ARCA Salem Results Plus Points after Salem

Current top-10 ARCA RE/MAX Series points after Salem (4-27-03): 1) Frank Kimmel 905; 2) Billy Venturini 790; 3) Mark Gibson 745; 4) Jason Jarrett 730; 5) Ron Cox 690; 6) Brent Sherman 680; 7) Christi Passmore 630; 8) Bill Eversole 560; 9) Shelby Howard 555; 10) Mike Buckley 540.

 

 

YOUNGSTER HOWARD HOLDS OFF VETERAN KIMMEL AT SALEM

 

SALEM IN (4-27-03)  

 

By Don Radebaugh - With a standing-room-only crowd, seventeen-year-old Shelby Howard did what no driver has done for nearly three years - deprive hometown favorite Frank Kimmel a victory at Salem Speedway.

 

Howard, with Kimmel looming large in the mirror, held off the master of the renowned, southern-Indiana oval in the dramatic, closing laps of the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 Sunday afternoon scoring his career-first ARCA RE/MAX Series triumph.

 

"I'm a little shocked," said Howard. "I knew we were good, but I also knew we had Frank (Kimmel) on my bumper for the last 20 laps or so - seemed like forever to me. Just want to thank all the guys who work so hard on our program; it's been a long time coming. Thanks to Beck Dodge and Mack Trucks for all the help too." 

 

Kimmel, who was aiming for his sixth-consecutive win at Salem, had to settle for second a half-second behind the winner after leading 79 laps of the 200 lap race. Kimmel, who won his sixth consecutive Old Milwaukee Pole at Salem, also had to race from the tail-end of the field as a result of changing engines in his Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford the day before.

 

"All in all it was a good day," said Kimmel. "We just got too tight on that last stop. I'd like to congratulate Shelby on a great run; they earned it. But we finished second, and that's a pretty good day at the races."

 

Billy Venturini, after leading 19 laps, passed Paul Menard with less than ten laps remaining to finish third in the Hawk Saw Blades-Mahle Pistons Pontiac. Menard, making his career-first RE/MAX Series start driving for Andy Petree, finished fourth in the Menard's-Turtle Wax Chevrolet. Andy Belmont finished fifth in the Verizon Ford, the first car one lap down.

 

With less than 40 laps remaining in the 200-lap race, Kimmel, with a sizeable lead, looked like he was on his way to another victory until he lost the top spot in the pits during one of several cautions. Menard, who had led 26 laps early on, won the race off pit road ahead of Howard and Kimmel. Back under green, Venturini, who didn't pit, led up until the next caution period giving the third-generation driver the opportunity to come down pit road for badly-needed tires. That put Howard into the lead over Kimmel, Menard and Venturini for the restart. With 15 laps remaining, the green waved again for the top-four contenders who were now the only cars on the lead lap. Kimmel pressured Howard while Venturini worked on Menard. But while Venturini was able to make the pass on Menard for third, Howard began to pull away from Kimmel. Howard looked to be firmly in control until the final caution flag came out for a two-car tangle in turn four. That set the stage for a dramatic green-white-checker finish in which Kimmel would get one final shot at Howard. However, Howard denied the late-race challenge from Kimmel and cruised under the checkered flag two lengths ahead of Kimmel.

 

Jason Jarrett finished sixth in the Biomet-Damon RV Pontiac ahead of Joe Cooksey who finished seventh in the Fuelvend Chevrolet. Norm Benning finished eighth in the B&B Pest Control Chevrolet in front of Christi Passmore who tied her career-best finish in ninth in the Gap Roofing-Royal Trading Ford. Passmore, who started 23rd, also picked up the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions and the ARCA Highest Finishing Rookie honors. Second-generation racer Michael Simko completed the top-ten finishers in the Mound Steel & Supplies Chevrolet.

 

Deborah Renshaw and Darryl Sage raced in the top-five for much of the afternoon before getting caught up in one of ten cautions throughout the race that left many machines beat and battered. One of those bruised machines was Ron Cox's which soldiered home to a fifteenth place finish after several stops on pit road to piece his Wayne Hixson-owned Chevrolet back together. As a result, Cox's crew earned the Gladiator of the Race award for outstanding achievement. Renshaw, as a consolation, was awarded the Landrum Springs Hard Luck honors. 



