ARCA's Kimmel Earns $3 Million

Kimmel; ARCA's 1st $3 Million Dollar Man

TOLEDO OH (10-15-04)  Frank Kimmel, on the strength of six ARCA RE/MAX Series championships, has gone "where no man has gone before". 

Kimmel, after completing his 13th consecutive full-time season on tour in 2004, holds the distinction as being the only driver in series history to surpass $3 million in team earnings.

His career total currently stands at $3,029,078, more than twice as much as Tim Steele, who is currently second on the series' all-time earnings list.

"It's a tremendous honor to have seen such success doing something I love," said Kimmel, driver of the Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford. "I have nothing but respect for the ARCA RE/MAX Series, and know I owe a great deal of my success to the support of my fans, my team members and my sponsors. This is a great team, and I hope we can continue down this path through the remainder of my racing years.

"I look back at the early days, and it certainly wasn't always this way. There were many struggles to get here. We didn't always have the support of our great sponsors, Advance Auto Parts and Pork The Other White Meat. There was a time we didn't have any sponsors at all; when just getting to the track was a feat in itself, let alone doing well in the race.



"And one of the reasons, I think, we've been so successful at Tri-State Motorsports, outside of the great support from our sponsors, is that whatever we've been fortunate enough to earn as a team, it all goes right back into the team. By doing that, we've been able to keep our operating costs down."



While it took Kimmel 10 years to earn his first million in team earnings, it took only three years to hit the $2 million mark and even less to reach $3 million. Since joining forces with car owner Larry Clement (left) in 1996, the Tri-State Motorsports team has been, more often than not, the dominant force in RE/MAX Series competition.



"Frank's record is the result of one talented driver and the dedication of many supportive partners," said Clement, whose six car owner titles equal ARCA legend Jack Bowsher, who also has six. "Our sponsor partners, Advance Auto Parts and Pork The Other White Meat, as well as our associate sponsors, enable us to do the things that make a difference."



In 280 career series starts since 1990, Kimmel is second on the all-time win list with 56 victories behind only Iggy Katona, who leads with 79. Kimmel's sixth series championship in 2004 ties him with Katona with the most titles, although no driver, other than Kimmel, has earned five consecutive crowns. In addition, Kimmel surpassed Steele this year as the all-time series superspeedway lap leader with 2,364 laps-led. Kimmel's career total in laps-led stands at an incredible 8,251. His 168 top-five finishes and 207 top-10s are more than any other active driver in both categories. In addition, Kimmel has been a top-10 point finisher in the past 13 consecutive seasons, finishing out of the top-five only once during that time period. 



"We think it speaks well of the ARCA RE/MAX Series that a team the caliber of Frank Kimmel and the Advance Auto Parts-Pork The Other White Meat Ford group has chosen to race here," said ARCA President Ron Drager. "As a long-term, full-time race team in our series for so many years, it's gratifying to see the Tri-State team achieve this level of success. Frank's on-track accomplishments in the series are well-documented, and surpassing this significant earnings milestone is yet another measure of the team's perseverance." 


Steele, a three-time series champion, is currently second on the all-time team earnings list with $1.4 million ahead of series veteran Mark Gibson, who, following the '04 season, became only the third driver in series history to surpass the $1 million mark. Two-time series champion Bobby Bowsher is fourth all-time just $10,000 shy of a million. 16-time series winner Bob Strait is fifth with $869,481 in total team earnings.