ARCA RE/MAX release, Winchester

Winchester is King Kimmel’s Golden Place; reigns in GoldenPalace.com 200

WINCHESTER IN (8-31-02)

By Don Radebaugh - ARCA RE/MAX Series veteran Frank Kimmel survived
war-torn Winchester and persistent pressure from several eager, young
rookies to win the hard-fought GoldenPalace.com 200 Saturday night under
the lights at Winchester Speedway.

Everything appeared to go as planned for Kimmel who managed to keep his
Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford up front most of the way, and as a result,
out of harms way to earn his 41st career RE/MAX Series victory and
eighth of the season. The win places Kimmel in a tie with Tim Steele for
third on the all-time ARCA win list behind ARCA champions/legends Iggy
Katona and Jack Bowsher.

“The car was perfect right off the trailer and stayed that way all
night,” said Kimmel in victory lane. “We never adjusted it; we didn’t
need to. We had great pit stops tonight, all routine for fuel and tires;
the rest was up to me. It was a busy night out there; we had to dodge
the wrecks all night. Thankfully, everything worked out for us.”

Things also worked out very well for 17-year-old rookie Shelby Howard
who, not only led 18 laps near the latter stages of the race, but also
finished a career-best second in the Mack Trucks Chevrolet. In addition,
Howard was the only other car that managed to finish on the lead-lap
with Kimmel.

“I don’t think we had anything for Frank (Kimmel) but I think we ran as
good as could have been expected,” said Howard after the race. “I’ve
always had good luck at this track; it’s always been one of my
favorites. We were fortunate to avoid the wrecks and come out with a
good finish. It could have been a lot worse.”

Lovejoy, Georgia rookie Doug Stevens, in only his third RE/MAX Series
start and first-ever at Winchester, made quite an impression in the
Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford finishing a respectable third in
front of Winder, Georgia veteran Mark Gibson who steered the Williams
Brothers Lumber Ford to the finish in fourth. Randy VanZant, in the
Devers Truck Bodies Pontiac, survived a bump from behind resulting in a
meeting with the backstretch wall to finish a solid fifth.

Outside of Kimmel, who dominated with 166 laps-led, and Howard’s trick
up front, Chad Blount and Jason Jarrett were the only other lap leaders
throughout the grueling 200-lap grind. And while Jarrett, who was
leading at the time, fell out with a broken rear-end gear, outside
polesitter Blount, on the heels of Kimmel, got caught up in one of
several wrecks throughout the caution-filled thrill show. The same
wreck, triggered when the lapped car of Sterling Heights, Michigan
driver Claude Plante spun in turn four, also took out Billy Venturini
who had been running fourth after qualifying third. Blount, with a
badly-damaged car, would later return to competition and eventually
soldiered home 17th. Mt. Juliet, Tennessee rookie Chase Montgomery, who
was never out of the top four, managed to miss the wreck that all but
eliminated Blount and Venturini only to fall pray to another just past
the halfway point. Montgomery, who was having another career night, was
pressuring Kimmel for the lead when the two front-runners encountered
the lapped car of Brian Winters on the backstretch. With Winters right
in the groove, Kimmel went low while Montgomery went high for the lead.
As the trio entered turn three, Winters made contact with Montgomery’s
machine sending Montgomery hard into the wall. Montgomery’s
badly-destroyed machine bounced off and slid down the main straightaway
in a shower of sparks coming to a halt near the start-finish line.
Montgomery, unhurt, climbed out and was through for night. Andy Belmont,
who qualified fourth in the Odoban Grease Control Ford, was a factor
until a right front tire went down sending the Penndel, Pennsylvania
veteran bouncing off the turn four wall. Belmont returned to competition
only to suffer the same fate twice more. In all, there were 10 cautions
for a variety of spins and wrecks resulting in plenty of beat and
battered cars, however there were no injuries.

Mike Buckley, in the Midwest Mall Fronts Chevrolet, finished a solid
sixth ahead of Ron Cox who finished seventh in the Buffalo Wild Wings
Chevrolet. Second-generation driver Todd Bowsher survived a couple of
wall-bangers to finish a respectable eighth in the GFS Marketplace Ford
with Norm Benning trailing in ninth in his own Benning Motorsports
Chevrolet. John Sadinsky, in only a hand-full of starts, recovered
nicely from an earlier pile-up to finish a career-best tenth in the
Talon Performance Products Chevrolet.

In addition to Kimmel’s first-place prize money, the Jeffersonville,
Indiana driver won the Old Milwaukee Pole award, his 5th of the season,
and picked up the National Pork Board Pole-Win bonus for winning from
the pole. Kimmel also won the Loctite Halfway Leader award. Mesquite,
Texas driver Chuck Weber earned the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger honors for
his 13th place finish after starting 28th while Montgomery was awarded
the Landrum Spring Hard Luck award.