Mulkern Racing: PASS North Series
Lonnie Sommerville Chaudiere Race Preview
THE STORY
Lonnie Sommerville of Saint John, New Brunswick, travels west across Canada to join the PASS North Series in the Habitations Dany Lagace 150 at Autodrome Chaudiere in Vallee-Jonction, Quebec, on Saturday, June 23. The driver of the Mulkern Racing No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders Chevrolet will be looking to rebound after back-to-back disappointing outings, including an 11th-place finish last time out at his home track of Speedway 660 in Geary, New Brunswick. Despite the rough patch, Sommerville sits only 16 points out of the PASS North Series championship lead with 11 races remaining on the schedule.
THE FACTS
WHO: Lonnie Sommerville, Saint John, New Brunswick
TEAM: Mulkern Racing No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Gary Crooks, Mooresville, N.C.
BEST CAREER AUTODROME CHAUDIERE FINISH: 19th (June 2011)
LAST RACE AT AUTODROME CHAUDIERE: 19th (June 2011)
WHAT: PASS North Series Habitations Dany Lagace 150
WHERE: Autodrome Chaudiere, Vallee-Jonction, Quebec (.25-mile oval)
WHEN: 6 p.m., Saturday, June 23
PASS North Series
LAST RACE: June 9, PASS 200, Speedway 660, Geary, New Brunswick (11th)
NEXT RACE: June 30, PASS 150, Canaan Fair Speedway, Canaan, N.H. (.333-mile oval)
CURRENT POINTS POSITION: 6th
DID YOU KNOW?
Lonnie Sommerville had never raced at Autodrome Chaudiere prior to the 2011 season, when an accident in a heat race and a subsequent mechanical failure ended his night early.
Lonnie Sommerville won the 2011 PASS North Series Rookie of the Year Award.
Over the last three seasons, Mulkern Racing has never been lower than sixth in the PASS North Series standings.
Lonnie Sommerville spends his weeks building race cars for his Canadian-based Lonnie Sommerville Racing customers, many of whom compete at Speedway 660 in both the Pro Stock and Sportsman divisions.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
LONNIE SOMMERVILLE, Driver of the Mulkern Racing No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders Chevrolet, On rebounding from the last couple of races on the PASS North Series: “Right now, we are still legitimate championship contenders, as long as we get back to where we were last year. No one is threatening to run away with it – those guys out front haven’t had a lot of bad luck. Nobody’s gone and taken charge, so that’s a good thing. For us, if we can go back to our Top-5 every week ways, maximize heat race points and all of those things, we’re definitely not out of it by any means.
“My train of thought is to go and win races. We need to go and win races, and the points will take care of themselves. Last year, we went for consistency and Top-5s and that didn’t win a championship – the guy who went out and won seven races won the championship. To me, that’s what we have to do now is go out and try to win as many as we can.”
On heading to Autodrome Chaudiere this weekend: “It’s a fun little racy track. It’s not the easiest place to pass. It’s pretty quick for the size of it.
“As far as (crew chief Gary Crooks’) setups, I feel confident going to any style race track – a Lee USA or a Thompson or a Beech Ridge or any of those places. Anywhere we go, I feel confident that we can unload and have a Top-3 race car.”
On how hard it has been having off weeks sprinkled between the last three races: “Painful. Very painful. That whole saying ‘You are only as good as your last race’ – as far as I’m concerned, that’s really true. When things don’t go well, you get to really dwelling on what happened, why it happened, how you can fix it. You run all of those scenarios through your head, but you can’t apply those scenarios until you get back to the race track.
“To have a rainout, a week off, then go racing, then have another week off – a six- or seven-race stretch for us would be better. More so, because that’s when the cream starts rising to the top. Everybody’s good for the first five or six races. Everybody’s confident, their stuff’s fresh. But once you go racing, you start tearing some stuff up or having broken parts here and there, the summer stretch is where the better teams really stay on top of things and start to show how good they really are.”
UP NEXT
The PASS North Series holds its third race in the state of New Hampshire in six events to open the year, heading to the PASS 150 at Canaan Fair Speedway in Canaan, N.H., on Saturday, June 30… Lonnie Sommerville finished fifth in the event a year ago, one of 10 Top-5 finishes he recorded in 2011.
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