|
 HAMPTON,
GA (November 17) -- Kerry Earnhardt, the eldest son of racing legend
Dale Earnhardt, won the ARCA RE/MAX Pork The Other White Meat 400, at
Atlanta Motor Speedway on a beautiful Saturday afternoon. Earnhardt,
before a cheering crowd and a national television audience, captured
his fourth series victory in just his 11th start, driving the Diamond
Cut Jeans #2 Chevrolet, as the ARCA series concluded it's 49th season
of racing competition in grand fashion. A huge 40 car field took the
green flag starting the 162-lap event which had Frank Kimmel starting
from the pole position. Kimmel captured his 11th Bud Pole Award of
2001, when he eclipsed the 1.54-mile tri-oval in 29.356 seconds.
Kimmel's time set a new track record with an average speed of 188.854
mph. Shane Hmiel, son of renowned crew chief Steve Hmiel, started
fifth, but burst into the lead on the first lap before Frank Kimmel
took over the lead on lap two. This would be the first of five times
the defending series champion would command the race lead. All
told, there were 17 lead changes among five different drivers. Joining
Hmiel and Kimmel as race leaders were rookie Stuart Kirby, who led 8
laps, Rick Thoennes led twice for six laps, while the big story of the
day, was Kerry Earnhardt, who led six times for a total of 75 laps. On
lap 136 Stuart Kirby took over the race lead after the final round of
pit stops. With everyone opting for four tires, Kirby who took his
chances with two fresh tires in an attempt to overcome the lightning
quick pit stops Kerry Earnhardt was being afforded via the Winston Cup
pit crew members of Dale Earnhardt, Inc.. Kirby's two fresh tires
were no match for Earnhardt's four fresh Hoosier's and his quick pit
service, as Earnhardt regained the race lead eight laps later on lap
144. Earnhardt led the final 19 laps en route to the win. Earnhardt's
margin of victory was 6.313 seconds over second place finisher, Shane
Hmiel. After his victory, Earnhardt credited his win to his friend,
Blaise Alexander, who was killed in the race at Lowe's Motor Speedway
in October.
"It was hard losing Blaise," said Earnhardt. "That race
(Earnhardt's victory at Lowe's) wasn’t a victory to me; it was a
loss. This victory was to celebrate Blaise's life and the racer he
was. This race here in November, this is Blaise's. This is his race;
he was with us and that’s why we won." After
runner-up Hmiel, Frank Kimmel took third place honors, while Stuart
Kirby, Tim Steele, Jason Jarrett and Ed Berrier finished fourth
through seventh respectively, completing the list of lead lap
finishers. Kevin Belmont won the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award
after finishing 14th after starting 37th. In the final series point
standings, Frank Kimmel captured his second consecutive ARCA RE/MAX
Series championship with 7080 points. Rookie of the Year, Jason
Jarrett, took second place with 6000 points. Andy Belmont was third
with 5470 points. Ron Cox, Norm Benning, Todd Bowsher, Chuck Weber,
Donny Morlock, Tim Steele and Mike Buckley rounded out the list of
drivers in the top ten in the final series point standings. In
addition to normal Hoosier track service personnel on hand for the
event taking care of mounting and balancing of tires for the many race
teams, Hoosier also had engineering staff at the race to monitor tire
performance. Hoosier ARCA product manager, Jeff Speer, who
also attended the event commented after the race, "The tires performed exceptionally well today, considering the increase in left side wear we saw in practice on Thursday and Friday. Usually this happens because of the green or unused track. One set could easily go a gas
stop (50 - 55 laps), which we try and design the tire to do. I received many compliments from the drivers after the race. Most of the racing was down towards the bottom of the track on the white line, which means the tires had plenty of grip."
Speer continued, "Hoosier has been fortunate to be a part of
the phenomenal growth in the ARCA RE/MAX Series over the years. Our
relationship continues to strengthen during this time as well. Hoosier
has been the exclusive tire supplier to the ARCA Series since 1995,
and we are now in our third 3-year agreement to remain the exclusive
tire supplier to the series through the 2003 season."
The ARCA RE/MAX Series will hold it's annual championship awards
banquet on Saturday, December 8, at the Northern Kentucky Convention
Center. |
