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 SOUTH
BOSTON, VA (June 26) -- Defending ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank
Kimmel led 162 of the 200 race laps en route to collecting his second
win of the season Saturday evening at South Boston Speedway. It was
Kimmel's 52nd career win in the series that exclusively runs on
Hoosier tires and has since the 1995 season. Kimmel started on the
outside pole and battled pole-sitter Brent Sherman throughout the
event before winning by .447 seconds.
Thirty-two drivers were listed on the starting grid
with Brent Sherman winning his first career Pork Pole Award honors with a qualifying
lap time of 16.473 seconds around the 4/10-mile asphalt oval. The
Barrington, IL driver was joined in the front row by fellow Ford
driver Frank Kimmel.
The race began with Kimmel getting the jump on Sherman
as the green flag waved. Kimmel led the race's first 100 laps before
pitting for fuel and fresh Hoosier tires. The pit stop handed the lead
to 11th starting Joe Cooksey. The Centralia, IL driver held the race
lead for three laps before giving way to Jason Jarrett. Jarrett's lead
lasted six laps before Kimmel made his way back to the front of the
32-car field on lap 110. The Jeffersonville, IN driver led the next 44
laps before electing to pit for more tires during a late caution
period while most of the other front runners stayed out. The move
again handed the lead to Jarrett.
Jarrett led the race's next 29 laps before Kimmel,
using his fresher tires, fought his way back to the front for good
this time. Kimmel took the lead back on lap 184 and went on to lead
the final 17 circuits to capture the win by .447 seconds over Brent
Sherman. Sherman was followed by Billy Venturini in third.
Norm Benning finished in fourth place, while Joe
Cooksey took fifth--the first car a lap down. T.J. Bell wound up
finishing in sixth after starting 14th. Christi Passmore was seventh
followed by Mark Gibson, A.J. Fike and Bob Aiello in eighth through
tenth, respectively. Jason Jarrett was involved in a late race
accident and ended up finishing in 19th.
The South Boston race was one of the handful of
short-track events in the ARCA RE/MAX Series that use Hoosier bias-ply
tires. All the competitors rode on Hoosier "12" left side
and "20" right side tires.
Frank Kimmel extends his already sizeable lead in the
driver standings to 310 points over Billy Venturini. Brent Sherman is
in third place followed by Mark Gibson and Jason Jarrett.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series is back in action this
Saturday, July 3rd, at Berlin Raceway in Marne, MI where the same
Hoosier "12" and "20" bias-ply tires will be used.
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