Mulkern Racing: PASS North Series
Lonnie Sommerville WMMP Race Preview
Lonnie Sommerville of Saint John, New Brunswick, will look to improve upon his runner-up finish the last time the PASS North Series visited White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, N.H. in the PASS 150 on Saturday, September 8. Sommerville has turned in three straight Top-10 finishes to jump to fifth in the overall PASS North Series standings in the Mulkern Racing No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders/Southern Maine Motors Chevrolet, just 55 points out of the lead with three races still remaining. He finished second at White Mountain less than a month ago in a rain-shortened event, and Sommerville has three Top-5 finishes in four career starts at the banked quarter-mile.
THE FACTS
WHO: Lonnie Sommerville, Saint John, New Brunswick
TEAM: Mulkern Racing No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders/Southern Maine Motors Chevrolet
CREW CHIEF: Gary Crooks, Mooresville, N.C.
BEST CAREER WMMP FINISH: 2nd (August 2012)
MOST RECENT WMMP FINISH: 2nd (August 2012)
WHAT: PASS North Series 150
WHERE: White Mountain Motorsports Park, N. Woodstock, N.H. (.25-mile banked oval)
WHEN: Saturday, September 8 – Practice, 3 p.m.; Qualifying, 6 p.m.; Race, 8:30 p.m.
PASS North Series
LAST RACE: August 26, PASS 125, Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford, Conn. (9th)
NEXT RACE: September 16, PASS 300, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (.333-mile oval)
CURRENT POINTS POSITION: 5th
DID YOU KNOW?
Lonnie Sommerville has only one finish in his career outside the Top-10 – a 12th-place finish in May of 2012 – in five career starts at White Mountain Motorsports Park.
Mulkern Racing has five Top-5 finishes in the last six races at White Mountain Motorsports Park.
Lonnie Sommerville is on pace for his second Top-5 PASS North Series points finish in as many seasons in the series.
Lonnie Sommerville led 40 of 123 laps last time out at White Mountain Motorsports Park in a rain-shortened event.
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
LONNIE SOMMERVILLE, Driver of the Mulkern Racing No. 48 A.E. McKay Builders/Southern Maine Motors Chevrolet, On racing at White Mountain Motorsports Park: “White Mountain takes a little bit of finesse. You don’t overdrive the car, manhandle it, run into guys like you do at a place like Star (Speedway). But it’s still hard to pass because it’s so fast. You can be running behind a guy and be quicker, but to find that way to get around him and find the line that will work makes it a pretty tough place.”
On his recent run of good finishes, including two Top-5s in the last three races, to move to fifth in the PASS North Series standings: “I don’t really feel like our cars have been bad. We just haven’t had the results. Wrong lines, flat tires, that kind of stuff. That’s racing.
“The first part of the year, we led laps in every race. The first four or five races, we led laps and didn’t close the deal. After that, I just decided I wasn’t going to worry about leading the most laps or any of that stuff. There’s no bragging rights for leading laps. At this stage, I only want to go lead the last one.”
On his outlook for this weekend and going back to a track where he recorded his best finish of the season: “The car was good when the sun was out (last time). It’s the first time we went there with the crate motor. The start of the race, the first 25, 30, 40 laps – whatever we ran there – I was 70 percent and I was driving off. I was pretty excited that we had a car that was that good and going to be dominant. It kind of reminded me of Beech Ridge last year.
“All in all, it was a good day. The season we’ve had, we’ll take it. We’ve had a good race car the last couple of races and just haven’t quite been able to put it all together. But it just shows how good a race team we can be.”
UP NEXT
The PASS North Series heads to the longest race of the season in the Southern Maine Motors 300 at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway in Scarborough, Maine, on Sunday, September 16… Lonnie Sommerville finished second in the season opener at Beech Ridge, where he won in July of 2011.