Sherman Earns Bill France Triple Crown
Brent Sherman Earns '04 Bill France Triple Crown TOLEDO OH (10-6-04) In addition to securing second place in ARCA RE/MAX Series national championship point standings as well as a ride in the NASCAR Busch Series for 2005, Brent Sherman's solid fifth place finish at Talladega Superspeedway last Saturday earned the N. Barrington, Illinois driver the 2004 Bill France Triple Crown award. Sherman joins drivers' Davey Allison, Frank Kimmel, Bob Keselowski, Tim Steele and Jason Jarrett as winners of the prestigious award, which began in 1984 with Allison as the inaugural recipient. "It's an honor to receive the Bill France Triple Crown award," said Sherman. "We worked really hard as a team to perform well at all of the tracks we visited. It feels good to be recognized for our efforts this season with this award." The award, intended to be representative of ARCA's diverse schedule, is an accumulation of points at three very different tracks on the RE/MAX Series schedule. The 2004 version included the Springfield, Illinois fairgrounds mile-dirt where Sherman finished 6th, the Salem Speedway short-track where he was 10th and Talladega. "We didn't know what to expect coming to Talladega," said Sherman. "I'm happy with our fifth-place finish. To be able to run in the top-five with teams such as Hendrick and Ganassi says a lot about this team." Other past Bill France Triple Crown Award winners also include Bill Baird, Bill Venturini, Bobby Bowsher, Tracy Leslie, Harris DeVane, Bob Hill, Grant Adcox and Lee Raymond. Sherman will officially receive the honor, which includes a trophy and $3,000 cash bonus, at this year's ARCA RE/MAX Series national championship awards banquet at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington KY Saturday night, December 11. "The money with the Bill France Triple Crown is certainly a bonus," said ARCA PR/Media director Don Radebaugh. "But the award itself - for whom it's named after: Bill France Sr., the founder of NASCAR, and what the award represents: ARCA's diversity - is what makes this honor so meaningful. No other award in ARCA, outside of the championship itself, is more representative of what the ARCA RE/MAX Series is all about. It is, essentially, a championship within a championship. I think it's safe to say that this award is truly one of the series' crown jewels. And to be able to place yourself among the names of past winners is an honor in itself." Kimmel and Steele are the only three-time winners of the award. No driver has won four. Norm Benning, who was leading the BFTC headed into Talladega, finished second in the standings 55 points away from Sherman. Benning posted a career-best third place finish at Springfield, a solid fifth place finish at Salem; however, motor trouble at Talladega relegated the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania driver to a disappointing 25th place finish, which eliminated his chances to secure the award. While most of the ARCA RE/MAX Series teams are enjoying a much-needed breather following the Talladega season finale, Sherman is busy preparing for his NASCAR Busch Series debut this Saturday, October 9 at Kansas Speedway. Sherman will be driving the No. 58 Serta Mattress-Hickory Farms Dodge for Akins Motorsports as a teammate of Kasey Kahne. Sherman is also slated to compete later this year at Memphis Motorsports Park and Homestead-Miami Speedway with plans to run in at least 20 NASCAR Busch Series events in 2005 for Akins. Sherman finished out the 2004 ARCA RE/MAX Series year with an impressive nine top-fives, 14 top-10s, a Pork Pole award and season-high second place finishes at South Boston and Lake Erie Speedways. ARCA RACING