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Before Sunday there had never been a repeat winner in the Peterbilt 250 at Speedway 660. It was a fact that Lonnie Sommerville and his #23 A. E. McKay Builders/Kent Building Supplies Chevy Impala race team was keenly aware of. That fact would change Sunday evening in the ninth annual Peterbilt 250.
A record forty-four cars attempted to qualify for the twenty-eight car field before a record crowd of 8,000 fans for the Peterbilt 250. Sommerville and teammate Travis Kittleson ran in the same heat race finishing third and fourth respectively. Once show time came and the green flag was displayed for the start of the 2009 version of the Peterbilt 250 it was Kittleson who would march his way to the front leading seventy-six laps and in the process leading at the halfway point picking up the $1,050 halfway challenge money on top of his winnings for eighth place, the first car one lap down. Kittleson was the leader until a flat tire caused the #30 Pub’s Drive Thru Bottle Exchange Chevy Impala to loop around bringing out the caution flag at lap 145. Kittleson was penalized a lap by race officials for what they deemed as intentionally bringing out the caution.
Lonnie Sommerville spent most of the night just biding his time, taking care of his stuff until a caution came out on lap 224 for reports from the leaders of oil on the track. At the time Sommerville was almost a lap down, however with the caution he was able to catch back up and more importantly come to the pits for fresh tires. The green flag came out with Sommerville restarting in the fifth position with twenty-six laps to go. It would only take sixteen laps for Sommerville to take the lead; a lead which he would not relinquish to become the first repeat winner in the nine year history of the Peterbilt 250.
“This is awesome,” said Sommerville. “To be the first repeat winner of this race, to win the biggest race of the year at our home track, it just means a lot. We were decent all night, it did take some adjustments during the race to make our car better but we just took care of our stuff and bided our time until it was time to go. We were fortunate enough to get that caution late in the race to come get fresh tires, which was just an awesome call by my crew chief Gary Crooks. From there on we knew we had the car to beat. It’s a thrill to win this race the way we did. To charge through the field late in the race made for a great show for the fans.”
Sommerville’s teammate, Travis Kittleson, had one of the fastest cars on the track most of the race. However, the flat tire and resulting spin put the #30 Chevy Impala one lap down basically ending his shot at winning the race.
“We had a nice piece from the start, and probably could have given Lonnie a run for his money had it not been for them giving me the penalty for spinning out. But regardless it was an awesome weekend for me and I have to thank Lonnie and everyone associated with the Lonnie Sommerville Racing team for the hard work and effort they put into this weekend. If I’m able to race here again next year without a doubt Lonnie Sommerville Racing is the team who I want to do it with, they’re a class act race team,” stated Kittleson after the race.
Sommerville took home $15,000 for winning the race, plus $750 in lap leader money. He also won the CAT Atlantic 250, which was also the second of the three Carquest Maritime Pro Stock Tour Triple Crown races.
“We haven’t had the year we’ve wanted but winning two out of the three Triple Crown races really makes our year for us though. I told Gary (Crooks) in victory lane if he’d worked with me instead of Regan Smith at the IWK 250 we’d have $50,000 right now for winning all three Triple Crown races,” stated Sommerville. “But winning this race here at Speedway 660 in front of a lot of Lonnie Sommerville sponsors and fans means a lot. Hopefully this is just a sign of things to come as we get ready to head south in a few weeks for a pair of PASS South races.”
