Gabe Sommers Racing made their annual pilgrimage to Lacrosse Fairgrounds Speedway on the first weekend of October, ready to battle it out over a razor thin margin for the 2025 ASA Midwest Tour Championship. The four day festival of all things racing related culminates in a 200 lap marathon on Sunday afternoon to round out the program, and usually is seen as a barn burner that gives fans something to talk about over the winter months.
In years past, Oktoberfest weekend kicked off on Wednesday or Thursday for the GSR crew, making use of the extra track time, and taking part in the night racing prior to Saturday morning’s kickoff of ASA Midwest Tour practice. For 2025, with farming and life keeping everyone busy for the most part, the decision was made to keep the car in the trailer until Friday morning, saving the equipment. Only practice and mock qualifying would be on the docket for Friday to see how the car felt in the heat of the day for Gabe, with unseasonably warm temperatures throwing many teams for a loop. Prior years of destruction during the Knights race and Trickle 99 had proved that this was a much cheaper alternative for the team.
Unloading bright and early Friday, the strikingly clean white No. 15 Ford Mustang rolled out of the trailer to be put through its paces. Bright red Kwik Trip branding now adorned the quarter panels, giving a much needed pop to an already excellent looking machine. The pace was on par with the rest of the heavy hitters immediately upon rolling out for opening practice, timing in at the 4th position of 32 cars, just over a half tenth of a second behind the top posted time. Another pair of practice sessions would be scattered throughout the six hour long morning session, with Gabe eventually able to get within just one thousandth of a second behind the best time by the point time ran out. Next up would be Trickle 99 qualifying, which Gabe took part in to see what he had in his back pocket for Midwest Tour qualifying the following day. The result was a scorching 18.707 second lap around the ⅝ mile oval, good enough to lock down the second spot in timing.
With a positive result on Friday, Saturday kicked off hot and heavy for Gabe and the rest of the Midwest Tour competitors, with three practice sessions available to get their machines dialed in for qualifying and heat races later on in the day. Thirty drivers hit the pavement running in the first session of the day, with Sommers turning 23 laps before bringing his Ford Mustang back to the hauler for some more in depth breakdowns and changes by Travis Sauter and the crew. His 18.991 second lap would solidify the No. 15 in the fourth spot. Hot track temperatures and older tires slowed most of the field down in the second session of the day, with Sommers remaining steadfast in the fourth position on the time charts after another five laps behind the wheel. One final chance at improving the car soon followed, with 29 cars making the call for final practice. Most teams used the session to prepare for qualifying, with Gabe laying down a 18.699 second lap, good enough for a second place result in practice as GSR shifted towards qualifying for the Oktoberfest 200.
After rolling through a lengthy technical inspection process, teams staged on the quarter mile infield oval and began the waiting game. Qualifying after the Big 8 Series, teams got to sit and ponder whether or not they made that all important change that would put them at the top of the pile. Rolling out second for qualifying, Sommers would make do on the greasier Big 8 rubber with a 18.617 second lap, placing him third after all was said and done. More importantly, he carried a four point lead into Sunday’s 200 lapper. But before Sunday, an Odd Dash awaited the GSR team. A quick eight lap jaunt around Lacrosse Fairgrounds Speedway parlayed into a podium finish for Gabe, who promptly rolled his No. 15 into the trailer post race and began to lock in on Sunday’s festivities.
Sunday morning came into focus with an air of excitement for many, especially Gabe Sommers. A shot at a third straight ASA Midwest Tour championship lay directly in front of him. All he could do was run his own race, and hoped the cards fell in his favor after two hundred grueling laps under the unusually balmy October skies. A quick autograph session during prerace allowed fans the chance to speak with their favorite drivers, take pictures, and see what the fastest racecars in the Midwest looked like up close. After all the extracurricular activities concluded, it was time to strap in. Drivers were given the command, and after the field got rolling, a four wide salute enthralled the fans as they listened to a recording of beloved announcer Eric Huenefeld, who was recovering from major surgery and presumed to be watching from his hospital bed.
Rolling off from the 11th position after the invert, Sommers drilled his trusty No. 15 off into Turn 1 as the field charged past the waving green flag. Picking off a pair of cars on the first circuit, Gabe was already inside of the top ten, although only briefly. A quick caution on Lap 5/200 slid Sommers back to tenth on the ensuing restart, and continued to drop back before the second caution on Lap 45/200. Now eleventh, Gabe was still within striking distance of his championship rival and seemed to be saving his equipment for the latter stages of the race. A quick charge up to the eighth spot on the second restart showed a good uptick in performance, maybe ready to make a move. Instead, the No. 15 dropped all the way back to position fifteen by the next competition caution, which flew at halfway. Many teams would elect to pit under this caution, with the field frozen for three pace laps while a flurry of activity on pit road captivated a strong crowd. Travis and company made a huge swing on this stop, changing entire shocks on their Ford Mustang in an effort to find some pace and make a late race charge. Rolling back to the green with 89 laps left, a melee ensued in the mid pack as they sorted themselves out, allowing the front runners to slip away and make the workload that much more difficult. A pair of cautions on laps 132 and 140 erased the deficit to the leaders, as well as allowing Gabe to sneak his way back into the tenth position. After rolling back to the green, the No. 15 would make its final pass of the day on Lap 147/200, making it up to ninth place as the final twenty five percent of the race ran caution free to the checkered flag. Gabe Sommers would come up just eight points shy of his third ASA Midwest Tour championship.
With only a handful of races left on GSR’s 2025 schedule, it’s as important as ever to head to the track and cheer on our No. 15 Ford Mustang! You can catch Gabe in action at Dells Raceway Park on Saturday, October 18 with the Alive For 5 Super Late Model Series. Qualifying starts up at 12:30 PM, with racing to follow at 2:00. If you can’t make it in person to the Falloween 100, make sure to tune in on Pit Row TV.