Kimmel Spins & Wins at Toledo, plus results

Veteran Frank Kimmel Spins & Wins at Toledo; Earns 55th Career ARCA RE/MAX Series Victory in Hantz Group 200



By Don Radebaugh - TOLEDO OH (9-3-04)  Like a matador in a bull fight, ARCA RE/MAX Series veteran Frank Kimmel, riding a war-torn Taurus, battled back from several on-track skirmishes including two spins to win the wild Hantz Group 200 Friday night at Toledo Speedway. 



The victory for Kimmel, his 55th in his 276th series start, moved him into second on the all-time win list ahead of Jack Bowsher and behind all-time winner Iggy Katona. In addition, Kimmel led 63 laps overall moving him over the 8,000 mark in career laps-led.



"It was an incredible night," said Kimmel in victory lane. "I can't believe we won the thing. So much for the new body we hung on this car; the body's junk now. Fortunately, as torn up as it is, the car still worked good enough to get there (victory lane). I'm thrilled we were able to win it, but I've never been so aggravated inside a race car in all my life."

Kimmel's aggravation, more than likely, stemmed from a bout with rookie Chris Serio who, in his first series start, made contact with Kimmel early on causing the eventual winner to spin on lap 29 of the 200-lap event. After coming from the tail-end to the front, Kimmel got turned around again, this time by a lapped car, resulting in several unscheduled pit stops for service just past the halfway point.

With fenders and quarter panels caved in all the way around his Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford, Kimmel set off again from the tail-end, tracked down 18-year-old rookie Justin Allgaier, made the pass on lap 138, and drove away.



Allgaier, who started third in the Hoosier Tire Midwest-US Air Force-Trashman Pontiac, held off a heated charge from rookie Brian Campbell to finish a career-best second.



Campbell, making his career-first series start, finished third in Vern Slagh's PBM Sales-DJ's One Stop Chevrolet.



Veteran Bobby Gerhart, in the Lucas Oil Chevrolet, finished fourth with leading ARCA Rookie of the Year contender TJ Bell trailing in fifth in Brad Kemp's unsponsored Chevy Monte Carlo.



Pork Pole winner and rookie Josh Richeson, in only his third series start, impressed all by leading the first 109 laps in John Bailey's unsponsored Chevy before 16-year-old rookie Josh Allison, running second and going for the lead, bumped Richeson from behind in turn three spinning the leader and himself.

The incident would eventually retire both machines from competition.



With two very stout rookies gone from the mix, Gerhart took control for 25 circuits before he pitted for routine service on lap 134. That handed off the top-spot to Allgaier, who came from the tail-end to lead. But Kimmel, on a mission all his own, would only follow Allgaier for three laps before making the winning pass.



In all, 13 cautions for a variety of wrecks ultimately aided in keeping 12 machines on the lead lap at the end. There were no injuries.



Veteran Joe Cooksey kept his mount clean, unlike most, all night and finished a solid sixth in the 1-800-SERVPRO Pontiac. Bob Blount, making his career-first series start, subbed for Terry Jones and finished seventh ahead of second-generation ARCA racer Brian Keselowski, who finished eighth in the Competition Graphics Dodge. Norm Benning finished ninth in his own unsponsored Chevy, and moved into tenth in series points as a result. Eighteen-year-old rookie Brandon Knupp completed the top-10 finishers.



Cooksey, who started 24th, also earned the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award for advancing the most positions. Richeson was credited with the Bennigan's Halfway Lap Leader award as well as the Landrum Spring Hard Luck honors. Series regular Brad Smith, for his enduring struggles on the tour, earned the Gladiator GarageWorks Gladiator of the Race award. 


Next up for the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be the 52nd annual Southern Illinois 100 on the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds mile-dirt Monday afternoon, September 6 before heading for Chicagoland Speedway for the ReadyHosting.com 200 Saturday, September 11, LIVE on SPEED at 2 pm ET.


