Gabe Sommers Racing took on their second doubleheader weekend in a row when the ASA Midwest Tour visited Madison International Speedway for the Bytec Cheeseland Howie Lettow Classic 100 last Friday, with a quick follow up at Golden Sands Speedway for the “Showdown at The Sands” on Saturday.
Kicking off the action on Friday at Madison, twenty five cars hit the speedway for the first practice session of the day. Of those cars, the No. 15 Ford Mustang would wind up second on the leaderboard, 0.059 seconds off of the fast posted lap, turning just sixteen laps. After some small changes to the setup, GSR was ready for the second and final round of practice. Mocking up and preparing for qualifying, Sommers would have zero problem going to the top of the time charts with a 17.626 second lap, a full tenth and a half of a second better than the next driver.
Feeling well prepared for qualifying, Gabe would roll onto the speedway and show off his consistency, laying down a 17.624 second lap on his way to a second place result in time. The No. 15 would miss out on the top step by just three hundredths of a second. Sommers participated in the even dash shortly after, rolling to a fourth place finish in the eight lap, eight car dash.
Rolling off from the tenth position for the 100 lap Howie Lettow Classic, the mindset was different than the spring race, which was double the distance. Every lap and every position mattered, no matter where you were on track. “Go time” would be from laps 1 to 100. Sommers would jump up two spots in the first five green laps, looking for opportunities to keep the momentum rolling as he made a charge up the leaderboard. On lap 11/100, Gabe would claw his way up into the seventh position as the field began to stretch out into single file, making passing all the more difficult. A solo spin off of turn two on the fifteenth circuit of the Howie Lettow Classic would bring the field under yellow flag conditions for the first time. Still sitting in seventh, Sommers would choose the high line during lane choice. The decision would put the No. 15 on the outside of the fourth row as the field roared back to life under green. Snagging back the seventh spot, Sommers would go to work on chasing down the front runners at Madison International.
A hard battle shortly before halfway would see Gabe claim the sixth position for a moment before relinquishing control and falling back into the seventh position. Continuing to stay green, battling hard started to take its toll on the No.15’s tires, rolling back to the eighth spot with only thirty laps to go. That would prove to be GSR’s final position, with the field spread out after going green without interruption for 85 laps. Loading into the trailer in one piece, maybe not with the finish they had hoped for, Gabe Sommers and his crew switched their focus to the next day’s event at Golden Sands Speedway.
Trips to Golden Sands always mean something special to the Gabe Sommers Racing team, with their race shop located right up the road in the town of Plover, WI. The Showdown at The Sands had everyone from the driver to the tire guy, Tucker Miller, excited for the opportunity to race close to home. Unloading off the trailer, GSR would rip off a second place effort in the first practice session of the day, only twenty six thousandths off of the top posted time. Some minute changes were made to the No. 15 before hitting the track once again for the second practice session, and the result was finding themselves on top of the time charts with a 12.663 second lap time after turning eighteen laps. Happy with the direction the car was headed, Sommers would pick up another half tenth in the third and final practice session, resulting in a fourth place effort for the team. Qualifying quickly followed the earlier practice sessions, with Sommers slipping to the sixth spot in the twenty car field with a 12.479 second lap time. A heat race would give teams a chance to perfect their cars before the feature, but GSR and multiple other teams would elect to ride around off the pace and save tires, resulting in a ninth place finish far behind the pack.
The No. 15 Ford Mustang would roll off from the seventh position for the 75 lap main event, with no shortage of stiff competition in front of him to fight through if he wanted to make his way to the front. Looking to get out and get ahead early, Gabe would pick up three spots in quick succession during the first nine laps of action, with an apparently strong car under his control. Almost immediately after, something began to look amiss on the No. 15, beginning to drop back with quick effect. In only twelve laps, Gabe would fall from fourth to ninth place. Struggling to mount a charge to gain back what was lost, Sommers would briefly fight his way up one spot on Lap 37/75, looking stable enough to remain there. It all turned sour with just over fifteen laps remaining, losing three spots in a single lap and pulling into the pits to end his night. GSR would officially be scored thirteenth on the night.
A rough weekend won’t deter the Gabe Sommers Racing group, as they have already set their sights on their next mountain to climb, the Gandrud 250 at Wisconsin International Raceway on Tuesday, August 5. With extremely strong runs in prior years at the famed D Shape oval, Sommers will look to grab a win in the ASA Midwest Tour’s longest race on the schedule. If you can’t make it in person, tune in live at 5:00 PM CST on TrackTV.com!