1/17/2023
Owosso Speedway
Lonnie Saumier and the Christmas Miracle
The sport of auto racing is filled with larger than life, tough as nails, macho men. The type of guys who intimidate you to the point you fear even approaching them. Drivers like Earnhardt, Foyt, Eddy, and many others who personify toughness.
But behind most of those drivers, there is a soft spot. Like Earnhardt gluing the lucky penny from a little girl to the dash before the 1998 Daytona 500.
One of those drivers at the Owosso Speedway is four-time Pure Stock Track Champion Lonnie Saumier. On the track, Lonnie has had unprecedented success in the Pure Stocks, multiple Championships, over 200 feature wins, and numerous other accolades have followed the Davison, Michigan driver since he started his career.
Lonnie is a driver who does not hesitate to race in close quarters with his competition, and on more than one occasion has rubbed a fender or two. But off the track, there is even more to the man than we see in a 20-lap feature on a Saturday night.
Saumier, the owner of M-57 Towing and Repair in Montrose, Michigan, has used his vehicles to help at the track when use of a tow truck is needed. He has even used the same truck to help competitors try to fix a tweaked frame so they could make the start of a feature race.
But Lonnie’s kindness reached new heights over the Christmas holidays. When snowstorms blew into Mid-Michigan, Saumier and his crew were put to the test. With numerous calls from families trapped in their vehicles. One of those was a Mother and her two kids. Tim from Lonnie’s team dug through the snow to help get the Mother and Kids to his truck to get them home. It would take over five hours, and three tow trucks daisy chained together to get them freed.
On Christmas Eve, the woman called back to the M-57 Towing crew, and told them the Christmas gifts for her children were still stuck in the vehicle. She asked if there was any way they could help get to their vehicle so her kids would have gifts to open on Christmas. Lonnie didn’t hesitate, put a plow on the truck and proceeded to go dig the vehicle out of the snow so those children would have gifts to open on Christmas morning.
“He’s going to hate that I’m posting this because he never asks for a pat on the back,” Lonnie’s wife Shelby posted to Facebook when letting the world know of Lonnie’s heroics. “He does kind stuff like this on the daily without ever telling a soul. I love that his heart is made of pure gold.”
Article Credit: Chris Fobbe
Submitted By: Chris Fobbe
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