Milwaukee Mile Governor's Cup 200 To Bozell
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MILWAUKEE MILE A NEW ERA BEGINS Contact: Jim Tretow, Milwaukee Mile Media & Comm., jtretow@milwaukeemile.com, 414-453-5761 BOZELL GAMBLES, TAKES GOVERNOR'S CUP 200 CHECKERS AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE Milwaukee, Wis. (August 27, 2006) - He drove the hauler here and he's driving the hauler home. In the meantime, Phil Bozell went out and won his first ARCA RE/MAX Series race Sunday afternoon at The Milwaukee Mile. It was the decision not to pit late in the going that sealed his first career victory in four starts with Hagans Racing this season. It wasn't easy as the twenty-three year old Michigan native had to drive through the middle of a multi-car wreck and hold off the charge of Wisconsin rookie Tim Schendel and seven-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank Kimmel to pull into victory lane following the Governor's Cup 200. Polesitter Blake Bjorklund led the early stages until a flat right front tire forced him to pit road. The sudden departure of the leader forced second place Bozell to check up, opening the door for 20 year-old Justin Allgaier to take over the lead. The next twelve laps belonged to Allgaier as he stretched out his lead only to be slowed when the caution flag came out. When Allgaier pitted, he found himself alone as the rest of the leaders stayed out. As soon as the green flag dropped, Allgier put on a show as he stormed his way through the field. It only took ten laps for him to reclaim the lead. Allgier won his first career ARCA race in front of a hometown crowd last Sunday on the Sprinfield, Ill. mile dirt track, and was poised to make it two in a row. During Allgaier's rise to the top, another caution bunched up the field, this time for a multi-car wreck involving Kimmel. With an altered pit strategy, Bjorklund mounted his own charge through the field. When the leaders pitted under one of the event's six caution flags - this one for debris on the frontstretch - the Minnesota series rookie stayed out and restarted in the second position behind Alabama veteran Mike Harmon. Bjorklund would soon fall prey to another deflated tire and lose laps while nursing his ailing mount back to the pits, dropping him from contention. While in tight quarters past the race's midpoint, Bozell escaped serious damage to his Dodge in a multi-car tangle. "Luckily I saw it happen," Bozell recalled. "I cut through the grass and I was worried that I tore the front valence off. It happened right in front of me and you can't really check up in that situation or you'll get run into from behind. So I just kind of drove through it." The wreck must have fired the young driver up. On the resulting restart, Bozell would take the green flag in the third spot just behind the machines of Schendel and Allgier. Schendel, fielding his racing efforts from his Wisconsin race shop, drew even with the once-dominant Allgier, staying on his bumper and passing him five laps later. Schendel led until pitting under the final caution, much to the delight of the 11,716 partisan fans. When Schendel and the majority of the leaders decided to pit, Bozell ultimately made the move of the race and stayed out, leaving the only car ahead of him the bright yellow series pace car. The green flag flew with thirty-five laps to go and Bozell pulled away from the field leaving Kimmel and Schendel to battle for the runner up spot. For Schendel, second place was all that he could muster. "I tried to drive the car a little harder and I had to use the brakes a little more and the peddle got a little bit spongy, then the throttle spring broke", explained the first year ARCA RE/MAX Series driver. "Sometimes I drove harder into the corner than I wanted to. Lucky I had second, I guess. I didn't want to go another five laps." Kimmel made a couple charges to try to take away the second spot from Schendel but was not able to complete the pass. Kimmel, the defending Milwaukee race winner settled for third after leading 19 laps and surviving a late race run-in with points rival Bobby Gerhart. "It was a pretty eventful day", said Kimmel. "We just never had a good handle on the car all day. I was hanging on the best I could all day. But, it was a good points day." The win by Bozell made him the tenth first-time ARCA RE/MAX Series winner this season, and fifteen different winner in seventeen events this year. "This is a pretty special place where some pretty famous people have raced," the winner said. "I have a photo of my dad's race car he raced here in the 1992 Governor's Cup race hanging on my wall. I'll put (my Governor's Cup 200) trophy right with it." Bozell was aided by several family members and Michigan late model buddies comprising his pit crew, including his father Andy serving as his spotter. The second generation standout reflected on the importance of winning at The Milwaukee Mile, with what may be the underlying message many of the 220 competitors that competed in four different divisions over the 103 year-old speedway's Governor's Cup weekend would want to be able to say: "When you win one here, you've really done something." # # #