Plover, WI – Gabe Sommers Racing would travel south to Cordele, Georgia to take part in one of racing’s finest and storied programs, revived after a decade of laying dormant with many big names fondly remembering it as a true marquee event. The World Crown 300 had a new home, transferring itself to Cordele Motor Speedway and the UARA National Series banner. Formerly held at Gresham Motorsports Park, the inaugural running was won in 1983 by DIck Trickle, with other notable names such as Bobby Gill, Ronnie Sanders, Chase Elliott, Darrell Waltrip, and more engraving their names in history as winners of the World Crown.

Now a two day event, with practice kicking off the weekend’s festivities on Friday, Gabe and the crew would look to find some speed at a new facility. Off the truck, their No. 15 Ford Mustang was able to manage a 23rd place effort on the speed charts as driver and crew just looked to find a sense of comfort in their platform. One of the biggest hurdles would be the new American Racer tires that were required for this event. Usually running on Hoosiers, this would prove to be a big change for some in the field that were not accustomed to a different brand of rubber underneath them. No gains in the second practice was followed by some hope in the third, working his way up to 16th of the 30 cars that took time. A fourth and final practice would round out the day for GSR, of which Gabe only turned three laps, looking to set the nose heights for qualifying around the high speed ⅜ mile oval.

With a full day of practice under their belts, GSR looked to find some better pace heading into Saturday’s main event. A 300 lap race takes much more than speed, and rewards the ability to save the car and tires for an extended and high stress period of time. Teams would get one final practice before switching gears into pole qualifying, and Sommers would nestle into the 11th position of 31 after turning 41 laps and making a flurry of changes to their platform with his crew.

Now ready for qualifying, Gabe would head out on track by himself for the first and only time all weekend, timing in with a 16.483 second lap, sticking him deep in the field and at the 21st spot. Gabe would also take part in one of the three 25 lap heat races that were on tap for the Super Late Models, rolling from 8th place and saving his car for the main event, finishing 9th and out of any potential danger on track. Now ready to roll off for the World Crown 300, Gabe would start from the 22nd spot in a stacked 31 car field. Quick cautions right away would see him bump up to 17th almost immediately, before continuing to maneuver his way through light amounts of carnage and into 11th by the seventh circuit. Another fifteen laps later, Sommers would plant himself within the top ten running spots, where he would get comfortable for most of the first quarter of the race. A caution on Lap 72 saw Gabe drop down to 15th before trying to hustle his way back forward, and finally started to make hay just after passing the one third mark of the race. Now back inside the top ten on Lap 116/300, the No. 15 would continue its march forwards and search for gained positions as the laps wore on. Just fifty laps after cracking the top ten, Gabe would find himself in sixth with plenty of momentum. As the field surged towards just one hundred laps to go, Gabe would start to slowly fall back from the leaders, with the car starting to lose its handle as the tires showed their age. Falling down to eighth place by Lap 220/300, Sommers would find his home for the run to the checkered, staying put until crossing the finish line for the final time, up fourteen spots from where he started the feature on a busy racetrack.

Although not a win, Gabe and his crew were very happy with the gains made during the pit stops during the World Crown 300, and being able to load the car in the hauler in one piece to make the long trek back to Plover, WI. Tentatively, GSR may have one more race on the schedule for 2024 if everything comes together, so stay tuned on our socials for any announcements!