(DuQUOIN, Ill.) – Ken Schrader won the Southern Illinois 100 presented by Federated Car Care Monday, surviving a green-white-checkered finish to win for the second time this season in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
Schrader, in the No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet, won the pole, led the first 41 laps and led when it counted, the finish. He passed Tom Hessert in the No. 77 Barbera’s Autoland Dodge, just before a caution came out to set up the green-white-checkered finish. As cars fought for position, Hessert made his move but couldn’t get any closer to Schrader.
“That was just too much fun,” Schrader said in victory lane. It was his 17th career ARCA victory.
Hessert took the lead during a wild middle part of the race that saw several lead changes and door-to-door racing. At one point, Frank Kimmel took the lead on a three-wide pass in front of the main DuQuoin grandstand. A few laps later, he found himself in fifth position and Hessert grabbed the top spot.
Meanwhile, Schrader knifed his way through traffic and got to second, behind Hessert.
“We pitted late, like around lap 40, and we came back out eighth, then we got to sixth. A couple things happened and we got to second,” Schrader said. “I thought we might be done if Tom didn’t have problems. He got just a little bit high with a half dozen laps to go and that opened the doors for us.”
Schrader took the lead coming out of turn two.
“That was it,” he said. “That made all of the difference. He got up high an extra foot there. If not, I never would have got around him.”
Hessert said he just a real small mistake, but it was enough for Schrader to win the race, which officially took 102 laps.
“He is so good at this place,” Hessert said. “He runs so well here. We do, too. Man, we were so close.”
Venturini Motorsports driver Brennan Poole and Chris Windom, in the Roulo Brothers Racing No. 17 Ford, rounded out the top five. Mason Mitchell was sixth in the Empire Racing-Happy Cheeks Ford with Kimmel seventh, Kelly Kovski eighth, A.J. Fike ninth and Taylor Ferns 10th.
Boston, Poole and Ferns gave Venturini Motorsports three top 10 finishes.
SCOTT Rookie Challenge winner Boston finished in the top 10 for the seventh straight week. He seemed to be in the top five the whole race.
“I was really just trying to be cautious as possible while being aggressive,” Boston said. “I just tried to be consistent and not make any mistakes and let everyone else make mistakes. We had really good track position today and it paid off for us.”
Fourteen cars finished on the lead lap, including Jason Basham in 14th place in the Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet. Josh Williams, in the No. 99 Allegiant Travel-Roulo Brothers Racing Ford finished 13th after having to change engines and Ryan Unzicker finished 11th place, including a highlight-reel save on the front stretch when he avoided crashing into a spinning Kimmel.
Mason Mingus, the SCOTT Rookie Challenge leader and second in overall ARCA points, finished 12th in the 811 Call Before You Dig Toyota.
The traditional Labor Day race closed the 91st DuQuoin State Fair. Schrader has now won three poles and three races at the Magic Mile. He led 47 laps Monday. Schrader became the oldest winner in series history at Toledo and set the mark again Monday at DuQuoin.
Hessert led 33 laps and Windom 19.
There were eight cautions for 34 laps for the race, which took 1 hour and 19 minutes to complete.
The ARCA Racing Series has four races remaining in the 2013 season. The series travels to Iowa Speedway next week for a Saturday night race, leaving races at Salem, Kentucky and Kansas on the schedule.
ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards
Southern Illinois 100 presented by Federated Car Care
DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, DuQuoin IL (9-2-13)
Official Race Results
FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN LAPS STATUS
1 1 52 Ken Schrader/Fenton MO 102 Running
2 9 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ 102 Running
3 6 25 Justin Boston/Baltimore MD 102 Running
4 4 15 Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX 102 Running
5 5 17 Chris Windom/Canton IL 102 Running
6 11 82 Mason Mitchell/W. Des Moines IA 102 Running
7 12 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN 102 Running
8 2 16 Kelly Kovski/Springfield IL 102 Running
9 8 11 A.J. Fike/Galesburg IL 102 Running
10 18 55 Taylor Ferns/Shelby Township MI 102 Running
11 24 66 Ryan Unzicker/El Paso IL 102 Running
12 7 32 Mason Mingus/Brentwood TN 102 Running
13 26 99 Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL 102 Running
14 19 34 Jason Basham/Henryville IN 102 Running
15 3 22 Tyler Reddick/Corning CA 100 Running
16 15 35 Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela 99 Running
17 25 5 Mark Littleton/Arenzville IL 99 Running
18 17 01 Austin Rettig/Sikeston MO 98 Battery
19 16 56 Devin Steele/Stuart VA 98 Running
20 21 2 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL 98 Running
21 20 24 Spencer Montgomery/Windsor IL 97 Running
22 13 71 Shane Cockrum/Benton IL 94 Accident
23 23 40 Dominick Casola/Holmdel NJ 92 Running
24 10 69 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN 72 Overhtng
25 14 10 Tyler Speer/Woodstock GA 53 Overhtng
26 29 48 James Hylton/Inman SC 26 Handling
27 28 06 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ 18 Accident
28 27 97 Roger Carter/Sunfield MI 8 Engine
29 32 1 Michael Covington/Marshville NC 7 Brakes
30 22 3 Josh White/Charleston WV 6 Handling
31 30 68 Chris Bailey/South Park PA 2 Vibration
32 31 02 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI 0 Handling
89 Brad Dubil/Bettendorf IA DNS
Menards Pole Award Presented by Ansell: Ken Schrader 34.351 (104.800 mph)
Margin of Victory: .565 seconds
Time of Race: 1:19:02
Lap Leaders: Schrader 1-41, 97-102 (47); Windom 42-60 (19); F. Kimmel 61-63 (3); Hessert 64-96 (33)