Top Ten ARCA RE/MAX Series Points After Nashville
1) Frank Kimmel, 410: 2) TJ Bell,
400:
2) Bobby Gerhart, 400: 4) Damon Lusk, 395: 6) Billy Venturini, 365: 6.
Mario
Gosselin, 365: 7) Ken Weaver, 350:
8)
Stephen
Leicht, 345: 9) Erin Crocker, 315: 10) Chuck Weber,
270
ROOKIE STEPHEN LEICHT WINS
AT
NASHVILLE
Lebanon Tennessee April 15, 2006: Stephen Leicht, in a Robert Yates Racing Ford, earned his career-first ARCA RE/MAX Series victory in only his second series start
Saturday afternoon at Nashville Superspeedway, claiming the PFG Lester 150 by a
margin of 0.538 seconds over fellow rookie Brad Coleman.
"I still haven't realized I won this race," said Leicht. "It probably won't hit me until
tomorrow. I knew we had a good car, but I didn‘t know if we had the experience to beat guys like Frank Kimmel. And you know, Steve Wallace has a lot of seat time in these
cars.
Leicht, who is part of a driver
development program for Robert Yates Racing, seemed to have no problem
finding
his way around the 1.33-mile concrete
speedway. “Nashville’s a cool track “ said
Leicht.
“Concrete tracks are different than pavement. It’s hard to get your car to
handle. I don’t think we would have got by Justin [Diercks] had he not
gotten held up by that slower car. I hate to see what happened to
him.” Justin Diercks, who is part of a
driver
development program for ML Motorsports and Robert Yates, fared well early
in the
day, only to become involved in a lap 98 accident that claimed four cars
and
effectively ended his day. Steve Blackburn, Donny Lia and Ryan Howard were
also
involved in the late-race incident. There were no injuries.
Brad Coleman, in only his first
career
start, started third and finished second, driving a Federated Car Care Ford
for
Brewco Motorsports. “This was definitely a great
Experience” said Coleman, who is slated to compete in several ARCA RE/MAX
Series races in 2006. “I’ve done a lot of cross training, which has helped
me a lot. Road course racing, Daytona Proto-types, basically I’ve driven
everything there is to drive and it’s definitely
helpful.” Coleman, an eighteen-year-old high
school senior from Houston, Texas, is also scheduled to compete in the ARCA
RE/MAX Series next weekend when the tour visits Salem Speedway in Southern
Indiana. And, although the field was deep
with
driver development programs, series veteran Frank Kimmel managed a third
place
finish in the no. 46 Pork the Other White Meat
Ford . “First of all it’s great to be back
here
at Nashville,” said Kimmel. “The Pork car is just a little bit tight, and
I’ts
been like that on these mile-and-a-half race tracks. This is a big race for
us.
I believe that by far this is the most competitive race ARCA has ever had.
Great
cars. I think we sent over 20 cars home” . TJ Bell, in a no. 50 IbidMotors.com
Dodge, finished fourth after starting 22nd, advancing 18
positions and earning Hoosier Tire Hard Charger honors. Rounding out the top five was
Willie Allen in a Bob Schacht Motorsports
Ford.
“I was very excited to be here and
run
this well, especially with the way we started the weekend,” said Allen.
“Bob Schacht and all of the guys worked really hard to try and get it better.
With all the Cup development teams, I feel really excited that I can run with
these guys, and the caliber of Bob Schacht Motorsports helped me do
that.”
Allen, a Tennessee native and
Country
Music fan, was sponsored by recording artist Diamond Rio this weekend.
In honor of his late father, ARCA
RE/MAX
Series championship-winning driver, owner and spotter Jack Bowsher, Todd
Bowsher made an honorary pace lap at the front of the field in his no. 21 Safe Auto
Insurance Ford.
