Kimmel set to celebrate 10th ARCA title in Kansas

But when Kimmel makes his first lap of practice Friday morning on the 1.5-mile midwest showplace in his No. 44 Ansell / Menards Toyota, thereby clinching his 10th ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards championship, Kansas will forever be etched in his mind as a very special place.

Friday night’s Kansas Lottery 98.9 is the 13th ARCA race in the track’s history and Kimmel has laid down some legendary numbers there. In 12 races his average start is 5.3 and his average finish, 6.1, bolstered by a pair of victories, seven top-five and 10 top-10 finishes.

Kimmel won poles in consecutive seasons, 2002-2003, and he won his first Kansas event from the pole in 2002. In his first three races at Kansas Kimmel led a whopping 287 laps, and in his 12 starts there he’s completed all but three laps raced.

Kimmel’s 2013 season, his second for ThorSport Racing, has been marked by consistency at a high level, which results in him coming to the final race of 21 this season with a 315-point lead over Tennessee teenager Mason Mingus. But that’s not much on Kimmel’s mind. Winning Friday night’s race would mean everything.

“It’s another mile-and-a-half racetrack and it’s got the same characteristics that they all do — it’s fast and you’ve got to have a good-handling car with a lot of power,” Kimmel said. “But Kansas is a beautiful facility and it’s always nice to have your season finale where there’s going to be as much media and fans as you can have, so the fans can appreciate it and you can get the maximum coverage for Menards and Ansell and of course, our ThorSport team because they’ve done such a good job all season long.”

Kimmel is one of only two drivers that have won more than one ARCA event at Kansas. Kimmel won in 2002 and 2006 — both years in which he also won ARCA championships. Alex Bowman won the last two Kansas events before moving up to the NASCAR Nationwide Series. That success is not lost on Kimmel.

“Kansas is a place where we’ve had success in the past, so me personally, I’m glad that we’re going there for our finale,” Kimmel said of his record. “We feel like we’ve got as good of an opportunity to win as anyone who’ll be there, so we’re ready to go.”

Kimmel’s primary car for Kansas is the same Toyota Camry his crew unloaded at Kentucky, only to have it hit the wall after only 10 laps of practice. But Kimmel knew he had a potential top-five car for that race and feels the same way about that car at Kansas. The damaged Camry was repaired and unloaded Thursday morning.

“Duke Thorson (car owner) always wants us to take the best piece that we have to whatever racetrack we’re going to,” Kimmel said. “And that’s definitely our best piece for that type of racetrack. “It’s proved it all year by being a very, very good car for us. We ran good with it (at Kansas) last year so I think it’s the last race of the year and the points are pretty much all done so it’s a matter of going out and trying to win the race.

“So to do that you definitely bring the fastest racecar you think that you have in your stable and that one, I believe, is our best car. Jeriod (Prince, crew chief) and Brad (Means, body hanger) and all of the guys worked really hard to get it back together and I think it’s better than it was when we practiced it at Kentucky — they’ve worked that hard at it — and I can’t wait to practice it Friday morning.

“Triad (Racing Technologies, Toyota engine supplier) has reached back and went for all the power we can get and I think they’re bringing the best motor we’ve had all year, so I think we should be very competitive with it.”

Kimmel extended his two-year string of top-10 finishes to 30 races two weeks ago with a ninth-place finish at the Kentucky Speedway. While Kimmel’s Kansas legacy indicates he’ll make ARCA history by becoming the first champion to post a season with nothing but top-10 finishes, he’s more enjoying the attitude that comes with having another championship all but locked-up, due to the 275 ARCA bonus points he’ll receive for making that single practice lap Friday morning.

“It’s already started,” Kimmel said, chuckling. “As a racer, you’re always thinking about the points and what you have to do is always in the back of your mind. And now that we have all but clinched the title and we don’t have to dwell on what we have to do for points — because we’ve accomplished our goal by winning the championship.

“It makes the attitude around our garage a much more relaxed atmosphere while the guys that are still racing for points… I’m sure Mason (Mingus) and Justin (Boston) are going to be hot after not only the rookie of the year title but also to see who can finished second in the points.

“They’re both thinking about that and trying to get the best finish that they can so from our perspective it’s nice… It’s just like going to a regular old short-track race somewhere with your Late Model car — there’s not a lot of pressure and you’re just there to race and have fun and go for the win and you don’t have to worry about the points.”

The prospect of winning his 80th career race also has Kimmel 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.