FULL FIELD: Mulkern Racing Taking 3 Cars To “The Race”
Sommerville, Rowe join owner Scott Mulkern at North Wilkesboro
FALMOUTH, Maine – There’s really only one reason that Mulkern Racing will field three cars in this week’s inaugural PASS-sanctioned “The Race” at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
The team wants a win.
“I don’t really look at it any different from any other race,” said team owner and driver of the No. 84 Community Pharmacies Dodge, Scott Mulkern. “Once you’re in the car, I’m in there to win whether it’s for a million dollars or one dollar. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly appreciate the purse, but we’re going to try to win.”
“The Race” – a PASS South Series 300-lap main event with $75,000 promised to the winner – boasted more than 90 Super Late Models from around the nation entered earlier this week. With the exception of a PASS South race there last fall, North Wilkesboro Speedway has been largely dormant since Jeff Gordon won the final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race there in 1995. Qualifying is slated for Friday afternoon, April 8, with race night set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 9.
Joining Mulkern in his efforts are Lonnie Sommerville, the New Brunswick, Canada, native who will drive Mulkern’s No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders Chevrolet full-time in the PASS North Series in 2011, and Mike Rowe, a three-time Oxford 250 winner and three-time PASS 300 champion at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway. Rowe, of Turner, Maine, will drive the No. 24 Southern Maine Motors Chevrolet.
Rowe said the chance to race at North Wilkesboro was a deciding factor for him.
“Actually, it does mean something,” Rowe said. “It’s why I really wanted to go down. (Mulkern) had an extra car, so we just hope we can get all three of them in the show and try to win the thing.
“We tested two or three weeks ago. We’ve got to pick up a little bit somewhere, but we definitely have good stuff (with Mulkern Racing).”
“We’re committed to Lonnie for the year and Mike was looking for something to do, and he’s helped me use his stuff in the past when I needed a ride,” Mulkern said. “So I felt like, ‘Let’s do it.’ And who are you going to get that’s better than Mike Rowe to drive one of these things?”
Mulkern has made a point not just of supporting teams that have helped him in his racing career in the past, but he’s also made it a priority to support PASS and its president, Tom Mayberry. It’s one of the reasons he’s making sure he has three competitive cars on hand at North Wilkesboro.
“If I sent one car, that probably would have been enough,” Mulkern said with a laugh. “(Mayberry), he’s really got a good thing going down south. There’s quite a bit of chatter about the (PASS South Series) down there… The cars seem to be making a comeback.
“These are the cars I like, so I want to support Tom. To me, this is as far as you’re going to go in a fiberglass body car.”
Tony Ricci will serve as Mulkern’s crew chief on the No. 84, while Seth Holbrook will lead Rowe’s effort with the No. 24 team. Gary Crooks, who is stationed out of his own North Carolina race shop, will team with Sommerville and the No. 48 – the first effort for the crew chief and driver who will be paired together this season in the PASS North Series.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel of a race car and driving for Mulkern Racing here in 2011,” Sommerville said. “It would have been nice to run a race beforehand, but we did some testing together so it’s not like we are all meeting each other for the first time.
“The fact that myself and Gary have worked together great for years now, we should be just fine.”
With so many cars expected to be on hand, the Mulkern racing stable has been careful not to put the proverbial cart before the horse. Qualifying – not racing – are first and foremost on everyone’s minds.
“If we can get into the show, I think we’ll have just a good as shot as anybody else,” Rowe said. “ The longer the race, the better I like it. But with 90 cars, if you have a bad time trial run and have to start at the rear of your heat, you’re going to have a long day.”
Long day or not, the team will have plenty of help on hand in crew members Buster Bean, Kevin Sears, Steve and Stephen Holbrook, Shawn Plowman and Scott MacMaster. Some of the Crooks Racing staff out of Mooresville, N.C., will also be at North Wilkesboro.
“We worked hard all winter gearing up for this race,” Mulkern said. “I can’t thank the guys enough for everything they’ve done to get us to this point.”