Media Release-57th Federated Southern Illinois 100 at DuQuoin
From: Track Enterprises Media Release on the 57th Federated Southern Illinois 100 ARCA RE/MAX race at DuQuoin Impressive Youngsters Battle Dirt Veterans in DuQuoin ARCA Tussle Midwestern race fans have the privilege of watching the last dirt track race of 2009 for the full bodied stock cars of the ARCA RE/MAX Series on Labor Day at DuQuoin and the excitement is heightened again by the appearance of NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Ken Schrader and a terrific battle for the ARCA RE/MAX title among a group of impressive ARCA youngsters as they arrive at the DuQuoin State Fair for the 57th annual Federated-Southern Illinois 100. With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at the Atlanta Motor Speedway the day before attention turns to who else from the NASCAR community might make an appearance on the 'Magic Mile'. Schrader is just one of two former winners of the Southern Illinois 100 entered for Labor Day, Ken Schrader spent 27 years trying to win a race on the mile dirt track closest to his Fenton, Missouri home and ended that quest in victory lane on Labor Day 2006. The 54 year old repeated the victory in 2007. The other former winner is a 9 time ARCA RE/MAX national driving champion who dominated both dirt races on the ARCA schedule in 2008. Forty seven year old Frank Kimmel of Clarksville, Indiana started his own race team in 2008 and looked as if he might not run a full season due to sponsorship concerns. He and brother Bill, his crew chief, made a concerted effort to run both dirt miles and the work paid off as Kimmel won the Allen Crowe 100 at Springfield and followed that with a convincing win on the mile at DuQuoin, his fifth. Kimmel can become the all-time lap leader in stock car competition at DuQuoin on Labor Day and is currently third in the RE/MAX title battle in his quest for a tenth crown. Kimmel was in the hunt for the win at Springfield and led a record 10,000th lap at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. Both Schrader and Kimmel face stiff competition from the ARCA 'kiddie corp', a group of young drivers contending for the RE/MAX crown many of whom have never raced on nor perhaps seen a dirt track. An 18-year-old rookie from Connecticut sits atop the ARCA point chase, Parker Kligerman has a road racing and midget car background and is a development driver for Roger Penske. He has used 6 wins and 11 top ten's during the season to lead Californian Justin Lofton by 35 markers after Kligerman's surprise win in theAllen Crowe 100 at Springfield in his first ever dirt track start. Lofton set a new track record at the Illinois State Fairgrounds and led 40 circuits before losing the lead with 11 laps to go and Lofton finished second at Springfield. Fourth in the points is another youngster, 19-year-old Joey Coulter of Florida. Fifth is Canadian Steve Arpin, sixth is Craig Goess, seventh is Floridian Bryan Silas (driving for former ARCA champ and USAC driver Andy Hillenburg), eighth is Floridian Patrick Sheltra, ninth is New Jersey's Tom Hessert and tenth is Michigan's Robb Brent. Brent has take the seat vacated by Springfield's Justin Allgaier who moved to the NASCAR Nationwide Series driving for Roger Penske. All are expected to enter the Southern Illinois 100, with the possible exception of Arpin. Arpin has extensive dirt track experience in dirt track modifieds and late model stock cars and was looking forward to possibly winning at either Springfield or DuQuoin in his first ARCA season. Top finishes have kept him in the top ten in points but with limited sponsorship funding he may not be able to finish the year for owner Eddie Sharp. The other driver in the top ten with extensive dirt experience is Sheltra, who ran with the UMP and World of Outlaw Late Model Series and is considered a dark horse at either of the dirt tracks. Sheltra won his first ARCA race earlier this year and finished second to Kimmel at DuQuoin last year. The