2006 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES EVENT
#2
Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon TN,
4-15-06
Official Results, PFG Lester 150
FIN
STR
NO
DRIVER/HOMETOWN
TEAM & CAR
LAPS
STATUS
1
5
55
Stephen Leicht/Asheville NC
Robert Yates Racing Ford
115
Running
2
3
62
Brad Coleman/Houston TX
Federated Car Care Ford
115
Running
3
2
46
Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN
Pork The Other White Meat Ford
115
Running
4
22
50
TJ Bell/Sparks NV
IbidMotors.com Dodge
115
Running
5
11
75
Willie Allen/Bon Aqua TN
Bob Schacht Motorsports Ford
115
Running
6
9
09
Cale Gale/Mobile AL
Miccosukee Gaming Dodge
115
Running
7
8
39
Todd Hansen/Minneapolis MN
Copenhagen Enterprises Chevrolet
115
Running
8
21
65
Damon Lusk/Kennewick WA
Construct Corps Dodge
115
Running
9
17
14
Michael Faulk/Ocala FL
Michael Burton-RADD Dodge
115
Running
10
1
61
Steve Wallace/Mooresville NC
Nu South Lemonade-Hantz Group Dodge
115
Running
11
15
4
Chase Miller/Canton GA
Dodge Motorsports Dodge
115
Running
12
23
25
Billy Venturini/Chicago IL
Hamptons Luxury Homes-Pool & Spa Depot Chevrolet
115
Running
13
20
47
Ryan Foster/Lowell AR
Frank Kimmel Ford
115
Running
14
4
98
Erin Crocker/Wilbraham MA
Hamburger Helper Dodge
115
Running
15
24
6
Dexter Bean/Westbe WI
Dodge Motorsports Dodge
115
Running
16
25
5
Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA
Lucas Oil Chevrolet
115
Running
17
19
20
Ken Weaver/Dallas TX
1-800-4-A-Phone/Phoneco Dodge
114
Running
18
6
12
Mario Gosselin/St. Marie Quebec
UnderwireOTR.com-James Carter Atty-SBR Chevy
114
Running
19
27
7
Andrew Myers/Newport Beach CA
Toyota of Escondido-Red Line Oil Chevrolet
114
Running
20
28
60
Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY
Hudson Machine Chevrolet
114
Running
21
16
24
Chuck Weber/Mesquite TX
Cardinal Tool Company Ford
114
Running
22
18
74
Josh Krug/Omaha NE
Johnson Hardware Company Chevrolet
114
Running
23
29
43
Chevy White/Columbia TN
PFG Lester-Creekstone Farms-ST2 Motorsports Dodge
113
Running
24
10
96
Brandon Knupp/Sidney OH
Mark Knupp Tire & Muffler Ford
113
Running
25
14
72
Justin Drawdy/Fort Pierce FL
Drawdy Bros Construction Chevrolet
113
Running
26
34
38
Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL
Lonesome Pine Timber-Freeman 7 Addoc Realty Chevy
113
Running
27
30
94
Frank Kapfhammer/Louisville KY
Long John Silver's-Pepsi Chevrolet
113
Running
28
33
90
Brett Rowe/Barboursville WV
Imperial Bedding Chevrolet
112
Running
29
12
3
Jeremy Clements/Spartanburg SC
Georgia Boot Chevrolet
112
Running
30
37
84
Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA
3KRF Chevrolet
112
Running
31
40
26
Brad Smith/Belleville MI
Koolmat Ford
112
Running
32
38
1
Andy Belmont/Penndel PA
Year One Ford
111
Running
33
36
08
Jason Hedlesky/Clinton MI
Hardcore Motorsports Dodge
111
Running
34
39
34
Darrell Basham/Henryville IN
National Distributors Leasing Pontiac
106
Running
35
7
70
Justin Diercks/Davenport IA
Foretravel Chevrolet
94
Accident
36
26
69
Steve Blackburn/Prestonsburg KY
Harley Davidson Pikeville-Prestonsburg-Lexington Dodge
93
Accident
37
13
9
Donny Lia/Huntington NY
Eagle Creek Aviation-First Wing Management Dodge
93
Accident
38
31
59
Ryan Howard/Tipp City OH
Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet
91
Accident
39
35
13
Johnny Leonard/Cape Coral FL
Affordable Roofing Chevrolet
65
Engine
40
32
11
Chad McCumbee/Supply NC
Fast Track High Performance Driving School Chevrolet
49
Overhtng
41
41
21
Todd Bowsher/Springfield OH
Safe Auto Insurance Ford
25
Accident
PORK POLE AWARD: Steve Wallace 29.835
(160.845 mph)
MRGN OF
VICT: .538 seconds
CAUTIONS: 7
for 37 laps
TIME OF RACE:
1:17:01
AVG. SPEED:
119.424 mph
LAP LEADERS:
Wallace 1-10 (10); Leicht 11-40, 93-115 (53); Coleman 41-52 (12);
Gosselin 53-57 (5);
Kimmel 58-82 (25); Diercks 83-92
(10)