ARCA RE/MAX DuQuoin results

Hurricane Kimmel Whips Up on DuQuoin ARCA Dirt-Track Warriors; Wins Rain Shortened Southern Illinois 100

By Don Radebaugh

DuQUOIN IL  (9-6-04)  Frank Kimmel, on the strength of a victory at Toledo a few days before, kept the whirlwind going with another convincing win in the 52nd annual Southern Illinois 100 Monday afternoon at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in DuQuoin, Illinois.

Kimmel, in Larry Clement's Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford, led most of the race, and was in the lead with less than ten laps remaining when steady rain engulfed the historic one-mile dirt oval. 

 

With 93 laps complete of the scheduled 100, series officials declared the race official after heavy rains continued to soak the area.



It was Kimmel's 56th career victory and eighth overall on dirt.



"I don't believe we ever had a car this good here before," said Kimmel. "The Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford was incredible today. The track was in beautiful shape before the rain came. With (Bill) Baird right behind me though, we really didn't mind seeing the rain come. I'm sure those last few laps would have been interesting for the fans."



Regardless of what could have happened without the rain, one thing was clear. Kimmel could, and did, pull away from the pack time and time again throughout the race leading 66 laps overall while everyone else, including Ken Schrader, followed.



In the end, Kimmel's toughest challenger was shaping up to be Bill Baird, who had finally worked his way into second with 20 laps remaining. Through three restarts, Kimmel pulled away from Baird each time until the last restart with 12 to go. Baird kept within three lengths of the eventual winner before the 10th and final caution appeared for debris. As Kimmel paced the field under caution with seven lead-lap machines lined up directly behind, Mother Nature stepped in for good.



Baird, in his own Hayes Oil-Custom Biker Wear Chevrolet, finished second. Leading ARCA Rookie of the Year contender TJ Bell, in only his second start on dirt, finished a career-best third in Brad Kemp's unsponsored Chevy. Eighteen-year-old Justin Allgaier, on the heels of a career-best second place finish at Toledo, finished fourth in the Hoosier Tire Midwest-US Air Force-Trashman Pontiac. Series veteran Mark Gibson, in the Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet, finished fifth.



Pork Pole winner Ken Schrader led the first 14 laps in his own Federated Auto Parts Pontiac before Kimmel, who started fifth, made the pass for the lead on lap 15. Then both front-runners pitted for their mandatory pit stop handing the lead to Bell.



Bell, with a very stout racecar, led the way for 13 circuits before Kimmel cycled his way through to challenge. Kimmel made the pass on lap 29 and would never relinquish it.



Schrader ran second most of the race before a cut tire prompted an unscheduled pitstop as the last caution came out. Schrader got back on track but was the eighth car in line among the lead lap cars.



Randy VanZant, in the Devers Truck Bodies Pontiac, finished sixth. The unsponsored Norm Benning continued to impress with a solid seventh place finish in front of Schrader, who would be scored in eighth. Local Centralia, Illinois favorite Joe Cooksey finished ninth in the 1-800-SERVPRO Chevy with 71-year-old Red Farmer, in the Bass Pro Shops-Tracker Boats Chevy, trailing in tenth. 



Kimmel earned $24,485 for the win, which also included the Bennigan's Halfway Lap Leader award. Rookie Brandon Knupp, who started 28th and finished 14th, earned the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger honors for advancing the most positions. Knupp's MKR team also won the Gladiator GarageWorks Gladiator of the Race award for their perseverance. Sixteen-year-old Josh Allison, who worked his way into the top-five during the race, received the Hard Luck award when mechanical troubles ended his stellar run six laps shy of the finish.



Current Top-10 ARCA RE/MAX Series Points after DuQuoin:

Frank Kimmel 5060; 2) Brent Sherman 4170; 3) Billy Venturini 4060; 4) TJ Bell 4000; 5) Jason Jarrett 3895; 6) Christi Passmore 3745; 7) Mark Gibson 3715; 8) AJ Fike 3695; 9) Todd Bowsher 3650; 10) Norm Benning 3495.