two ARCA dirt track races always bring out a number of Illinois drivers and cars and 2009 is no exception. Centralia's Joe Cooksey won the pole for the Southern Illinois 100 in 2000 and returns to ARCA racing after a one-year absence. Springfield's Kelly Kovski returns for another DuQuoin start as does Galesburg's A.J. Fike who will again pull double duty driving a dirt champ car Sunday night and the stock car on Sunday. Arenzeville native Mark Littleton has competed on the DuQuoin dirt in a UMP Modified and in 2007 made his lone DuQuoin start while missing the show last year. Car owners Brad Hill (West Frankfort) with driver Eddie Pearson and Bill McCreery (Benton) with driver Kyle Chady are also expected to return to the DuQuoin dirt. Another driver pulling double duty at DuQuoin is Parma, Michigan's Brian Tyler driving for owner Doug Stringer. The 41-year-old Tyler had the opportunity last year to make history by becoming the first man to win the Ted Horn 100 championship dirt car race and the Southern Illinois 100 on the same weekend. The former stock car track record holder won the Ted Horn 100 but experienced engine problems in his Toyota in the Southern Illinois 100. Other veterans dotting the probable entry list include Ron Cox of Tennessee (second at Springfield), Georgia's Mark Gibson, Michigan's Brad Smith, Indiana's Darrell Basham and South Carolina's James Hylton who will try to extend his record as the oldest driver ever in the Southern Illinois 100. Forty-one cars graced the beautiful DuQuoin State Fairgrounds last Labor Day with a similar number expected again this year. Practice for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is slated for 9 a.m. with drivers taking aim at Ricky Stenhouse' one year old qualification record of 32.896 (109.436) in Ansell-Menard's Pole qualifying. The 57th Federated Southern Illinois 100 is slated for a flying start at approximately 1 p.m. 2009 ARCA RE/MAXS Series Schedule Date Event Track Length TV February 7th Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200 Daytona Int'l Speedway 200 miles SPEED LIVE 4 PM April 5th Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 by Federated Car Care Salem Speedway 200 laps April 19th ARCA RE/MAX Carolina 200 Rockingham Speedway 200 miles SPEED LIVE 1 PM April 24th ARCA RE/MAX 250 Talladega Superspeedway 250 miles SPEED LIVE 5 PM May 9th Drive Smart Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 Kentucky Speedway 150 miles May 17th Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care Toledo Speedway 200 laps June 6th Pocono ARCA 200 Pocono Raceway 200 miles SPEED SDD 4:00 PM June 12th Racing For Wildlife 200 Michigan Int'l Speedway 200 miles SPEED LIVE 5:00 PM June 20th Tim Richmond Memorial ARCA RE/MAX 200 Mansfield Motorsports Park 200 laps July 11th Prairie Meadows 200 Iowa Speedway 200 laps July 18th Click It or Ticket Buckle-Up Kentucky 150 Kentucky Speedway 150 miles SPEED 9:30 PM July 25th Wolverine Power Systems 200 presented by Generac Berlin Raceway 200 laps August 1st Pennsylvania ARCA 200 Pocono Raceway 200 miles SPEED LIVE 1 PM August 23rd Allen Crowe 100 Illinois State Fairgrounds 100 miles August 28th Ansell Cut Protection 150 Chicagoland Speedway 150 miles SPEED LIVE/SDD 6:30 PM September 4th ARCA RE/MAX 200 by Federated & Belle Tire Toledo Speedway 200 laps September 7th ARCA RE/MAX Series Southern Illinois 100 DuQuoin State Fairgrounds 100 miles September 13th ARCA RE/MAX Series NJMP 150 New Jersey Motorsports Park 150 miles September 19th Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA Fall Classic Salem Speedway 200 laps October 1st Kansas Lottery 150 Kansas Speedway 150 miles SPEED LIVE 5 PM October 11th Rockingham ARCA 200 Rockingham Speedway 200 miles SPEED SDD 10:00 PM 2009 ARCA RE/MAX Series Points (after Allen Crowe 100 August 23) POS NAME POINTS STARTS WINS TOP-5 TOP-10 1 Kligerman, Parker 3425 14 6 8 12 2 Lofton, Justin 3390 14 3 10 12 3 Kimmel, Frank 3095 14 0 3 8 4 Coulter, Joey 2890 14 0 5 8 5 Arpin, Steve 