       2004 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES EVENT #18   
       Toledo Speedway, Toledo OH, 9-3-04   
       Official Results, Hantz Group 200 by Jasper Engines/Trans & Belle Tire   
             
      FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS  STATUS   
      1 2 46 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford 200 Running 
      2 3 86 Justin Allgaier/Springfield IL Hoosier Tire Midwest-US Air Force-Trashman Pontiac 200 Running 
      3 9 65 Brian Campbell/Battle Creek MI PBM Sales-DJ's One Stop-Quality Car Wash Chevy 200 Running 
      4 10 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 200 Running 
      5 20 08 TJ Bell/Sparks NV Brad Kemp Motorsports Chevrolet 200 Running 
      6 24 23 Joe Cooksey/Centralia IL 1-800-SERVPRO/Fans N Motion Pontiac 200 Running 
      7 18 30 Bob Blount/Walkerton IN Jones Group Int'l Racing Ford 200 Running 
      8 7 29 Brian Keselowski/Rochester Hills MI Competition Graphics Dodge 200 Running 
      9 25 7 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA Benning Motorsports Chevrolet 200 Running 
      10 27 96 Brandon Knupp/Sidney OH MKR Ford 200 Running 
      11 15 91 Christi Passmore/Pryor OK GAP Roofing-Asphalt & Fuel Supply Ford 200 Running 
      12 16 21 Todd Bowsher/Springfield OH GFS Marketplace Ford 200 Running 
      13 14 04 Will Langhorne/Washington DC Sanitec-Hard Core Choppers Ford 199 Running 
      14 21 72 Billy Shotko/West Olive MI Request Foods-Sara Lee Pontiac 197 Running 
      15 23 6 Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL Global Pigeon Supplies Pontiac 197 Running 
      16 28 38 Marty Butkovich/Romeo MI Messina Trucking-Dow Dawson Trucking Chevrolet 196 Running 
      17 31 84 Clair Zimmerman/Denver PA 84 Lumber Chevrolet 192 Running 
      18 17 67 Jason Jarrett/Hickory NC Bennigan's-Gladiator GarageWorks Chevrolet 191 Running 
      19 19 59 Mark Gibson/Winder GA Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet 160 Running 
      20 8 42 Chris Serio/Hoover AL Cunningham Motorsports Ford 158 Accident 
      21 11 75 Michael Simko/Clarkston MI Mound Steel-Diamond Racing Chevrolet 151 Alternator 
      22 29 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN TSI Paving-National Distributors Chevrolet 150 Engine 
      23 5 64 Josh Allison/Waverly IN AE Powersports Dodge 143 Radiator 
      24 1 70 Josh Richeson/Mooresville NC WAM-J&J Motorsports Chevrolet 142 Clutch 
      25 22 11 AJ Fike/Galesburg IL Ray Farms Pontiac 130 Accident 
      26 26 1 Andy Belmont/Penndel PA Digicel-ShowControl.US Ford 84 Handling 
      27 13 94 GR Smith/Folsom NJ BGR Research Chevrolet 80 Accident 
      28 4 25 Billy Venturini/Chicago IL Central Merchant Services Chevrolet 62 Engine 
      29 32 26 Brad Smith/Belleville MI KoolMat.com Ford 54 Accident 
      30 6 44 Brent Sherman/N. Barrington IL Serta Mattress-Hickory Farms Ford 52 Radiator 
      31 34 06 Garrett Liberty/Jonesboro GA Wayne Peterson Motorsports Chevrolet 50 Accident 
      32 12 2 Mike Guerity/Rochester Hills MI Hantz Group Dodge 29 Engine 
      33 30 28 Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI Kelly Tire Chevrolet 9 Valve 
      34 33 0 Tim Mitchell/Fayetteville TN Star Wheels Skate Center-Nealco-Reid's Chevrolet 8 Handling 
           
       PORK POLE AWARD:  Josh Richeson 16.732 (107.578 mph)   
       MRGN OF VICT:  .879 seconds CAUTIONS:  13 for 73 laps   
       TIME OF RACE:  1:44:51 AVG SPEED:  57.225 mph   
       LAP LEADERS:  Richeson 1-109 (109); Gerhart 110-134 (25); Allgaier 135-137 (3); Kimmel 138-200 (63)