 LEBANON,
TN (August 11, 2007) -- Last week, Jeremy Clements was denied his first ARCA
RE/MAX Series win when he ran out of gas leading the final lap at Pocono. One
can only imagine the disappointment the 22-year-old driver must have felt. What
better way to get rid of the memory of what could have been than to go out and
win the next race. And that's exactly what Clements did. The Spartanburg, SC
driver led 48 laps of 113 laps in Saturday's Toyota ARCA 150 at
Nashville Superspeedway en route to the win. Clements becomes the 11th
different winner in the 15 events completed to date this year.
Forty-fours cars traveled to Nashville for qualifying for one of 40 starting
spots. Michael McDowell, who had won the last two ARCA races, earned the pole
after posting the fastest time in qualifying. McDowell circled the 1.33-mile
oval in 30.126 seconds (159.291 mph). Jeremy Clements was second fastest at
30.262 seconds (158.575 mph). Clements was followed by Michael Annett, Frank
Kimmel and Erin Crocker to round out the top five in qualifying.
The race featured five leaders among three different drivers. Drivers
leading during the event included; Michael McDowell 1-33 (33), Bryan Clauson
34-62, 72-74 (32) and Jeremy Clements 63-71, 75-113 (48).
Jeremy Clements was followed to the finish line by Bryan Clauson who had
started eighth. The USAC Series veteran, making only his seventh stock car
series start, trailed the race winner by 8.2 seconds at the line.
Frank Kimmel finished in third place followed by Cale Gale and Brian
Keselowski. Erin Crocker was sixth followed by Dexter Bean, Michael Annett,
Blake Feese and Robb Brent in seventh through tenth, respectively. Brent earned
the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award for advancing the most positions. Brent
started 28th en route to a tenth place finish.
The race was slowed just four times for 20 laps which also resulted in new
race record. The 113-lap race yielded an average speed of 123.526 mph. The old
mark was set by Stephen Leicht in last year's spring race. In 2005, Leicht won
the ASA Late Model Series championship which, like the ARCA Series, runs
exclusively on Hoosier tires. Leicht has since moved on to the Busch Series and
is currently in seventh place in the driver standings.
Frank Kimmel increased his lead in the driver standing to 80 points over
Michael McDowell after the pole-sitter finished 19th due to engine problems.
Dexter Bean is third in the points chase followed by Justin Allgaier and
Phillip McGilton.
All the teams at Nashville competed on Hoosier racing radials with one inch
of stagger.
The Hoosier service team for the Nashville event included; Rick Tostevin,
Dave Wroblewski, Chad Wright, Kevin Wroblewski, Fred Awald, Clint Williams,
Mike Haenes and Mike Walsh.
Next up, the ARCA RE/MAX
Series competitors will be competing on clay this Sunday, August 19th, at the
Illinois State Fairgrounds.
For complete race results and more information about the ARCA
RE/MAX Series visit their website at www.arcaracing.com.
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