ARCA: Kimmel Wins Kentucky, Full Results
Kimmel Reclaims Superspeedway Glory; Wins at Kentucky By Don Radebaugh SPARTA KY (5-15-05) It took him a while to get there, but once he did, Frank Kimmel drove away from his closest competitors to win the Harley-Davidson of Cincinnati 150 Sunday afternoon at Kentucky Speedway. The win represented Kimmel’s 16th career ARCA RE/MAX Series superspeedway victory, his fourth at Kentucky and 57th overall. However, it was Kimmel’s first superspeedway win since September of 2003. “I'm really proud,” said Kimmel. “The team worked really hard. We're disappointed in how we qualified. I was really glad to get back into the winners circle on an intermediate racetrack. If we can win on a superspeedway it's just as well it's at Kentucky Speedway." In the end, the best race on the track was the battle for second where Joey Miller mounted a late-race challenge on Chad Blount. Blount, who led the most laps, fought off Miller to finish second. “We just came up a little short today,” said Blount. “We had a pretty good racecar, but after we had the caution, we were a little tight in the center. I congratulate Frank; he did a great job today. You can tell he’s a great champion.” Miller, in the Country Joe Homes-Eagle Creek Aviation Dodge, finished third a half-length back earning the Highest Finishing Rookie honors. “I’m pretty happy with it,” said Miller. “Anytime you get a top three, you can’t be too disappointed with it.” Ken Weaver, in his own 1-800-4-A-Phone Pontiac, spent most of his day in the third position before fading to fourth in the final rundown. Kevin Hamlin, in Ken Schrader’s Dodge, finished a solid fifth in his career-first series start. Kimmel, who pitted only once for tires and fuel, started 17th in the 100-lap, 150-mile race and carefully worked his way forward in time to challenge Blount for the lead just past the 60-lap mark. Blount managed to hold off Kimmel for a while before the eventual winner made the winning pass to lead the 67th lap. From there, Kimmel stretched his advantage to more than two seconds at the final stripe. Blount, who earned the Pork Pole Award, led the first 36 laps with Weaver, Chad McCumbee and Kyle Krisiloff in tow while Kimmel began his careful and well-planned ascent through the field. With caution on the speedway and one-third of the race complete, Blount, along with most of the front-runners, pitted for service while Brandon Knupp stayed out to lead the 37th lap. Knupp held on for ten circuits before Blount, who beat Kimmel off pit road, reclaimed the lead on lap 48. However, it would only be a matter of time before Kimmel tracked down Blount. In addition to his runner-up finish and pole honors, Blount also earned the Weld Wheels Halfway Leader award and the ReadyHosting.com Lap Leader honors for leading the most laps. Blount’s crew chief Tom Sokoloski was the recipient of the SK Hand Tool Crew Chief of the Race award. Stuart Kirby, who started second, recovered from a front stretch spin coming down for the initial start and finished sixth in Bob Schacht’s SUBcrews.com Ford. Rookie Marc Mitchell finished a career-best seventh in the Auburn University Chevrolet. Mitchell, who started 33rd, also won the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions. Christi Passmore finished eighth in the GAP Roofing-Asphalt & Fuel Supply Ford. Mark Gibson was ninth in the Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet over Knupp, who finished 10th in the KB Machine-Mark Knupp Muffler & Tire Ford. The Boca Bay Racing team and driver Johnny Leonard, who got caught up in Stuart’s mishap, struggled all day with a wrinkled racecar and several trips down pit road to earn the Gladiator of the Race award. Top-10 ARCA RE/MAX Series points after Kentucky Speedway (5-15-05): 1) Frank Kimmel 855; 