 LEBANON,
TN (April 15, 2006) -- Nineteen-year-old Stephen Leicht is no stranger to the
winner's circle having won five times last year en route to claiming the 2005
ASA Late Model Series championship. On Saturday, the Asheville, NC native won
the ARCA RE/MAX Series "PFG Lester 150" at Nashville Superspeedway
making only his second start in the series. Leicht led twice after starting 5th
in the 41-car field. The second ARCA race of the season attracted a phenomenal
69 cars in hopes of taking home the commemorative Gibson guitar given to
winners at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
Last season, Stephen Leicht caught the eye of Robert Yates Racing after his
five ASA wins and was offered a contract as part of their driver development
program and now competes in select ARCA and Busch Series events. Leicht's five
wins last year all came on Hoosier tires which developed a radial tire
exclusively for the ASA Late Model Series. Leicht's success continued on
Hoosier radials using a tire specifically designed for superspeedway tracks in
the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
Sixty-nine cars made the trip to Tennessee with 64 of them posting times in
qualifying. Steve Wallace was fastest circling the 1.33-mile concrete oval in
29.835 seconds (160.845 mph). Defending series champion Frank Kimmel was second
with a time of 29.875 seconds. Brad Coleman was the only other driver to break
the 30-second barrier in time trials when he qualified third with a time of
29.944 seconds.
The race featured seven leaders among six different drivers which included;
Steve Wallace (1-10), Stephen Leicht (11-40, 93-115), Brad Coleman (41-52),
Mario Gosselin (53-57), Frank Kimmel (58-82), Justin Diercks (83-92). The
115-lap race was slowed seven times for a total of 37 laps.
Finishing in second place (.538 seconds behind Leicht) was fellow rookie
Brad Coleman. The 18-year-old Coleman was making his first-ever series start.
Seven-time series champion Frank Kimmel finished in third place followed by TJ
Bell and Willie Allen. Bell also won the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award for
advancing the most positions. Bell started 22nd en route to finishing in fourth
place.
All the competitors rode on Hoosier's 12.0/28.0-15 superspeedway radial
tires. The compound codes used at Nashville were 5230 (left) and 5701 (right).
All ARCA Series races are serviced out of Hoosier headquarters in Lakeville,
IN. The service team included ARCA track service manager Doug Barnes, engineer
Rick Tostevin, crew chief Dave Wroblewski, with Fred Awald, Mike Haenes, Jake
Hartle, Chad Wright and Larry "Toots" Merrill performing the mounting
and balancing.
After a two-month layoff between the first two races of the season, the ARCA
RE/MAX Series is right back at it this Sunday, April 23, when they travel to
Salem (IN) Speedway for the third event in their 23-race season.
For more information about the ARCA RE/MAX Series visit www.arcaracing.com.
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