Kimmel charges to 7th at DuQuoin; 27th top-10

DuQuoin, Ill. (Sept. 2, 2013) — Frank Kimmel and his ThorSport Racing crew proved just how gritty and determined their No. 44 Ansell / Menards Toyota team will be in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ stretch run, with a come-from-behind seventh-place finish in the Southern Illinois 100 by Federated Car Care Monday at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.

The result, which Kimmel achieved by out-racing dirt-racing specialist and local favorite Kelly Kovski in the run from Turn 4 to the start/finish line on the one-mile dirt oval, had a couple significant ramifications for Kimmel and his crew.

First, it opened a season-high 305-point lead on chief championship rival Mason Mingus, who Kimmel passed with five laps remaining to get back into the top 10. Mingus ultimately finished 12th.

Second, the result, which Kimmel achieved despite spinning out of fifth place with little more than 10 laps remaining, was Kimmel and his team’s 27th consecutive top-10 finish over the last two seasons, which increases Kimmel’s career-best streak that formerly stood at 21 races.

While Kimmel was unable to match the pace of race-winner Ken Schrader, who won his third DuQuoin ARCA race, at times during the event Kimmel’s Camry was the fastest car on the racetrack.

That was a contrast to the day’s lone one-hour practice and a single-lap run in Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell, where Kimmel struggled to find grip off the relatively flat racetrack’s fourth turn while earning the 12th starting spot.

“There were times when I thought we had a lot of potential and the car was running really good,” Kimmel said. “The first adjustment they made in the race the car was really good for a few laps, but then it started getting loose again.”

For most of the day Kimmel felt his car was its best entering and to the middle of the corners, but he struggled with being loose off — with the car trying to spin out coming off Turns 2 and 4.

Despite that, Kimmel and crew chief Jeriod Prince, who overcame an overheating issue early in the event, managed to parlay their strategy into leading laps 61-63, good for five bonus points.

“This is a brand-new setup for us this season, on dirt,” Kimmel said. “It’s different than anything I’ve been running for the last 15 years and it’s taken some getting used to. Sometimes it’s good and sometimes, not so much.

“But (Monday) was an example of taking a car that’s maybe not as good as you want it to be and getting the best finish you can, with it. I thought at the end, right before I spun, we had a car that could compete for a top-three without any problem so I was excited about that.”

But the way the race developed, it looked like Kimmel’s two-season top-10 streak was in jeopardy, particularly when Kimmel spun out of the fifth spot. The luckiest part of that was that none of the closely-packed field running behind Kimmel drilled him, particularly dirt specialist Ryan Unzicker, who swerved left to avoid t-boning Kimmel’s sideways car in the door, “a real nice move,” Kimmel said by way of understatement.

“We started 15th with about 15 laps to go (after spinning) and at that point, all you’re thinking about is damage control and getting the best finish you possibly can,” Kimmel said. “We were fortunate enough to get by the 32 (Mingus) and his car got tore up a little bit on that restart as well and he was struggling.

“So it turned out to be a pretty good points day for us, after all and sometimes you’ve just got to take the best that you can and be satisfied with that.”

And in the end the final straightaway pass did give Kimmel some relief.

“The car was pretty good — pretty fast with the new tires we had — at that point,” Kimmel said. “(Kovski) got held up a little bit by the car in front of him, which was something we saw all day long where if somebody broke your momentum up off the turn, you were in trouble.

“I saw that coming with Kelly coming into Turn 3 and I thought I was going to have an opportunity exiting Turn 4. It just materialized perfectly and we were able to beat him to the line and pick up another spot, so again, to come out of there with seventh, I think we were very fortunate and pretty happy with it.” 

The ARCA season has four races remaining, including Saturday night’s event at Iowa Speedway, the first of four consecutive night races to end the year on three different type racetracks.