       2004 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES EVENT #19   
       DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, DuQuoin IL, 9-6-04   
       Official Results, Southern Illinois 100 presented by Federated Car Care   
           
      FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS  STATUS   
      1 5 46 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford 93 Running 
      2 3 52 Bill Baird/Sturgis KY Hayes Oil Company-Custom Biker Wear Chevrolet 93 Running 
      3 6 08 TJ Bell/Sparks NV Brad Kemp Motorsports Chevrolet 93 Running 
      4 8 86 Justin Allgaier/Springfield IL Hoosier Tire Midwest-US Air Force-Trashman Pontiac 93 Running 
      5 9 59 Mark Gibson/Winder GA Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet 93 Running 
      6 12 5 Randy VanZant/Brookville OH Devers Truck Bodies-Mike's Body Shop Pontiac 93 Running 
      7 13 84 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA Benning Motorsports Chevrolet 93 Running 
      8 1 99 Ken Schrader/Fenton MO Federated Auto Parts Pontiac 93 Running 
      9 15 23 Joe Cooksey/Centralia IL 1-800-SERVPRO/Fans-N-Motion Chevrolet 92 Running 
      10 19 97 Red Farmer/Hueytown AL Bass Pro Shops-Tracker Boats Chevrolet 92 Running 
      11 17 20 Ken Weaver/Dallas TX 1-800-4-A-Phone Ford 92 Running 
      12 22 21 Todd Bowsher/Springfield OH GFS Marketplace Ford 92 Running 
      13 16 25 Billy Venturini/Chicago IL Central Merchant Services Chevrolet 92 Running 
      14 28 96 Brandon Knupp/Sidney OH MKR Ford 92 Running 
      15 25 10 Kelly Kovski/Springfield IL Hoosier Tire Midwest Chevrolet 92 Running 
      16 29 26 Brad Smith/Belleville MI KoolMat.com Ford 92 Running 
      17 2 11 AJ Fike/Galesburg IL Ray Farms Chevrolet 92 Running 
      18 4 44 Brent Sherman/N. Barrington IL Serta Mattress-Hickory Farms Ford 92 Running 
      19 7 67 Jason Jarrett/Hickory NC Bennigan's-Gladiator GarageWorks Chevrolet 91 Running 
      20 20 55 Bobby Bowsher/Springfield OH Numerics Unlimited-Jack's Auto Body Ford 91 Running 
      21 11 91 Christi Passmore/Pryor OK GAP Roofing-Asphalt & Fuel Supply Ford 91 Running 
      22 39 4 Mike Haggenbottom/Levittown PA Gale Trailers-ABM Ford 90 Running 
      23 31 06 Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN Nealco-Reid's Auto Color Chevrolet 89 Running 
      24 24 64 Josh Allison/Waverly IN AE Powersports Dodge 87 Engine 
      25 26 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN TSI Paving-National Distributors Chevrolet 85 Running 
      26 23 28 Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI MikeBuckleyRacing.com 79 Overhtng 
      27 32 38 Damon Lusk/Kennewick WA Quaker Steak & Lube Ford 58 Rocker Arm 
      28 27 6 Tim Burrell/Homewood AL The Karaoke Store-Autolabz Chevrolet 58 Overhtng 
      29 10 18 William Thomas/Phenix City AL JW Miller Land & Timber-Vernell Trucking Pontiac 47 Overhtng 
      30 21 79 Tim Turner/Pulaski TN K&K Racing Pontiac 43 Vibration 
      31 30 7 Frog Hall/Blue Springs MO Frog Hall Racing Pontiac 33 Overhtng 
      32 14 75 Rick Tackman/Waukesha WI Dick's Westridge Auto-Dixie Vending Ford 31 Overhtng 
      33 18 1 Andy Belmont/Penndel PA Digicel-ShowControl.US Ford 22 Overhtng 
      34 35 0 Tim Mitchell/Fayetteville TN Star Wheels Skate Center-Nealco-Reid's Chevrolet 5 Tranmssn 
      35 38 16 Billy Walker/Boaz AL Nealco-Reid's Auto Color Chevrolet 3 Throttle 
      36 36 8 Todd Antrican/Miamisburg OH Benning Motorsports Chevrolet 3 Overhtng 
      37 34 2 John Ellis/Soddy Daisy TN Hixson Motorsports Pontiac 2 Handling 
      38 37 94 Jason Basham/Henryville IN Basham Racing Chevrolet 2 Oil Leak 
      39 33 56 Jeremy Curtis/Danville KY Jeld Wen Windows & Doors Chevrolet 0 Handling 
           
       PORK POLE AWARD:  Ken Schrader 34.756 (103.579 mph)   
       MRGN OF VICT:  Under Caution CAUTIONS:  10 for 39 laps   
       TIME OF RACE:  1:15:51 AVG SPEED:  73.566 mph   
       LAP LEADERS:  Schrader 1-14 (14); Kimmel 15, 29-93 (66); Bell 16-28 (13)