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 NASHVILLE,
TN (April 12) -- Defending ARCA RE/MAX Series Champion Frank Kimmel
picked up his first win of the season at Nashville Superspeedway
Friday afternoon. Kimmel dominated the race, leading 74 of the 113 laps en route to collecting $24,475. After the first two races of
the season were shortened by rain, the PFG Lester ARCA 150 went the
scheduled distance on the 1.33-mile Nashville track with Kimmel
capturing his 34th series victory. Forty-one cars started the
race which had Frank Kimmel and current points leader Chad Blount
comprising the front row. Kimmel won the Old Milwaukee Pole Award by
nearly 2 mph over the young Walkerton, IN driver. The race began
with Kimmel jumping out to take the early race lead. The event had
four other race leaders before Kimmel took command for the final time
on lap 104. Other race leaders were: Michael Vergers, Sammy Ragan,
Damon Lusk and Robert Burroughs. Finishing in second place behind
Kimmel was 21-year-old Sammy Ragan in his first ever ARCA start after
starting third. John Hayden took third place honors after starting
back in the 16th position. Former NFL head coach and sometime
broadcast commentator Jerry Glanville finished fourth and Chase Montgomery
fifth. A total of 11 drivers finished the race on
the lead lap. Completing the list of lead-lap finishers were: Chad
Blount, Damon Lusk, Jason Rudd, Shelby Howard, Ron Cox and Rick
Thoennes in sixth through eleventh. The event
was attended by Hoosier Product Manager Jeff Speer and Engineer Rick
Tostevin. Several teams had tested prior to this event with the same
tire Hoosier had run in both last year's spring and fall races and
noticed increase of wear on the right side tires. Speer
commented, "Last July, the Nashville track had ground down both
corners on the 1.33 mile concrete track but here this spring it
appeared to be more abrasive." Speer continued, "We expected
to see an improvement of tire wear as the ARCA cars and the Busch
Grand National cars ran their practice laps. However, the increase in
tread wear continued during the race. As a result, we are planning on
testing new tires before next spring's ARCA Nashville event." Norm
Benning won the Hoosier Performance Tire Hard Charger Award for finishing 18th after starting 33rd. Unofficially, rookie
Chad Blount retains his series point lead with 680 markers followed by
Damon Lusk, Frank Kimmel, Shelby Howard and Ron Cox in second through
fifth place, respectively. Next stop for the ARCA Series is
Indiana's Salem Speedway on April 28. Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. is
proud to be the exclusive tire suppler to the ARCA RE/MAX
Series. |
