PLOVER, WI – The finale of the 2024 Alive For 5 Series came down to just three points between the top three drivers heading into the Falloween 150. Gabe Sommers entered the night tied for second in the points standings, looking to make up those three points between him and a second Alive For 5 Series championship. Little did GSR know, it would become one of the most spectacular and talked about races of the season.
Thirty-seven Super Late Models rolled through the gates at 9 AM on a bright and warm Saturday morning at Dells Raceway Park, filled with an impressive list of talent that made the 2024 edition of the Falloween 150 a must see event. Gabe and the GSR crew would roll out for practice in their bright red No. 15 Ford Mustang looking for a solid stance on their race pace, leaving qualifying trim as an afterthought for the time being. After turning a total of 28 laps, Sommers would end Practice One with a ninth place effort, and gaining speed with each run on track. With just a scuff session left for the Super Late Models before the track would be cleared for qualifying, GSR looked to pick up some spots on the time charts after a few changes. Gabe went back out and logged 21 laps by the end of the session, turning a 13.465 second lap, good enough to move up to seventh overall.
Qualifying would prove to the fans both at home and trackside that this field was about as tight as it gets in Super Late Model competition. With the top eleven cars all within a tenth of a second of fast time, the nail biter concluded with Gabe running well enough to lock down a fifth place effort, just thirty six thousandths of a second off of the top. With a seven car invert, that would slot the No. 15 into a third place starting spot for the Falloween 150. While locked into the show based on time, GSR still had to compete in the Odd Heat before preparing for a 150 lap marathon feature event. Rolling off from seventh, Gabe would pick up a pair of spots in the eight lap jaunt by the time the checkered flag flew.
Dusk fell upon the ⅓ mile bullring, and it was soon time to fire the engines for the 2024 Alive For 5 Series finale. Rolling off from the inside of the second row, Gabe would have a prime opportunity to work strategy to his advantage with track position on his side. Right from the jump, Sommers would pick up a spot and roll into the runner up position while battling fiercely to maintain the ability to save tires. After the first thirteen circuits, the No. 15 would drop back into third and settle in for the long haul. Up until the halfway break on Lap 75, Gabe would bounce back and forth between second and third, maintaining a heavy presence while working through lapped traffic.
Once the caution flag slowed the field for pit stops, the Travis Sauter led crew went to work with ten minutes to improve the handle on the No. 15 Kwik Trip machine. On the short run, it seemed to improve drastically, moving back up into second place for the next twenty five laps of green flag racing. A quick spree of cautions would see the field bunched up as the field closed in on fifty laps to go. Gabe’s car started to fade slightly as the tires wore out, and before long he was in a heated battle for third. After dicing it up for a half dozen laps, contact was made to the rear bumper of the No. 15, shooting the car sideways before being clobbered in the left front suspension off of turn four. Both cars shot to the wall, blowing the front end off of Sommers’ steed, before coming to a rest near the inside wall on the frontstretch. It would take a tow truck to bring Gabe back to the pits to assess the damage. After missing almost twenty laps of racing, a bandaged Kwik Trip machine headed back on track for damage control. WIth both of the other championship contenders now out of the race, (one with engine issues and the other involved in the same wreck as Sommers), all that was needed was to log laps. Fortunately neither of the other championship contenders were able to rejoin the race, and Gabe would finally park the car with a few laps to go, officially finishing P20, and claiming the Alive For 5 Series championship.
With a second championship now under their belts in 2024, GSR will head to Cordele Motor Speedway in Cordele, GA on October 26 for the 32nd Annual World Crown 300, where they will take on the best drivers in the Southern Super Late Model scene. You can watch along from the comfort of your home on Racing America, live at 4:30 PM EST.