ARCA RE/MAX release, points, Salem Spdwy

CURRENT ARCA RE/MAX Series top-10 points:  1) Frank Kimmel 5465; 2) Chad
Blount 4950; 3) Jason Jarrett 4480; 4) Chase Montgomery 4285; 5) Shelby
Howard 4185; 6) Billy Venturini 4130; 7) Ron Cox 3980; 8) Andy Belmont
3950; 9) Mark Gibson 3935; 10) Norm Benning 3755.

KIMMEL TRIUMPHANT AT SALEM; AGAIN

SALEM IN (9-15-02) When it comes to Salem Speedway, there’s no stopping
Frank Kimmel.

Kimmel, with a bent racecar, steered the Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford
from the back to the front to win the action-packed Eddie Gilstrap
Motors 200 Sunday afternoon at Salem Speedway. It was Kimmel's 5th
consecutive win at Salem and 7th overall at the legendary half-mile,
high-banked southern-Indiana oval. In addition, Kimmel chalked up his
43rd career ARCA RE/MAX Series victory.

“We got shoved up into the fence there a bit and it bent the rear end
and knocked the toe out,” said Kimmel. “Then the car got real tight and
we started backing up. But Bill (Kimmel/crew chief) made some great
calls; he got the handle back with stagger adjustments, gave me some
fresh tires there at the end. I think the tires made the difference
between me and Andy (Belmont).”

Andy Belmont, in his own Odoban Grease Control-AOL Ford, led the most
laps and appeared to be on his way to his career-first RE/MAX Series
victory when Kimmel, with a much-improved handle and fresher tires,
reemerged as a force to be reckoned with. Kimmel, after coming from the
tail-end of the lead lap cars, eventually tracked down Belmont and made
the winning pass with 30 laps to go. Although Belmont kept Kimmel within
reach for the remainder of the 200-lap race, the Penndel, Pennsylvania
veteran was unable to mount the necessary challenge in time. Belmont
held on for second after leading 85 laps overall to Kimmel’s 76.

Leading ARCA RE/MAX Series rookie contender Chad Blount, who managed to
lead nine laps, led the parade of rookies to the checkered flag in third
place in Todd Braun’s Dodge ahead of rookies’ Chase Montgomery and
Shelby Howard. Montgomery, in the Ronald McDonald Children Charities
Chevrolet, held off Howard for fourth. Howard, in the Mike Sodrel for
Congress Chevrolet, finished fifth.

At the onset, Old Milwaukee Pole winner Kimmel got the jump on outside
polesitter Jerry Coble and bolted out to a ten-length advantage while
Belmont, who started ninth, began his trek towards the front. Forty laps
into the race, Belmont tracked down Kimmel for the lead and made the
pass in time to lead the 44th lap. Belmont led up through lap 90 before
Kimmel reclaimed the lead when Belmont got together with a lapped car.
The altercation caved in Belmont’s right-front fender forcing him to
make an additional pit stop. Soon after, Kimmel bounced off the wall in
turn four and had to make unscheduled pit stops in an effort to cure his
handling woes resulting from hitting the wall.

Then Blount took charge and led laps 93 through 101 while Belmont and
Kimmel charged back through the pack. About that time, Coble, making his
career-first RE/MAX Series start in the Sadler Brothers Ford, raced by
Blount for the lead and led 30 laps before Belmont raced back into the
top-spot on lap 132. From there, Belmont stretched his advantage to a
full straightaway and re-established himself as a serious contender for
the win while Kimmel took advantage of late-race caution periods to pit
for fresh tires and adjustments. That gave Kimmel the ammunition he
would need to, not only catch, but pass Belmont late the race to earn
the hard-fought victory. In the end, Kimmel’s margin of victory over
Belmont was 1.647 seconds.

Seven cautions, all for minor accidents, slowed the event for 39 laps
while four drivers exchanged the lead six times.

Clarkston, Michigan second-generation driver Michael Simko finished a
career-best sixth in Arne Henriksen’s Engineered Components Ford ahead
of Marietta, Georgia driver Mike Langston who finished a career-best
seventh in only his second start. Former ARCA Rookie of the Year and
Soddy Daisy, Tennessee driver Ron Cox finished eighth in the Buffalo
Wild Wings Chevrolet with Lovejoy, Georgia rookie Doug Stevens trailing
in ninth, the last car on the lead lap. Coble, who was every bit as
stout as the front-runners, got caught on pit road and lost a lap in the
exchange but still managed a tenth place finish.

Kimmel picked up the National Pork Board Pole/Win bonus for winning from
the pole while Blount won the Loctite Halfway Leader award.
Sixteen-year-old Springfield, Illinois rookie Justin Allgaier, who
started 27th and finished 17th, won the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award
for advancing the most positions. Brookville, Ohio driver Randy VanZant,
whose oil pump failed just 10 laps into the race, was awarded the
Landrum Spring Hard Luck award as a consolation.

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