ARCA RE/MAX year in review release

KIMMEL CROWNED ARCA RE/MAX KING AGAIN
(11-22-02)

TOLEDO OH, by Don Radebaugh - Marked by triumph and tragedy, the ARCA
RE/MAX Series completed its 50th season of competition in 2002 crowning
Frank Kimmel as its driving champion for the fourth time in five seasons
while runner-up driver Chad Blount earned ARCA Rookie of the Year
honors. Tragically, the season ended on a sad note when RE/MAX Series
regular Eric Martin was killed in a practice crash at Lowe’s Motor
Speedway in October. Through it all, Kimmel dominated winning 10 of 22
events; yet there were nine different winners, six of who were
first-time winners.

Kimmel, in Larry Clement’s familiar #46 Advance Auto Parts-Pork
sponsored Fords, also led the way with six Old Milwaukee Pole Awards en
route to the RE/MAX Series championship while Clement won his fourth car
owner title.

“What can you say; it was another dream season for the Tri-State
Motorsports team,” said Kimmel. “Having great equipment under you makes
all the difference. But even beyond that, this Advance Auto Parts-Pork
crew just flat out-worked everyone and it showed each and every week. My
brother and crew chief Bill (Kimmel) gave up a driving career to head
this thing up, and he’s done a great job. Special thanks to ET Sharp,
the third partner in Tri-State; we couldn’t be nearly as successful
without his help. And I’ve got 100% support from my family in this deal,
which means the world to me; I wouldn’t even attempt to do this without
it. I understand how fortunate I am to be in this situation, and I’m
honored to carry the ARCA RE/MAX championship banner again.”

Among ARCA’s typical mix of short-tracks, superspeedways and
dirt-tracks, Kimmel was rarely far from the front posting 18 top-five
and 19 top-10 finishes. In addition, the popular Jeffersonville, Indiana
driver led a whopping 1,237 laps in 20 races and became the first driver
in series history to surpass the $2 million mark in career earnings. In
all, Kimmel’s 10 wins came in a variety of combinations at Nashville
Superspeedway twice, Salem Speedway twice, Kentucky Speedway, Toledo
Speedway, both Springfield and DuQuoin mile-dirts, Winchester Speedway
and Kansas Speedway. Kimmel’s victory at DuQuoin was his fourth
consecutive triumph on dirt while his victory at Salem represented his
fifth consecutive win at the renowned high-banked paved oval.

Blount, who prior to the 2002 season had just five RE/MAX Series starts,
adapted well to the diverse tour with 11 top-fives and 14 top-10s
including victories at Michigan Int’l Speedway, Kentucky, Chicagoland
Speedway and the season finale at Lowe’s. In addition, the 23-year-old
Walkerton, Indiana driver won five Old Milwaukee poles at Atlanta,
Michigan, Toledo, Berlin and Chicagoland setting new track records along
the way at Atlanta and Chicagoland.

First-time winners included Blount and Damon Lusk who held off Blount
for the win at Atlanta by a margin of .001 seconds, the closest finish
in RE/MAX Series history. Lusk also triumphed at Pocono while Jeff
Fultz, after staging a memorable late-race dual with Kimmel, won a
thriller at Lowe’s. Late model standout Fred Campbell, in only his
second RE/MAX Series start, held off Blount by less than a length to win
at Berlin Raceway before Casey Atwood, in a Ray Evernham Dodge,
prevailed as winner over Jason Jarrett at Pocono. Jacksonville, Florida
veteran Keith Segars, in a Morgan-McClure Chevrolet, held off the
ever-present Blount at Talladega to secure his career-first RE/MAX
Series triumph.

The remaining winners in ’02 included veteran driver Bobby Gerhart who
won the Daytona ARCA 200 for the second time as well as Winston Cup
veteran Ken Schrader who won from the pole at South Boston Speedway, his
career ninth RE/MAX Series triumph.

Jason Jarrett, with eight top-fives and 14 top-10s, finished third in
driver points ahead of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee youngster Chase Montgomery
who finished a respectable fourth in points and finished second to
Blount in the Rookie of the Year honors. Montgomery, who posted a
career-best finish of third at Nashville, made news at Daytona when, at
18, he became the youngest polesitter in Daytona/ARCA history. Young
Shelby Howard, who turned 17 in July of ’02, churned out a career-best
second place finish at Winchester on the heels of Kimmel en route to his
fifth place finish in driver points. Howard was also the focus of a
segment featured on the ABC news/magazine show 20/20 on November 29th.

Other ’02 pole winners included RE/MAX Int’l driver John Metcalf at
Kentucky, veteran Vern Slagh also at Kentucky, Atwood at Pocono, Gerhart
at Talladega and Tony Stewart with a new track record on the DuQuoin
dirt-mile. Stewart, who finished second to Kimmel in the race in an Andy
Petree Chevy, was fresh from the Winston Cup race at Darlington the day
prior when he won the pole there for the second consecutive season.

Second-generation driver Billy Venturini, with nine top-10 runs,
finished a career-high sixth in points in the Venturini Motorsports
Chevrolet with Andy Belmont trailing in seventh. It was Belmont’s fifth
consecutive top-10 points finish. Longtime RE/MAX Series veteran Mark
Gibson finished eighth in points after posting eight top-10s in front of
Ron Cox who earned 8 top-10 runs en route to finishing ninth in year-end
points. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania veteran Norm Benning finished 10th in
points representing the sixth consecutive season he has finished in the
top-10 points.

The ARCA RE/MAX Series is poised to enter its 51st season of competition
in 2003 with the 40th annual Daytona ARCA 200 on February 8 at Daytona
Int’l Speedway.

CONTACT:  ARCA (734) 847-6726 or arcaracing.com