Schrader wins at South Boston

SCHRADER ARCA SoBo BEST

SOUTH BOSTON VA (10-18-03) - By Don Radebaugh - Ken Schrader, in between nearby NASCAR events at Martinsville Speedway, squeezed in a Saturday night ARCA RE/MAX Series short-track war at South Boston Speedway where he cashed in big with a victory in the Bank of America 200.

"It feels good," said Schrader in victory lane. "The car was good all night. It's the same car we won with here last year. I really wanna thank Federated Auto Parts for giving us the opportunity to get out a little and have some fun. We love running with the ARCA series, and we'll do it every chance we get."

Frank Kimmel, with a noticeably war-torn racecar, battled from way back to finish second in the Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford over local favorite Hermie Sadler who passed Jason Jarrett on the last lap to finish third in the Bailey's Cigarettes Chevrolet.

Jarrett finished fourth in the Gladiator GarageWorks Pontiac in front of LW Miller, who made his return to the series a productive one with a solid fifth place finish in the Murtco-Hurley's Supermarkets Chevrolet.

Schrader, who earlier in the day finished eighth in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Martinsville, missed the ARCA practice session at South Boston as a result, but made up for it with a new one-lap track record and his eighth career ARCA Old Milwaukee Pole award.

In addition to winning the National Pork Board Pole-Win Bonus, Schrader led 156 of 204 laps en route to his tenth series triumph in his 29th series attempt - all this before he would race in the next-day 500-lap Winston Cup race at Martinsville.

And with a record ARCA/South Boston 15 cautions mixed in throughout, Schrader also dodged a half-dozen bullets with Sadler hot on his heels for the first 85 laps before both pitted for fuel and tires.

That gave the lead to Jarrett who never pitted during the scheduled 200-lap race. Jarrett led up through lap 124 before Sadler and Schrader, on fresher tires, got by the former leader.

While Schrader worked on Sadler for the lead, Kimmel, after pitting three times to repair his badly bruised machine, began to surface as a bona fide threat. Kimmel, whose car sustained a good deal of damage in an earlier wreck, made the move on Jarrett for third and immediately went to work on Sadler, who by now had been replaced by Schrader as leader of the race. From here, the top-ten cars, all on the lead lap, stayed tightly bunched until the end as caution after caution for wreck after wreck kept all the front-running players within striking distance of each other. Then with less than five laps remaining, both Kimmel and Jarrett slipped by Sadler when he got too loose in turns one and two. And just as the while flag was about to be unfurled, it was replaced by yet another caution which prompted ARCA officials to extend the length of the race in order to deliver the mandated green-white-checker finish. In the end, Schrader kept Kimmel at bay by a length while Sadler got back by Jarrett.

Travis Geisler, in his career-first series start, finished an impressive sixth in front of Ron Cox who steered the 1-800-SERVPRO-Dayco Belts & Hoses Pontiac to the finish in seventh. Norm Benning finished the season on a high note with an eighth place finish in his own unsponsored Chevrolet. Aaron Fike, who just prior to the RE/MAX Series event, won the 50-lap USAC Midget Series feature, finished ninth in only his second series start with Billy Shotko trailing in tenth in the Sara Lee Foods Chevrolet.



Kimmel, who started 14th, won the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions while Todd Bowsher, who got caught up in someone else's wreck, received the Landrum Spring Hard Luck honors for his troubles.



The next event for the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be the 51st national championship awards banquet at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Kentucky on Saturday, December 13th. Former NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Bobby Allison will be the Guest of Honor while Kimmel will be celebrating his fifth series title.



FINAL 2003 TOP-10 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES POINTS:  

1) Frank Kimmel 6145; 2) Jason Jarrett 5470; 3) Shelby Howard 5015; 4) Brent Sherman 4975; 5) Billy Venturini 4945; 6) Mark Gibson 4830; 7) Bill Eversole 4575; 8) Christi Passmore 4515; 9) Ron Cox 4410; 10) Todd Bowsher 4355. 



