Gabe Sommers Racing headed south to Dells Raceway Park for the antepenultimate round of the 2025 ASA Midwest Tour schedule. The Jim Sauter Classic 200 is a race that has quickly become a favorite amongst fans and drivers alike, a celebration of one of Wisconsin’s favorite sons. The namesake of the event, the late Jim Sauter, was a two time ARTGO series champion, and made 82 starts in NASCAR national series competition. GSR’s crew chief, Travis Sauter, is the grandson of Jim, adding a little extra meaning to a strong run for the team.
Unloading the No. 15 Ford Mustang off the trailer, Gabe would have speed right away in the first practice session of the day, finding himself in the second position on the leaderboard. Running a total of eighteen laps, with his best being a 13.287, Sommers was pleased with a fast beginning to the day and set out to work on the balance some more with his crew. The second and final practice session of the day saw many teams “mock up” for qualifying, resulting in a short slide down to the sixth position of twenty five for GSR. A short break in between practice and qualifying allowed for a couple final tweaks to the suspension for the Midwest Tour drivers, but a jam-packed schedule didn’t leave any time for true wholesale changes.
Rolling out for qualifying at possibly his best racetrack, it was business as usual for Gabe Sommers. Fast times have come easy for the two time defending ASA MWT champion in 2025, and expectations were more of the same. Not wanting to fall short, Gabe laid down a blistering 13.152 second lap, good enough for another #KwikTime by over a tenth of a second margin. While visiting the frontstretch to carry the American flag for the night’s rendition of the national anthem, Sommers also rolled for the invert with the ASA Midwest Tour’s bright yellow mega die. The result was an eleven car invert for the 200 lap main event, miring the No. 15 in the midfield for the start of the race. First, a quick set of heat races would help give the drivers some more track time, most of whom spent the eight laps riding around and saving their equipment.
With the fluff out of the way, it was now time to get down to business for GSR and the rest of the Midwest Tour teams. Two hundred laps of racing around one of the tightest racetracks in the entire Midwest is sure to create plenty of chaos under the lights and in front of a strong crowd of race fans. As soon as the green flag flew, two by two racing lit up the Saturday night skies with sparks and smoke. A slow moving inside line sent Sommers backwards to the 20th position before regaining control over his own race. Now without any roadblocks, Gabe made his way forward in his No. 15 Meristem Crop Performance Ford Mustang, making use of a pair of yellows before Lap 50 to claw his way up into the top ten. Managing his tires while battling through the midpack was tough, but it seemed like Sommers still had plenty of grip as the field slowed on Lap 75/200. Shaking out in eighth place as the green flag resumed the Jim Sauter Classic, Gabe made short work of the cars in front of him, climbing up into the top five for the first time by Lap 112/200. A couple of heavy hitters began to fall out of the race with mechanical issues as the laps wore on and yellows continued to bunch the field up, allowing the No. 15 to scoot up to a podium spot with just 62 laps left on the board. The cards seemed to fall the way of GSR time and time again, and on Lap 163 they caught their luckiest break of the night, with Gabe making an incredible save as he and the other leader made contact on yet another restart, and maintaining control of the lead after the other party decided to “tap out”, admitting fault for the incident. Now firmly in control of the top spot on track, Gabe had just a couple more challengers to fend off in the final thirty laps of racing. All parties were unsuccessful in dethroning the past winner of the Jim Sauter Classic 200, and Gabe Sommers would cross the line, victorious by a margin of 0.572 seconds for his first win of 2025.
Heading into the final two rounds of the ASA Midwest Tour schedule, GSR will regain the points lead by a margin of sixteen, with a very similar track up next. The stars and cars of the ASA MWT will head to Elko Speedway on Saturday, September 20 for the Thunderstruck 93. But first, GSR will return to Dells Raceway Park on Sunday, September 14 for Alive For 5 Series’ Badgerland 100. You can watch the action live on Pit Row TV.