|
BROOKLYN, Mich. (June 14, 2013) —Â Youth won the Patriot Pumps 200 Friday at Michigan International Speedway but the veteran Frank Kimmel took another step toward winning the war for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards championship with his eighth consecutive top-10 finish this season.
Kimmel, 51, unofficially took a 95-point lead in the championship over Tennessee teenager Mason Mingus with his third-place finish — his 15th career top-10 in 25 career starts at Michigan — behind youngsters Brennan Poole, 22, and Ryan Blaney, 19.
Kimmel, who had proclaimed before the race that the No. 44 Ansell / Menards Toyota assembled by ThorSport Racing might be the best car he’d ever had at Michigan, wasn’t disappointed with the result, his 18th consecutive top-10 finish in a streak stretching back to New Jersey Motorsports Park last July 1.
“This Ansell / Menards Toyota was really strong all day,” Kimmel said. “I don’t know what we could have done to improve it, but we needed just a little bit more to run with those kids out front. We could see ’em, but we couldn’t quite reach ’em.
“They must’ve been wide open at both ends, because I almost was — I was just breathing (the throttle) a bit in (Turns) 1 and 2 — and it wasn’t quite enough.”
Kimmel qualified third in Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell Friday morning, which was his best Michigan qualifying effort since 2006. He never fell out of the top five in the running order thanks to two crisp pit stops by the over-the-wall crew that typically services NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship leader Matt Crafton’s No. 88 Menards Toyota.
Kimmel was second at the final restart with eight laps left but Blaney, the Penske Racing development driver who started from the pole in his first ARCA start this season, dove under Kimmel into Turn 1 in an attempt to run down leader Poole, who was also making his first ARCA start of the year.
Kimmel raced side by side with Grant Enfinger for a couple laps before settling into third and out-running Justin Boston and Enfinger, who rounded out the top-five. Mingus ended up in sixth position, which makes him the only other driver in the series to have eight top-10 finishes this season.
“We did exactly what we needed to do,” Kimmel said. “All you can do in any race is the best you can with the car you’ve got that day. It’s the mark of a championship team when you do a little bit better than you should.
“I think we had a fourth- of fifth-place car (Friday) and we finished third with it, so I’m real pleased with that.”
The series travels to Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., for the first of two road races this season. Saturday’s event is in conjunction with the NASCAR Nationwide Series. |
| ABOUT MENARDS:
With 280 stores in 14 Midwestern states, Menards has the tools, materials and supplies for all your home improvement needs whether just needing a light bulb or can of paint to building a deck or new home. Menards is known throughout the home improvement industry as the low price leader; it’s no wonder their famous slogan – “SAVE BIG MONEY” – is so widely known and easy to remember. Menards does things right – the company’s strength and success can be seen in the well-stocked and maintained stores, the lowest prices in town and the way guests are always treated like family in a hometown hardware store atmosphere.
ABOUT ANSELL: Ansell is a global leader in protection solutions, with operations in North America, LAC, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. Ansell designs, develops, manufactures and markets a wide range of surgical, examination, industrial and household gloves, protective clothing and condoms. People in over 100 countries around the world put their trust in Ansell’s innovative, high-quality solutions to offer superior protection, combined with high levels of comfort and performance. Ansell holds its operational headquarters in Iselin, NJ, USA and its parent, Ansell Limited, is registered in Melbourne, Australia. Worldwide, the group employs over 10,000 people in 33 countries. |
|
ABOUT THORSPORT RACING:
ThorSport Racing, based in a state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest-tenured active NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team. Thorsport, which has run full-season Truck Series schedules annually beginning in 1998, in 2013 will run the No. 88 Menards Toyota Tundra driven by Matt Crafton, the No. 98 Carolina Nut Co./Curb Records Toyota Tundra driven by Johnny Sauter and the No. 13 SealMaster Toyota Tundra driven by Todd Bodine in the Truck Series and the No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota Camry driven by Frank Kimmel in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
|
