wimmer Motorsports, our sponsors and fans who supported us last weekend.
“It definitely wasn’t the way we wanted to start the season,” said Sommers, “But before being involved in the wreck I felt pretty good about our car. We were good all weekend in practice and I thought we would have a solid finish. It’s definitely something to build on.”
It is a quick turn-around for Sommers and the GSR team, who will be back on track this Friday and Saturday. Friday night Sommers will compete in the rescheduled Thaw race at Golden Sands Speedway and then on Saturday he heads to Wisconsin International Raceway for the TUNDRA Racing Series opener.
“After feeling pretty good about how things went last weekend I’m just ready to put what happened at Madison behind me and get back on the track,” said Sommers. “It will definitely be a busy weekend racing Friday and Saturday but I’m excited to get to Golden Sands Speedway, which is our home track and to be part of the TUNDRA Series opener.”