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 TOLEDO,
OH (May 20, 2007) -- It got a little hot at Toledo Speedway on Sunday
afternoon. And we aren't talking about the weather. With six laps to go in the
ARCA RE/MAX Series Hantz Group 200, Ken Butler III was leading when pole sitter
Michael McDowell made a pass for the lead. The two Eddie Sharp Racing teammates
swapped the lead without issue. That is, until the very next lap. That's when
Butler bumped into the rear of McDowell entering the first turn. The contact
sent McDowell spinning while Butler was able to continue on. Butler, now in the
lead, held off Kenny Schrader to notch his first career ARCA RE/MAX Series win
in only his fourth series start. The series has now enjoyed eight different
winners in the first eight races of the season. Last year, the series went nine
races before a repeat winner emerged. The ARCA RE/MAX Series had a record 17
different winners in the 23 events contested last year.
Forty-four
cars were on hand for Sunday's 200-lap race at Toledo Speedway. For the third
straight event, Michael McDowell earned the pole as top qualifier. McDowell
circled the 1/2-mile oval in a 16.544 seconds or 108.801 mph. Justin Allgaier
was second in qualifying at 16.631 seconds (108.232 mph). Under
partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the mid-70's, 35 cars started the race.
The race featured eight leaders among six different drivers including Justin
Allgaier 1-10 (10), Michael McDowell 11-68, 195 (59), Kenny Schrader 69-114
(46), Frank Kimmel 115-171 (57), Justin South 172-174 (3) and Ken Butler III
175-194, 196-200, (25). The
tight short-track racing resulted in 14 cautions for a total of 78 of the 200
race laps. In
the closing laps of the race, Ken Butler III was leading with six laps to go
when Michael McDowell passed his teammate to take over the lead. McDowell's
pass was clean and no contact was made. However, while entering the first turn
after taking over the lead, McDowell was bumped from behind by Butler sending
the polesitter into a spin. Butler
held on the remainder of the way to claim his first career win. NASCAR veteran
Kenny Schrader wound up finishing in second place .239 seconds behind the race
winner.
After the race, Butler
commented, ""Man I hate it for Michael. We were racing for the lead
and he checked up and I got into him."
While McDowell saw it
this way, "I can't believe it. I passed him clean down there, and then he
flat plowed into me. He didn't just hit me; he lifted me off the ground and
stayed in it until I was turned around." McDowell, who finished in 7th
place, added, "I want to congratulate him, but that's no way to win a
race."
Justin South finished in
third followed by Frank Kimmel and Bobby Gerhart to round out the top five.
Gerhart earned the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award for advancing the most
positions. Gerhart started 22nd en route to his fifth place finish.
Frank Kimmel extended his
lead in the driver standings to 70 points over Justin Allgaier. Allgaier
finished the race in 14th. Hoosier
is the official tire of the ARCA RE/MAX Series. At Toledo, all the competitors
rode on bias-ply race tires manufactured in Plymouth, IN. Members
of the Hoosier service team attending the event in Toledo included; Dave
Wroblewski, Chad Wright, Kevin Wroblewski, Fred Awald, Mike Haenes, Jake
Budzielek, Luke Morris and Aric Ott. All ARCA RE/MAX Series events are
serviced out of Hoosier headquarters in Lakeville, IN. The ARCA
RE/MAX Series will take the holiday weekend off before returning to action at
Iowa Speedway on June 2. For complete race details and
more information about the ARCA RE/MAX Series visit www.arcaracing.com.
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