        2003 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES EVENT #4   
       Salem Speedway, Salem IN, 4-27-03   
       Official Results, Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200   
           
      FIN STR NO DRIVER/RESIDENCE TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 
      1 4 64 Shelby Howard/Greenwood IN Mack Trucks-Beck Dodge 200 Running 
      2 1 46 Frank Kimmel/Jeffersonville IN Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford 200 Running 
      3 14 25 Billy Venturini/Chicago IL Hawk Saw Blades-Mahle Pistons Pontiac 200 Running 
      4 2 33 Paul Menard/Eau Claire WI Menard's-Turtle Wax Chevrolet 200 Running 
      5 7 1 Andy Belmont/Penndel PA Verizon 1-800-USE-THE-VZ Ford 199 Running 
      6 8 67 Jason Jarrett/Hickory NC Damon RV-Biomet Pontiac 199 Running 
      7 16 51 Joe Cooksey/Centralia IL Fuelvend Chevrolet 198 Running 
      8 18 84 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA B&B Pest Control Chevrolet 197 Running 
      9 23 91 Christi Passmore/Pryor OK Gap Roofing-Royal Trading Ford 196 Running 
      10 15 75 Michael Simko/Clarkston MI Mound Steel & Supplies Chevrolet 196 Running 
      11 21 21 Todd Bowsher/Springfield OH GFS Marketplace Ford 196 Running 
      12 17 86 Justin Allgaier/Springfield IL Hoosier Tire Midwest Chevrolet 196 Running 
      13 27 28 Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI ETSSolutions.com Chevrolet 192 Running 
      14 13 5 Randy VanZant/Brookville OH Devers Truck Bodies Pontiac 186 Running 
      15 20 23 Ron Cox/Soddy Daisy TN Gladiator GarageWorks Chevrolet 185 Running 
      16 31 24 Chuck Weber/Mesquite TX Cardinal Tool Company Chevrolet 185 Running 
      17 33 83 Jim Eubanks/Dexter MO Crappie Co-Bass Cummings Gateway Chevy 183 Running 
      18 32 26 Brad Smith/Dearborn MI BradSmithMotorsports.com Chevrolet 173 Running 
      19 9 59 Mark Gibson/Winder GA Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet 170 Running 
      20 5 19 Darryl Sage/Nashville TN Murtco Chevrolet 158 Accident 
      21 3 27 Deborah Renshaw/Bowling Green KY Ray Montgomery Chevrolet 158 Tie Rod 
      22 29 48 Ryan Vos/Jackson MI James Hylton Ford 151 Accident 
      23 34 06 Mike Koch/Mountain Home AR Nealco Chevrolet 129 Vibration 
      24 6 77 Matt Hagans/Brownsburg IN Eagle Creek Aviation-1st Wing Mngmnt Dodge  123 Vibration 
      25 25 7 Jeff Caudell/Seymour IN Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Chevrolet 79 Engine 
      26 26 2 Jerry Middleton/Richmond IN Servpro of IN & OH-Tom Raper RV Chevy 66 Rear End 
      27 24 08 Bill Eversole/Chelsea MI Think Pink Energy Drink Chevrolet 46 Accident 
      28 30 38 Dennis English/Benton KY Speedy Lube-Rock 92.3 Chevrolet 44 Electrical 
      29 22 47 Mike Langston/Marietta GA Jani King-3M Ford 38 Accident 
      30 12 44 Brent Sherman/N Barrington IL Serta Mattress-Hickory Farms Ford 38 Accident 
      31 28 6 Greg Smart/Fayetteville TN Wayne Peterson Racing Chevrolet 37 Ignition 
      32 11 54 Frank Kapfhammer/Louisville KY CFM Mortgage-Subway Chevrolet 23 Accident 
      33 10 71 Doug Stevens/Lovejoy GA Jasper Engines & Transmissions Ford 19 Engine 
      34 19 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Ideal Paint & Wallpaper Chevrolet DNS  
           
           
       OLD MILWAUKEE POLE AWARD:  Frank Kimmel 17.648 (113.214 mph)   
       MRGN OF VICT:  .605 seconds CAUTIONS:  10 cautions for 61 laps   
       TIME OF RACE:  1:43:52 AVG SPEED:  64.120 mph   
       LAP LEADERS:  Menard 1-22, 98-101 (26); Howard 23-78, 181-200 (76); Kimmel 79-97, 102-161 (79); Venturini 162-180 (19)