Plover, WI – Gabe Sommers Racing made the trip up the street to Golden Sands Speedway this past Memorial Day, a short jaunt that didn’t leave their hometown of Plover, Wisconsin. On tap was the Trickle 99, which brought drivers from around the state out for a shot at a win at the famed ⅓ mile “soup bowl” speedway. Named for three time Golden Sands Speedway Super Late Model track champion Dick Trickle, the 99 lap main event has been a quiet entrant into the marquee events of Wisconsin’s racing scene.
GSR would unload with a fast racecar, setting the tone right off the trailer by going to the top of the time charts with a 12.147 second lap, almost a tenth and a half better than Gabe’s next closest competitor. The second session saw times slow across the board for the seventeen competitors that made a lap, with Gabe slipping to third on the leaderboard with a 12.315 second lap time. With only one practice session left before qualifying, GSR made a few changes and sent Sommers back out to see if the car felt better. Indeed it was, with the No. 15 rocketing up to the top of the charts once again by nearly a two tenth of a second margin on the rest of the field.
Qualifying was next on the schedule, a prior strong suit for Gabe Sommers and his crew at Golden Sands Speedway. With their history of fast racecars and what looked to be a good piece for the day, it was no surprise when Gabe’s 12.101 second lap time was more than good enough to earn fast time honors for the Trickle 99. A mandatory qualifying heat followed, where Sommers rolled from sixth to third in just eight laps.
A twelfth place starting spot awaited GSR for the 99 lap main event, leaving little time to save tires if Gabe wanted to find his way forward in the running order. It would only take seven laps for The No. 15 to surge ahead into the top ten, and didn’t lose any pace as Sommers continued to claw his way up the order. On Lap 45/99, a stealthy black and chrome Ford Mustang solidified itself in the top five, and moved up yet another spot just three laps later. Now settled into fourth place, Sommers would remain there, albeit for a six lap span with under twenty laps remaining.
When the dust settled, a fourth place finish and a clean racecar would be the result for GSR on Memorial Day, and they will look to continue their mostly unbroken string of strong runs into Dells Raceway Park on Saturday June 7 for Race #2 of the Alive For 5 Series.