It's P1 For Lonnie Sommerville In ReCar 200!

(July 5th, 2025) - ReCar brands itself as “how car buying should be” - but amongst countless happy ReCar customers, no one is more thrilled with their new car purchase than Lonnie Sommerville (#23) was on Saturday evening. 

Piloting his brand new P1 Chassis entry - the first P1 chassis in Canada - Sommerville fended off all challengers to become the sixth different winner in Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series history Saturday evening. The win was an emotional one for Sommerville as he ended the longest winless drought of his career, and did so with the pioneer behind P1 Chassis’s - North American Super Late Model icon Preston Peltier - looking on.

Sommerville’s win did not come easy. The veteran driver had to outduel several fellow stars throughout the course of the 200-lap affair, including runner-up Ryan Messer (#1), third place finisher Tanton Wooldridge (#01) and fourth place finisher Dave O’Blenis (#48).

Sommerville first gained the lead on lap 50 when the majority of the field pitted. A strategy call and a bit of luck would net Sommerville the top spot alongside Wooldridge. When the race commenced with O’Blenis on the EIT Race Radios Pole - but the lead was short lived with Ryan Messer leading the opening laps in a spirited battle. As Messer showed the way, it looked like disaster would strike for Wooldridge with a flat tire forcing him to pit - but just as he pulled off, the race's first caution would fly. Already in the pits, Wooldridge was making his mandatory pit stop under green to change the flat tire meaning the yellow kept him on the lead lap and saved his race. Meanwhile, Sommerville would lead a group of five additional cars down pit road under the first yellow.

The race resumed with Messer leading the way, and Sommerville and Wooldridge marching through traffic. On lap 28, O’Blenis would claim the top spot back from Messer, and would hang on until the next caution that flew on lap 50. All remaining drivers would pit under this yellow, handing the lead to Sommerville for the first time.

Sommerville would show the way over the next few green flag stints, but with pressure from O’Blenis - and by times Ryan Messer as well. Eventually, the pressure became too much as O’Blenis would overtake Sommerville on lap 134 to regain the top spot. At this point, it looked to be O’Blenis heading towards his first career win - but it all changed on a restart with 40 laps to go. Restarting side by side, O’Blenis spun the tires severely in the King Competition Restart Zone, enabling Sommerville to regain a lead he would never relinquish despite pressure from Messer and Wooldridge by times over the closing laps. Messer and Wooldridge would cross the line in second and third respectively, with O’Blenis in fourth and Greg Fahey (#20) posting consecutive top five runs after getting around points leader coming into the day in Dylan Gosbee (#16) late.

Sommerville would lead 124 laps en route to victory, with O’Blenis pacing 49 circuits and Messer 27 laps. There were four lead changes amongst those three drivers with plenty of side by side battling for the lead.

Eight cautions slowed the field, but none more dramatic than on the 69th lap of the race when Chris Duncan (#97) went for a tumble for the second time in three years in the ReCar sponsored event. This one would be less dramatic but still wild. While battling with Cal Hatfield (#11), the two would come together with Duncan getting air and effectively launching over the hood of Hatfield’s car, doing one full flip before landing on all four wheels in the Speedway 660 beach in the middle of turns 1 and 2.

O’Blenis, Fahey, and Wooldridge all won heat races to set the field for the ReCar 200 presented by Wonder Auto and Tire - a race which took one hour, twenty-seven minutes, and forty-four seconds to complete.

Unofficially, Ryan Messer (#1) will reclaim the points lead with his result, taking a one point lead over Tanton Wooldridge (#01) heading back to Oyster Bed Speedway for a special format 200-lap event for round four on Saturday August 2nd. After entering with the lead, Dylan Gosbee will slide back to third - but just barely with the points battle being super tight. His win pushes Lonnie Sommerville into the championship conversation just eleven points back in fourth. 

The next race for the Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series will be Saturday August 2nd when the series returns to Oyster Bed Speedway for round four on the 2025 calendar. It will be a special format 200-lap affair with more details to be announced!

For all news and information on the Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series, be sure to follow us on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube at @SLMSeries, or on our official website at SLMS.ca. A full race replay of the ReCar 200 presented by Wonder Auto and Tire will be available in the coming days on our YouTube channel

About the Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series

The Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series is Atlantic Canada’s newest stock car racing series. Formed in Fall of 2022 through a partnership between Oyster Bed Speedway, Petty International Raceway, and Speedway 660, the Easy-Kleen Super Late Model Series contests a six-race schedule with some of North America’s top racing talents. The 2024 season will mark the second season of competition. Fans can find more info online at SLMS.ca, or through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X at @SLMSeries.

About Easy-Kleen Pressure Systems

Easy-Kleen Pressure Systems Ltd. has been manufacturing high pressure wash systems since 1982. Over 100,000 companies spanning various fields in both the commercial and industrial sectors are utilizing our machines for their everyday cleaning needs. Easy-Kleen is dedicated to continuing to build the world’s most heavy duty, hardworking, reliable, and efficient high pressure cleaning systems. Our machines are known by our customers to last decades, with many units performing for over 25 years. Visit EasyKleen.com to learn more about the products and services offered by Easy-Kleen Pressure Systems.

ReCar 200 presented by Wonder Auto and Tire Results