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SPARTA, Ky. (Sept. 21, 2013) —Â Frank Kimmel endured a one-day rain delay and a career-first mistake with ThorSport Racing and left Kentucky Speedway Saturday after finishing ninth with his No. 44 Ansell / Menards Toyota in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards ZLOOP 150.
But most significantly, it left Kimmel only having to make a single lap of practice at Kansas Speedway in two weekends to win his 10th ARCA Racing Series title. Kimmel, who’s raced the last two seasons with ThorSport and last year finished second in the championship to Chris Buescher, bounced back from crashing his primary car in the opening moments of Friday’s lone ARCA practice session — the first time that’s happened in 39 races with ThorSport — and scored his 30th consecutive top-10 finish stretching back to July 2012 at New Jersey Motorsports Park.
“It’s been a special year because of our consistency,” Kimmel said. “No matter what happens, our guys at ThorSport never stop digging and what they did Friday in practice was a great example. “I’m not really sure what happened — some of the guys that were running around me in practice said they thought something was on the racetrack over there in Turn 3 — but I crashed the car and the guys did a great job in turning around the backup fast enough that we were able to get some practice with it.” Kimmel’s backup Toyota Camry finished one spot in front of Tennessee teenager Mason Mingus and unofficially extended Kimmel’s lead in the championship to 315 points. If Kimmel makes a lap in practice for the Kansas Lottery 98.9 on Friday, Oct. 4 at Kansas Speedway, he’ll get 275 ARCA bonus points and won’t even need to start Friday night’s race. “We’ve still got one race to go and that’s one we really want to win,” Kimmel said. “It’s great to be in this position and it’s because of what Jeriod (Prince, crew chief) and Rich (Lushes, car chief) and the guys have done all season. This is a credit to our organization, Ansell and Menards and everyone who supports us.”
ARCA practice was completed Friday, with Kimmel left in the 13th position after he missed 40 minutes of the two-hour session while his crew took out the backup car and set it up to practice in only 40 minutes from the time the transporter’s lift gate hit the ground til Kimmel rolled out to practice the backup car. The 32-car field was lined up for Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell when a rain shower hit the 1.5-mile oval. The track was nearly dried when another heavy shower hit. That wiped-out qualifying and left Kimmel on the pole for the 20th of 21 races this season. The rain also postponed the race from Friday evening to Saturday afternoon and when it started, Kimmel’s fourth pole position this season — all the result of qualifying rainouts — enabled him to gain five bonus points for leading the first four laps of the race, mostly under caution after Milka Duno crashed in Turn 2 on the first lap. From there, Kimmel mostly ran in the top 10, though he did fall as far back as 12th before making his final run back into the top 10. Kimmel said his car was a little down on power due to the car change and his team being unable to make all the changes it would have liked to have made. “Well, that was a little disappointing,” Kimmel said of the finish. “The harder I ran it the tighter it would get. We just didn’t quite get it very good to where we could race with those guys out front.
“We had a top-10 car and finished ninth. That’s about all we had.” But Kimmel stressed that the minor handling issues he experienced in the race didn’t take away from the work his crew did on Friday. “Overall, the car really didn’t drive that bad and I think if we could’ve got all our practice on Friday we would’ve had it a lot closer — plus the primary car that I crashed was really, really good,” Kimmel said. “The guys did a helluva job getting (the backup) back out there. It seemed like it was handling good. “On the get-a-ways, I was struggling keeping up with them (and) it kind of showed from about the flag stand on. Then I felt myself over-driving the entrances to the turns and that makes it handle worse. For what we had, everything went well. I think that’s a good points day and we hung in there.”
In the Kansas finale, Kimmel’s last chance this season to win his 80th career race also has him enthused, even though he’s already missed the chance to claim sole possession of ARCA’s career record for victories in the last 10 races since he won his 79th race in June at Winchester.
Kimmel is locked in a tie for that honor with ARCA legend Iggy Katona, and would cherish nothing more than the chance to claim the honor at a venue that he christened with a victory in its first professional event, a NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race in June 2001.
The ARCA Racing Series heads to Kansas Speedway for its season finale, the Kansas Lottery 98.9 scheduled for Friday night, Oct. 4 at the 1.5-mile speedway where Kimmel has two ARCA Racing Series wins and a pair of pole positions.
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| 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 world leader in providing superior health and safety protection solutions that enhance human well-being. With operations in North America, Latin America/Caribbean, EMEA and Asia, Ansell employs more than 11,000 people worldwide and holds leading positions in the personal protective equipment and medical gloves market, as well as in the sexual health and well-being category worldwide. Ansell operates in four main business segments: Medical Solutions, Industrial Solutions, Specialty Markets and Sexual Wellness. Information on Ansell and its products can be found at www.ansell.com.
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ABOUT THORSPORT RACING:
ThorSport Racing, based in a state-of-the-art 100,000-square-foot facility in Sandusky, Ohio, is the longest-tenured 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 Tracy Hines in the Truck Series and the No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota Camry driven by Frank Kimmel in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. |
