Gabe Sommers Racing made their annual trip to Wisconsin International Raceway last Tuesday for the Gandrud 250, the longest race on the 2025 ASA Midwest Tour schedule. After coming so close to a win in 2024, GSR had this event circled on their calendar as one where they’d look for redemption.
The crew unloaded a striking new look from the trailer on Tuesday afternoon, an all white No. 15 adorned with the many brands of longtime sponsor Meristem Crop Performance. The trademark chrome numbers shimmered on the stark background, making for a really handsome look. Practice #1 went quietly, with a P10 effort after a total of 28 cars hit the unique d-shaped oval for their first laps of the day, with Sommers turning a total of twenty one laps during the opening round. Some changes were necessary, and the Travis Sauter led crew went to work based on Gabe’s feedback. The second practice session saw the No. 15 pickup nearly a tenth of a second in speed, but most of the field had done the same as the track conditions began to improve due to rubber taking to the surface. Still in tenth place overall, more was needed to find a way for Sommers to shave down his time. Electing to work on qualifying trim in the third and final round of practice, Sommers would suddenly find himself at the top of the time charts, posting the fastest overall lap of the day thus far.
With gained confidence in the platform after his mock run, Sommers felt poised to back up his earlier performance in time trials for the Gandrud 250. He’d wind up a hair slower, all of eleven thousandths of a second, than his practice laps, putting the Meristem Crop Performance Ford Mustang in fifth place with an 18.894 second lap. With no heat races on the schedule, the Midwest Tour would move directly to the 250 lap main event, in which Gabe would start from the eighth position after the invert.
The green flag waved for the Gandrud 250, and with immediate effect Sommers rolled the top side to pick up two spots in the first lap. Filing into single file formation as the field began to stretch and slither its way around the ½ mile facility, Gabe would find himself cracking into the top five positions on Lap 17/250. A spirited battle from the 28th to 38th laps would result in another spot gained as the No. 15 continued to chop away at the cars out in front of the windshield. As other cars began to falter on hot tires, GSR kept the foot to the floor as the laps clicked off, sliding up into the third position on Lap 56/250. The first yellow flag of the evening would slow the field just eight laps later, and the No. 15 Ford rumbled down pit road to the attention of its crew. On the re-line, Sommers would wind up back in eighth place once again. The field roared back to life, but Gabe would wind up stuck behind slower traffic for the first half dozen laps back under green, dropping him to thirteenth in the running order. Once clear of the rolling blockade, it was no issue picking off the few cars nearby, zipping back inside of the top ten with ease before another caution would bunch the field back up on Lap 132/250.
Returning to the pits once again, along with most of the field, Gabe would slip back to the thirteenth position for the second restart of the night. In the short ten laps before a third caution period once again stunted a short green flag run, Sommers picked up four spots and once again found himself ninth, tucked away inside of the top ten for the third time thus far. Following the short caution a forty seven lap green flag run would ensue, with plenty of moving and shaking throughout the running order. Gabe would take full advantage of differing strategies and tire wear for his competitors, plucking off drivers like dandelion fluff on his way into the top five. Staying out during the Lap 189-193 caution period, Sommers would inherit the race lead. Another quick caution would get the field bunched up once again before it ever had a chance to disband, but from Laps 204-231 Gabe put on a show, warring with second place in a heated fight for the top spot. The No. 15 won the battle, pulling away by six tenths and seemingly home free. But the race would have another dramatic twist, stifling the field with a final caution, just under twenty laps from the finish. Going back green with fifteen laps to go, Sommers would receive a tap to the left rear while getting back up to speed, shuffling the car sideways and angering the tires. Driver and car put up a valiant fight on the top side to remain in control, but it was not meant to be. Becoming a pinball for others on hot tires, Gabe would be moved, shoved in the wall, and pushed out of the groove by multiple racers in the waning laps of the Gandrud 250, finishing in sixth place after being so close to victory just fifteen laps prior.
After a frustrating finish at WIR, the GSR team will look to rebound at Grundy County Speedway in the Wayne Carter Classic on Saturday, August 16. Gabe is currently second in points, only 27 points back from the top step of the standings.