Lonnie Sommerville: PASS North Series
Speedway 660 Race Report
GEARY, N.B. – Lonnie Sommerville of Saint John, New Brunswick, fought back at his home track Saturday night to finish 12th in the PASS North Series PASS 200 at Speedway 660 in Geary, N.B. Sommerville broke a wheel on Lap 47 of the event, not long after leading for several laps. The failure ended the chances of winning for the speedway’s two-time Peterbilt 250 champion, but hard work from the Mulkern Racing crew pit-side had Sommerville racing with the leaders as he tried to get back one of the three laps he lost.
WHO: Lonnie Sommerville, Saint John, New Brunswick
TEAM: Mulkern Racing No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders/Community Pharmacies Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Seth Holbrook, Turner, Maine
TEAM MANAGER: Gary Crooks, Mooresville, N.C.
WHAT: PASS North Series PASS 200
WHERE: Speedway 660, Geary, N.B. (.333-mile oval)
FINISHED: 12th
LAPS LED: 1 time
PASS North Series
LAST RACE: May 14, Star 150, Star Speedway, Epping, N.H. (4th)
NEXT RACE: June 25, Danny Lagace 150, Autodrome Chaudiere, Vallee Jonction, Que. (.25-mile oval)
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LONNIE, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE WHEEL?
“We were leading and the caution came out. Coming to green (Alex Gingras) was getting into me a little bit, so I let him go and then I let Scott Chubbuck go. That early in the night, I just wasn’t going to take a chance. I told the guys that the brake pedal was a little spongy, and we figured we’d just ride it out and try and get to halfway and get that fixed.
“But then I came down the to turn, and I had no brakes. The wheel bearing ended up burning up and melted the aluminum hub. I lost the wheel, and that was it. I limped into the pits, and the guys did a hell of a job changing it and getting back out there.”
IT’S A TOUGH NIGHT SO EARLY IN THE SEASON, ISN’T IT?
“It is what it is. I said to the guys right after the race, ‘This was our mulligan.’ Everybody’s going to have a bad race at some point. This is it. This is our bad race. It’s just tough to have that good of a car and end up like we did.
“At the end of the race, we came across the line on (winner Johnny Clark’s) back bumper. Either way, we would have had second at worst. I still feel we had a car capable of winning the race, but it’s not like we lost all those points with one race to go and can’t get it back now.
“The spindle, the hub, the wheel – the guys changed that whole thing under one caution. Hats off to them.”
Read more on the PASS forum – http://www.neracingforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=17