2) Joey Miller 835; 3) Chad Blount 785; 4) Ken Weaver 770; 5) Mark Gibson 575; 6) Todd Bowsher 550; 7) Chad McCumbee 530; 8) Christi Passmore 525; 9) Norm Benning 515; 10) Mike Harmon 505. Contact: ARCA PR/Media, Don Radebaugh (734) 847-6726 2005 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES EVENT #4 Kentucky Speedway, Sparta KY, 5-14-05 Official Results, Harley-Davidson of Cincinnati 150 FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 1 17 46 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford 100 Running 2 1 67 Chad Blount/Walkerton IN Foretravel Motorhomes Chevrolet 100 Running 3 21 9 Joey Miller/Farmington MN Country Joe Homes-Eagle Creek Aviation Dodge 100 Running 4 3 10 Ken Weaver/Dallas TX 1-800-4-A-Phone Pontiac 100 Running 5 6 99 Kevin Hamlin/Concord NC Ken Schrader Racing Dodge 100 Running 6 2 75 Stuart Kirby/Bowling Green KY Bob Schacht Motorsports-SUBcrews.com Ford 100 Running 7 33 3 Marc Mitchell/Tallahassee FL Auburn University Chevrolet 100 Running 8 11 91 Christi Passmore/Pryor OK GAP Roofing-Asphalt & Fuel Supply Ford 100 Running 9 18 59 Mark Gibson/Winder GA Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet 100 Running 10 19 96 Brandon Knupp/Sidney OH KB Machine-Pork-Mark Knupp Muffler & Tire Ford 100 Running 11 15 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ont Jones Group Int'l Dodge 100 Running 12 31 90 David Ragan/Kannapolis NC 31-W Insulation Chevrolet 100 Running 13 10 56 Robert Richardson/McKinney TX Richardson Racing-Jan Gibson Ford 100 Running 14 14 45 Michael Simko/Clarkston MI Mound Steel-Diamond Racing Chevrolet 100 Running 15 40 38 Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL Global Pigeon Supply Chevrolet 99 Running 16 30 65 Walt Brannen/Elko GA SPS-Brack Maggard Racing Dodge 99 Running 17 26 25 Jason Jarrett/Hickory NC Central Merchant Services-ReadyHosting.com Chevy 99 Running 18 5 11 Chad McCumbee/Supply NC Seawatch-Fast Track Driving School Chevrolet 98 Running 19 38 26 Brad Smith/Belleville MI Kool Mat Ford 97 Running 20 7 29 Bubba Pollard/Senoia GA Sue Bee Honey Racing Ford 97 Running 21 12 39 Josh Krug/Omaha NE Pat Krug Racing Chevrolet 97 Running 22 25 19 GR Smith/Folsom NJ Keith Murt Chevrolet 96 Running 23 32 21 Todd Bowsher/Springfield OH Safe Auto Insurance Ford 95 Running 24 20 13 Johnny Leonard/Cape Coral FL Boca Bay Builders-Affordable Roofing Chevrolet 93 Running 25 39 0 Tim Mitchell/Fayetteville TN Star Wheels Skate Center Chevrolet 93 Running 26 8 4 Mike Guerity/Rochester Hills MI Hantz Group Dodge 90 Running 27 36 08 Bill Eversole/Chelsea MI Hardcore Motorsports Chevrolet 89 Running 28 34 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet 88 Running 29 29 1 Andy Belmont/Penndel PA Bootie Lager Chevrolet 86 Running 30 35 5 Jeff Caudell/Austin IN Craig Auto Chevrolet 80 Running 31 23 37 Zach Chappell/Talala OK AmericashAdvance.com Chevrolet 71 Accident 32 24 23 Joe Cooksey/Centralia IL 1-800-SERVPRO Pontiac 62 Oil Pump 33 37 84 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA Benning Motorsports Chevrolet 58 Running 34 22 54 Frank Kapfhammer/Louisville KY Long John Silver's Chevrolet 53 Accident 35 27 8 Howard Bixman/Holly MI Summit Plastic Molding-T'Craft Ford 53 Accident 36 4 7 Kyle Krisiloff/Indianapolis IN Ditech.com Chevrolet 39 Accident 37 13 62 Danny O'Quinn/Coeburn VA Race To GED-Bullett Motorsports Ford 32 Clutch 38 9 20 Johnny Chapman/Hickory NC Fast Track Pontiac 16 Accident 39 28 33 Ryan Howard/Tipp City OH Gibson-Howard Chevrolet 9 Handling 40 16 48 TJ Bell/Sparks NV Heathcliff's Cat Litter-Defiant Clothing Chevrolet 1 Accident PORK POLE AWARD: Chad Blount 31.235 (172.883 mph) MRGN OF VICT: 2.235 seconds CAUTIONS: 8 for 39 laps TIME OF RACE: 1:27:26 AVG SPEED: 102.936 mph LAP LEADERS: Blount 1-36, 48-66 (55); Knupp 37-47 (11); Kimmel 67-100 (34)
