(SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) – In recent weeks, Frank Kimmel has shown flashes of his old dominance in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards – notably returning to Victory Lane after 75 races away and leading over half of another race in the midst of five consecutive top-five finishes.
Today, the ThorSport Racing driver made another step in his ongoing quest for a 10th ARCA championship, leading 51 laps in the Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds to earn his sixth consecutive top-five, but more importantly, his 76th career win and eighth on the Springfield dirt.
Kimmel (No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota) started just 10th but took the lead for the first time on Lap 40 when Kevin Swindell (No. 55 Curb Records Toyota) drove to pit road and surrendered the lead. Kimmel gave the lead back after pitting to close Lap 76, but passed Alex Bowman (No. 22 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Dodge) on Lap 87 and led the final 14 laps to take his second win in 24 days.
“This Toyota was really strong right off the truck,” said Kimmel, whose other seven Springfield wins came in a nine-year stretch between 2000 and 2008. “I knew it was going to be fast, and Alex did a great job. It was just a really special day. When you’ve got a car that runs that good, you need to stay up there. I appreciate all the fans coming out and I really appreciate what a wonderful day it was for our entire team.”
Kimmel went on to thank Andy Belmont, who owned and oversaw the winning effort for driver Chad McCumbee at the Springfield track one year ago. Though Belmont is not currently an active owner in the ARCA Racing Series, Kimmel said Belmont helped him recently with setup tips for the dirt track.
The nine-time ARCA champion drew to within 15 points of Chris Buescher (No. 17 Reliance Tool/Roulo Brothers Racing Ford), who finished fifth, for the series lead. Brennan Poole (No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet), formerly second in points, dropped to third after completing just 85 laps and finishing 22nd.
“The best way to get points is to win the race. They’re all going to be tough next week and the week after that, so we’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing.”
Bowman won his series-leading fourth Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell earlier in the day and led the first 10 laps, but Springfield driver Kelly Kovski (No. 99 Billingsley Towing/HUDL.com/Schluckebier Farms Ford) – making his first ARCA start of the year – passed for the lead on Lap 11. By that time, Kimmel was in sixth.
Swindell passed for second to trail Kovski, and the two quickly put a second on Bowman. Swindell drove to the lead on Lap 15, and eight laps later he and Kovski had separated and were approaching Matt Lofton and Austin Rettig, the 20th and 21st cars on the lead lap.
A two-car crash on Lap 25 brought out the race’ s first caution flag, and the green flag flew again at Lap 30. Swindell continued to lead, but pitted under another caution 10 laps later, giving Kimmel the lead.
Frank Kimmel and nephew Will Kimmel (No. 68 Mallory Ignition Ford) held the top two spots through the race’s halfway point at Lap 50, with Kovski, Bowman, and Tyler Speer (No. 10 Fast Track Driving School Chevrolet) behind them. However, the elder Kimmel was putting some distance on second place. He led by 3.824 seconds at Lap 54, and by more than four seconds after Lap 60. Bowman passed Will Kimmel for second on Lap 62 and started to pick up speed, but Frank Kimmel still held more than a three-second lead.
A.J. Fike, winner of Saturday’s USAC race at the Springfield track, slowed down on the backstretch with a cut tire on Lap 75, forcing the race’s third caution flag. Kimmel drove to pit road and relinquished the lead, but earned it back just eight laps after the Lap 79 restart.
He passed Bowman in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 87, and immediately started putting space between himself and Bowman in second place. Kovski pressured Bowman for second with less than 10 laps to go, which only served to help Kimmel. He led by more than four seconds with five laps to go, and won by a final margin of 5.087 seconds.
Bowman held on for second, with Swindell moving from fifth to third in the last 10 laps. Kovski finished fourth over Buescher and Chad Hackenbracht (No. 58 Tastee Apple Chevrolet). Speer finished seventh, just ahead of Mason Mingus (No. 32 811 Call Before You Dig/Diamond Equipment Toyota), Rettig (No. 01 Allan Rettig Racing Dodge), and Spencer Gallagher (No. 23 Allegiant Air Chevrolet).
