ARCA RE/MAX, Springfield Mile Dirt

ARCA RE/MAX Series Warriors Steer For Springfield Mile-Dirt; Kimmel Shooting For 5th Straight Win

 

TOLEDO OH (8-11-04)  The ARCA RE/MAX Series, born on the dirt tracks of America, is headed back to its dirt track roots Sunday afternoon, August 22 for the Allen Crowe Memorial 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile-dirt in Springfield, Illinois.

 

Actually, the series never left its dirt track origins over the course of its diverse 52-year history. In fact, the upcoming dirt track classic at Springfield will be the 55th RE/MAX Series race on dirt since 1982. 

 

Five-time series champion and current point leader Frank Kimmel, who holds the record with four consecutive triumphs on the historical central Illinois mile-dirt, will be shooting for an unprecedented fifth straight victory there.

 

"I never used to look forward to the dirt tracks," said Kimmel. "Mostly because we were just so out to lunch on the dirt. But then as we began to learn the set-ups, we started to like it. Now, we love it. I rate my wins on the Illinois mile-dirts right up there with Charlotte, Pocono, MIS and all the other higher profile places." 

 

The last driver to defeat Kimmel at Springfield was 1999 series champion Bill Baird, who passed Kimmel on the final corner of the final lap to procure his one and only dirt track victory there in '99.

 

Baird, who has only made eight series starts since 2000, and none in 2003, is making his return to competition this year with stops at Springfield and the DuQuoin, Illinois mile-dirt.

 

"Springfield's gunna be my warm-up for DuQuoin," said Baird. "I wanna win DuQuoin so bad I can taste it. But that doesn't mean we're not coming to win at Springfield."

 

The DuQuoin State Fairgrounds will be the second dirt track stop for the RE/MAX Series this year on Labor Day, September 6. NASCAR Nextel Cup Series veteran Tony Stewart, who has run the last three events there, is the defending race winner and one-lap track record holder on DuQuoin's "Magic Mile". Nextel Cup Series veteran Ken Schrader has already filed an entry for this year's DuQuoin dirt track classic.

 

Additional entrants for this year's Allen Crowe Memorial at Springfield include a wide range of talent from 16-year old Josh Allison to 70-something Red Farmer, who'll make his second Springfield appearance since 2002.

 

"Yah; we're all excited," said Farmer from his Hueytown, Alabama race shop where he spends his days working on his dirt late model cars. "ML Motorsports is gunna provide the car, an '02 Monte Carlo, and Bass Pro Shops is gunna be the sponsor."

 

ML Motorsports also fields cars for Jason Jarrett on the RE/MAX Series tour. Jarrett will make his fourth consecutive Springfield appearance. His best finish there was third in 2001 after starting second.

 

The Allen Crowe Memorial 100 is scheduled to get underway at 1 p.m. CST following Pork Pole Qualifying at 11 a.m. Practice starts at 9 a.m.