ARCA RE/MAX season in review

YEAR-END WRAP-UP STORY, HOLIDAY EDITION

KIMMEL CHARGES TO THIRD ARCA RE/MAX TITLE
(11-19-01)

TOLEDO OH, by Don Radebaugh - Marked by triumph and tragedy, the ARCA
RE/MAX Series completed its 49th season of competition in 2001 crowning
Frank Kimmel as its driving champion for the third time in four seasons
while third-generation driver Jason Jarrett earned ARCA Rookie of the
Year honors. Tragically, veteran RE/MAX Series driver Blaise Alexander
was killed in a racing accident at Lowe’s Motor Speedway while veteran
Dean Roper suffered a fatal heart attack during the race on the
Springfield dirt-mile. Through it all, there were 11 different winners
during the 25-race season as well as four first-time winners including
Jarrett, Billy Bigley, John Finger and Ed Berrier.

Utilizing a combination of Fords and Chevrolets, Kimmel, in Larry
Clement-owned Advance Auto Parts-Pork sponsored cars, posted ten
victories en route to the RE/MAX Series driving championship while
Kimmel’s car owner Larry Clement won his third car owner title.

“What can you say; it was a dream season for the Tri-State Motorsports
team,” said Kimmel. “Having great equipment under you makes all the
difference, and we were never without that thanks to our car owner Larry
Clement. But even beyond the great equipment, 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 contributions. 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 versatile mix of short-tracks, superspeedways,
dirt-tracks and a road course, Kimmel was rarely far from the front
posting 21 top-five and 22 top-ten finishes. In addition, the popular
Jeffersonville, Indiana driver led a whopping 1,474 laps in 20 races and
won 11 Old Milwaukee Pole Awards, three of which were new track records
at Nashville Superspeedway, Toledo Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
In all, Kimmel’s ten wins came in a variety of combinations at Salem
Speedway, Gateway, Kentucky Speedway, Nashville, Lowe’s, the dirt-tracks
of Springfield and DuQuoin and Toledo.

Jarrett, who finished second in points, adapted well to the diverse
RE/MAX Series with eight top-fives and 15 top-tens which included his
career-first superspeedway victory at Kansas Speedway in June. In
addition, the son of ’99 Winston Cup champion Dale Jarrett established a
new one-lap track record at Michigan International Speedway and finished
an impressive third in his first dirt-track start at Springfield.

Three-time RE/MAX Series champion Tim Steele ran a limited schedule in
’01; still yet the Coopersville, Michigan driver was second best in the
win column with four victories at Winchester Speedway, Berlin Raceway
and both events at Pocono Raceway. In addition, the all-time
superspeedway winner and pole winner won Old Milwaukee Pole Awards at
Gateway, Chicagoland Speedway and at Lowe’s in the Spring and Fall.

Kerry Earnhardt, the eldest son of NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, made
big marks in the series by winning three races in only five starts at
Michigan, Atlanta and Lowe’s. Additional winners in ’01 included Ryan
Newman at Daytona Int’l Speedway and veteran Bobby Gerhart at Talladega
Superspeedway while Winston Cup veteran Ken Schrader won his
career-eighth RE/MAX Series victory at Nashville. Aforementioned
first-time winners, other than Jarrett, include Bigley at Memphis Motor
Sports Park, Finger at Watkins Glen Int’l and Berrier at Chicagoland.

Additional highlights include two pole awards by rookie sensation Stuart
Kirby at Pocono, one of which was a new track record. In all, Kirby
posted an impressive 5 top-five finishes in only eight starts, including
a runner-up finish to Kimmel at Lowe’s. Winston Cup veteran Tony
Stewart, in a Kimmel team car, set a new one-lap track record on the
DuQuoin dirt-mile and finished second to Kimmel in the race missing out
at the final stripe by less than a length. Justin Labonte also made news
when the son of two-time Winston Cup champion Terry Labonte entered the
first-ever Dodge Intrepid in RE/MAX Series competition at Nashville.

Andy Belmont was consistent all season with 13 top-ten finishes, good
enough to post his career-best point finish of 3rd in his own
AOL-Racecakes sponsored Fords. Veterans’ Ron Cox and Norm Benning put up
career-best point finishes of fourth and fifth respectively while
second-generation driver Todd Bowsher, driving for his father and
three-time RE/MAX Series driving champion Jack Bowsher, finished up
strong in sixth. In addition, Bowsher finished second in ARCA Rookie of
the Year points just 20 points away from Jarrett. Mesquite, Texas driver
Chuck Weber traveled long and hard to finish a career-best seventh in
points over Largo, Florida driver Donny Morelock who drove James
Hylton-owned Fords to eighth in points. Steele was ninth over Ann Arbor,
Michigan driver Mike Buckley who completed the top-ten point finishers
in his own Midwest Mall Fronts Chevy.

The ARCA RE/MAX Series is poised to fire-up its 50th season of
competition in ’02 with the 39th annual Daytona ARCA 200 on February 10
at Daytona Int’l Speedway.

CONTACT: ARCA PR, Don Radebaugh (734) 847-6726