 BROOKLYN,
MI (June 17, 2005) -- Defending ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank Kimmel won
his third race of the season at Michigan International Speedway on Friday. The
6-time champion led four times for a total of 27 laps to claim the Hantz Group
200. The Clarksville, Indiana driver entered the race just 35 points ahead of
Joey Miller in the driver standings, but the talented rookie suffered an engine
failure relegating him to a 28th place finish. Kimmel now takes a commanding
180 point margin into the next event at Kansas Speedway in two weeks. Hoosier
Racing Tire Corp. has proudly been the exclusive tire supplier to the ARCA
RE/MAX Series for the past decade.
Carmel, Indiana's Kyle Krisiloff was the Pork Pole Award winner
as the event's fastest qualifier. The talented 20-year-old driver circled the
2.0-mile oval in 38.380 seconds (187.598 mph). Ken Weaver narrowly missed the
pole when he posted a lap of 38.395 seconds (187.524 mph). The time was good
enough to earn the other front row starting spot.
Forty cars took the green flag a little after 5:00pm Friday.
The exciting 100-lap race featured fourteen leaders among six different drivers
including; Kyle Krisiloff (1-8, 37-47, 69-70, 72-73), Frank Kimmel (9-19, 68,
71, 87-100), Joey Miller (20-36, 62-67), Kevin Hamlin (74-76), A.J. Henriksen
(77-81), Ken Weaver (48-61, 82-86). The race had six cautions for 32 laps.
At the finish, third starting Frank Kimmel took the win by
1.733 seconds over Walkerton, Indiana's Chad Blount. It was Kimmel's 59th
series win. Ken Weaver finished in third place followed by A.J. Henriksen, Kyle
Krisiloff, Danny O'Quinn, Erin Crocker, Kevin Hamlin, Chad McCumbee and Walt
Brannan in fourth through tenth, respectively. Along with the 13 lead changes,
17 of the 40 race starters finished the race on the lead lap.
Rookie Dominic Vara earned the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger award
for advancing the most positions. The Florida driver finished in 12th place
after starting 34th.
After 8 of 23 scheduled races, Frank Kimmel sits atop the
driver standings with 2240 points followed by Joey Miller with 2060 points.
With his runner-up finish, Chad Blount closes to within 120 points of second
place in the rankings with 1940 points.
TIRES: Hoosier 12.0/28.0-15 5120 (left side) and
12.0/28.0-15 5650 (right side) tires were used with one inch of stagger.
Michigan International Speedway is one of 15 stops on the 2005 ARCA RE/MAX
Series schedule where radial tires are used. The same two (compound) codes will
be used at the Michigan race in August.
All ARCA Series events are serviced out of Hoosier headquarters
in Lakeville, IN under the guidance of ARCA RE/MAX Series Track Service Manager
Doug Barnes. Other Hoosier staff making the trip to Michigan to help service
the event included Rick Tostevin, Dave Wroblewski, Chad Wright, Larry Merrill,
Jacob Hartle, Mike Haenes and Eriks Bers.
OTHER NOTES: Friday's ARCA RE/MAX race was a lead-in
event for Sunday's "Batman Begins 400" race where Batman gave the
starting command. The caped crusader also led the field in a parade lap around
the MIS track in the newly designed Batmobile. Like the ARCA cars, the
Batmobile also rides on Hoosier tires. The car(s) for the recently released
movie were built in England with tires supplied by Hoosier Tire UK. While the
(front) tires are actually designed for sprint cars, they apparently are also
great for fighting crime in Gotham City.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series is back in action, July 2, at Kansas
Speedway. For complete race results and more information about the ARCA RE/MAX
Series visit their website at www.arcaracing.com.
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