        2003 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES EVENT #22   
       South Boston Speedway, South Boston VA, 10-18-03   
       Official Results, Bank of America ARCA 200 presented by Fox 21/27   
           
      FIN STR NO DRIVER/RESIDENCE TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 
      1 1 99 Ken Schrader/Fenton MO Federated Auto Parts Pontiac 204 Running 
      2 14 46 Frank Kimmel/Jeffersonville IN Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford 204 Running 
      3 3 02 Hermie Sadler/Emporia VA Bailey's Cigarettes Chevrolet 204 Running 
      4 6 67 Jason Jarrett/Hickory NC Gladiator GarargeWorks-Damon RV Pontiac 204 Running 
      5 16 19 LW Miller/Mooresville NC Murtco-Hurley's Supermarkets Chevrolet 204 Running 
      6 11 62 Travis Geisler/Cranbury Twp PA Continental Fire & Safety Ford 204 Running 
      7 10 23 Ron Cox/Soddy Daisy TN 1-800-SERVPRO-Dayco Belts & Hoses Pontiac 204 Running 
      8 17 84 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA Benning Motorsports Chevrolet 204 Running 
      9 9 27 Aaron Fike/Galesburg IL Mack Trucks-Beck Dodge 204 Running 
      10 7 75 Billy Shotko/West Olive MI Sara Lee-Jimmy Dean Meats Chevrolet 204 Running 
      11 5 14 Blake Feese/Saybrook IL US Drywall & Materials Chevrolet 203 Running 
      12 2 64 Shelby Howard/Greenwood IN Mack Trucks-Beck Dodge 203 Running 
      13 4 44 Brent Sherman/N. Barrington IL Serta Mattress-Hickory Farms Ford 203 Running 
      14 19 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Core Mechanical-AT Construction-UDS Chevrolet 203 Running 
      15 20 83 Phil Bozell/Portage MI The Dyckman Restaurant & Saloon Pontiac 202 Running 
      16 8 56 Alex Whitman/Dallas TX Wave Worms Chevrolet 201 Running 
      17 26 4 Jeff Caudell/Austin IN S&L Electric Chevrolet 201 Running 
      18 23 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Basham Racing Chevrolet 201 Running 
      19 32 38 Tony Quarles/Greenwood SC Patriot Bonds-Alliance Marketing Chevrolet 201 Running 
      20 28 30 Terry Jones/Amherstburg Ontario Hearn Group-Reiner's Collision Ford 201 Running 
      21 25 7 Clair Zimmerman/Denver PA Huntilar Corporation Chevrolet 200 Running 
      22 35 2 Jerry Middleton/Richmond IN 1-800-SERVPRO Chevrolet 200 Running 
      23 15 95 David Ragan/Kannapolis NC Planning Group Int'l-Gresham & Associates Ford 197 Running 
      24 24 49 Spencer Morgan/Chattanooga TN Shaver-Hixson Pontiac 193 Running 
      25 18 1 Andy Belmont/Penndel PA Verizon 1-800-USE-THE-VZ Ford 190 Running 
      26 31 28 Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI USA Luge Chevrolet 188 Running 
      27 27 08 Bill Eversole/Chelsea MI Think Pink Energy Drink Chevrolet 183 Running 
      28 30 91 Christi Passmore/Pryor OK GAP Roofing-Royal Trading Ford 142 Running 
      29 22 25 Billy Venturini/Chicago IL Hawk Saw Blades-Mahle Pistons Pontiac 135 Accident 
      30 21 50 Brad Payne/Philpot KY Tell City Pretzels Ford 95 Accident 
      31 12 6 Johnny Leonard/Ft Myers FL First Choice Hair Cutters-Affordable Roofing Chevy 82 Accident 
      32 33 26 Brad Smith/Dearborn MI Pro-Tech Lighting Ford 80 Oil Leak 
      33 29 59 Mark Gibson/Winder GA Williams Brothers Lumber Ford 69 Rear End 
      34 13 21 Todd Bowsher/Springfield OH GFS Marketplace Ford 34 Accident 
      35 34 24 Chuck Weber/Mesquite TX Excel Communications Chevrolet 14 Engine 
           
       OLD MILWAUKEE POLE AWARD:  Ken Schrader 15.981 (90.107 mph) *NTR   
       MRGN OF VICT:  .376 seconds CAUTIONS:  15 for 89 laps   
       TIME OF RACE:  1:46:14 AVG SPEED:  46.087 mph   
       LAP LEADERS:  Schrader 1-85, 134-204 (156); Jarrett 86-124 (39); Sadler 125-133 (9)