2880 14 0 3 7 6 Goess, Craig 2875 14 0 2 8 7 Silas, Bryan 2840 14 0 1 7 8 Sheltra, Patrick 2770 14 1 4 6 9 Hessert, Tom III 2635 14 0 1 6 10 Brent, Robb 2535 13 0 0 5 11 George, Tim Jr. 2495 14 0 0 1 12 Basham, Darrell 2180 14 0 0 2 13 Petty, Jeremy 2030 13 0 0 0 14 Hylton, James 1830 13 0 0 0 15 Smith, Brad 1805 13 0 0 0 57th Federated-Southern Illinois 100 Entry List Entry List, ARCA RE/MAX Series Southern Illinois 100 Updated 9-2-09, 2:30 PM ET NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR OWNER 0 Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN Wayne Peterson Racing Chevrolet Wayne Peterson 1 Ken Butler III/Lilburn GA LoanMax Ford Jennifer Belmont 2 Tim George Jr./New York NY Ruby Tuesday Toyota Eddie Sharp 4 Mark Gibson/Winder GA Cunningham Motorsports Dodge Kerry Scherer 5 Mark Littleton/Arenzville IL Mason Sound Chevrolet Bill Gerhart 6 Justin Lofton/Westmorland CA Lofton Cattle Toyota Jessica Sharp 7 Chris Lafferty/Concord NC Lafferty Performance Chevrolet Bill Gerhart 10 A.J. Fike/Galesburg IL RFMS-Liberty Village Ford Andy Hillenburg 11 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL Rockingham Speedway-Holland Pumps Chevrolet Andy Hillenburg 14 Kory Rabenold/Slatington PA Belmont Racing Ford Jennifer Belmont 15 Josh Richards/Shinnston WV Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet Bill Venturini 16 Joey Coulter/Miami Springs FL Darrel Gwynn Foundation-Tempest Cycles Chevy Joe Coulter 17 Eddie Pearson/Spartanburg SC Brad Hill Racing Ford Russ Roulo 20 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Cherry Hill Classic Cars Ford Robby Benton 23 Jeremy Petty/Smolan KS Hixson Construction Chevrolet Wayne Hixson 25 Steve Arpin/Fort Frances ON Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet Cathy Venturini 26 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI ApplianceZone.com Ford Brad Smith 28 Ron Cox/Soddy Daisy TN Hixson Motorsports Chevrolet Wayne Hixson 32 tba Red Line Oil Dodge Kevin Cywinski 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Anti Monkey Butt Powder Chevrolet Darrell Basham 36 Robb Brent/Shelby Township MI Orchard Chrysler Dodge Jeep Dodge Mike Allgaier 39 Kelly Kovski/Springfield IL Central Illinois Security Chevrolet Russ Roulo 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Ford Frank Kimmel 48 James Hylton/Inman SC Radon.com Ford James Hylton 51 Joe Cooksey/Centralia IL Fuelvend Express Chevrolet Joe Cooksey 52 Ken Schrader/Fenton MO Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet Ken Schrader 57 Kyle Chady/Benton IL Kimmel-Chaplain Pharmacy Ford Bill McCreery 60 Patrick Sheltra/Indiantown FL Buffalo Wings & Rings Dodge Grace Sheltra 66 Damon Lusk/Kennewick WA Hendren Motor Sports Ford Bill Hendren 68 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN Motion Design Group-SimFactory Ford Bill Kimmel 77 Parker Kligerman/Westport CT Cunningham Motorsports Dodge Mark Gibson 81 Craig Goess/Greenville NC Greenville Toyota of NC Toyota Eddie Sharp 84 Todd Antrican/Lebanon OH Norm Benning Racing Chevrolet Norm Benning 90 Brian Tyler/Parma MI Great Clips Chevrolet Doug Stringer 94 Jason Basham/Henryville IN Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet Darrell Basham 06 Barry Fitzgerald/Sykesville MD TheBusPlace.com Ford Wayne Peterson Event Schedule Schedule of events for the Southern Illinois 100 at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Sun, Sept 6th 6:00-8:00 PM ARCA RE/MAX Series Pre-registration at the Holiday Inn Mt. Vernon Mon, Sept 7th 5:30 AM ARCA RE/MAX Series Garage and Registration Opens 7:30 AM FMM Chapel Service 8:00 AM ARCA RE/MAX Series Driver, Crew Chief and Spotter Meeting and Draw for Qualifying 9:00-10:00 AM Practice 10:30 AM Pre-Qualifying Tech In-Line Time 11:00 AM SIM Factory Pole Qualifying (All Positions / 1 lap) POST QUALIFYING IMPOUND PROCEDURE IN PLACE 12:00 N ARCA RE/MAX Series Registration Closes 12:45 PM ARCA RE/MAX Series Driver Introduction 1:00 PM Start of the Southern Illinois 100 (100 laps / 100 miles)