The race lasted one hour, two minutes, and 58 seconds. The full race results are below.
| 2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #16 | |||||
| Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield Illinois, 8-19-12 | |||||
| Allen Crowe 100 | |||||
| FIN | STR | NO | DRIVER/HOMETOWN | LAPS | STATUS |
| 1 | 10 | 44 | Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN | 100 | Running |
| 2 | 1 | 22 | Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ | 100 | Running |
| 3 | 2 | 55 | Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN | 100 | Running |
| 4 | 3 | 99 | Kelly Kovski/Springfield IL | 100 | Running |
| 5 | 5 | 17 | Chris Buescher/Prosper TX | 100 | Running |
| 6 | 20 | 58 | Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadephia OH | 100 | Running |
| 7 | 16 | 10 | Tyler Speer/Woodstock GA | 100 | Running |
| 8 | 8 | 32 | Mason Mingus/Brentwood TN | 100 | Running |
| 9 | 18 | 01 | Austin Rettig/Sikeston MO | 100 | Running |
| 10 | 13 | 23 | Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV | 100 | Running |
| 11 | 14 | 68 | Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN | 100 | Running |
| 12 | 22 | 2 | Ron Cox/Soddy Daisy TN | 100 | Running |
| 13 | 23 | 40 | Tommy O’Leary/Cygnet OH | 99 | Running |
| 14 | 17 | 16 | Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC | 98 | Running |
| 15 | 21 | 71 | Shane Cockrum/Benton IL | 98 | Running |
| 16 | 27 | 83 | Mike Affarano/Shorewood IL | 96 | Running |
| 17 | 24 | 5 | Mark Littleton/Arenzville IL | 95 | Running |
| 18 | 11 | 02 | Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL | 94 | Running |
| 19 | 30 | 79 | Mike Koch/Mountain Home AR | 94 | Running |
| 20 | 28 | 73 | Dale Shearer/Chillicothe MO | 93 | Running |
| 21 | 29 | 34 | Darrell Basham/Henryville IN | 93 | Running |
| 22 | 6 | 25 | Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX | 85 | Running |
| 23 | 7 | 35 | Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela | 82 | Running |
| 24 | 4 | 18 | A.J. Fike/Galesburg IL | 73 | Handling |
| 25 | 9 | 70 | Jeff Choquette/West Palm Beach FL | 68 | Engine |
| 26 | 26 | 04 | Dominick Casola/Holmdel NJ | 55 | Engine |
| 27 | 32 | 48 | James Hylton/Inman SC | 37 | Handling |
| 28 | 12 | 66 | Ryan Unzicker/El Paso IL | 36 | Engine |
| 29 | 33 | 06 | Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN | 25 | Handling |
| 30 | 15 | 15 | Steve Arpin/Fort Frances Ontario | 20 | Engine |
| 31 | 19 | 00 | James Swanson/San Antonio TX | 5 | Handling |
| 32 | 31 | 69 | Ira Small/Lancaster SC | 4 | Handling |
| 33 | 25 | 3 | Joe Cooksey/Centralia IL | 3 | Engine |
| 0 | Brett Hudson/Owensboro KY | DNS | |||
| 64 | Joseph Hughs/Springfield IL | DNS | |||
| Menards Pole Award Presented by Ansell: Alex Bowman 33.183 (108.489 mph) | |||||
| Margin of Victory: 5.087 seconds | |||||
| Time of Race: 1:02:58 | |||||
| Lap Leaders: Bowman 1-10, 77-86 (20); Kovski 11-14 (4); Swindell 15-39 (25); Kimmel 40-76, 87-100 (51) | |||||
Madison International Speedway in Wisconsin is the next stop for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Practice for the Herr’s Live Life with Flavor 200 on the half-mile oval will take place from 1-1:45 p.m. and 2:15-3 p.m. Saturday, with Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell following at 4:30 p.m.
ARCA Racing Series drivers will appear on the frontstretch for an autograph session open to all fans at noon Sunday, and the 200-lap, 100-mile race will begin at 2 p.m. All times are Central. ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring coverage throughout the day, and ARCA Racing Network hosts Charlie Krall and Tim Clagg will deliver a live audio call for the race on the site.
2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.
The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 26 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.375 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time.
Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.