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 SALEM,
IN (September 15) -- Defending ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank
Kimmel won his 10th race of the season when he captured the Eddie
Gilstrap Motors 200 at Salem Speedway on Sunday. Kimmel started on the
pole and led three times for 76 laps en route to the win over Andy
Belmont and Chad Blount.
A 35-car field was led to the starting line by Old
Milwaukee Pole Award winner Frank Kimmel and Jerry Coble who was
making his first-ever ARCA Series start. Kimmel took the pole with a
qualifying lap of 112.849 mph.
The race featured six different race leaders among
four drivers. Other drivers leading during the event were Andy Belmont
(twice for 85 laps), Chad Blount (once for 9 laps), Jerry Coble (once
for 30 laps).
Despite brushing the wall early on, Kimmel took the
race lead for the third and final time with 30 laps to go to capture
his 10th win of the season. Kimmel commented after the win, "Bill
(Kimmel's crew chief) made some great calls; he got the handle back
with stagger adjustments, gave me some fresh tires there at the end. I
think the tires made the difference between me and Andy
(Belmont)."
Andy Belmont finished in second after starting ninth.
Rookie Chad Blount finished third after starting seventh. Rounding out
the list of lead-lap finishers were Chase Montgomery (4th), Shelby
Howard (5th), Michael Simko (6th), Mike Langston (7th), Ron Cox (8th),
and Doug Stevens (9th).
Sixteen-year-old Justin Allgaier was awarded the
Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award for advancing the most positions.
Allgaier started 27th and finished in 17th in the Hoosier Tire
Midwest-Law Automotive Chevrolet. Justin is the son of Hoosier Tire
Midwest's Dorothy and Mike Allgaier.
Hoosier ARCA Product Manager Jeff Speer explained, "Frank Kimmel stated in victory circle, fresh or new tires and stagger adjustments helped him take this final short track win of the 2002 racing season. Hoosier's ARCA short track tread compounds are designed to run many laps without
extreme wear or having lap times slow dramatically." Speer
continued, "Many competitors this weekend ran over 100 laps before pitting for a new set of tires. Typically, a new set of tires will bring the car back to optimum handling, which gave Frank Kimmel an advantage over Andy Belmont."
Speer also added, "With bias ply tires (as
opposed to a radial design), you will find a variation in tire circumference
between tires. With these variations, a crew chief can pick tires that
will result in a certain stagger (the left side to right side
difference in circumference) that they feel is appropriate for their car's setup. Normally, ARCA cars will use one inch difference in the front and two inches in the rear. More stagger or difference in size, will help turn the car and
hopefully run faster. When teams race with speedway radials, the
circumference variations are minimal (usually no more than 1/8"
variation tire-to-tire), so stagger is less of an issue with the
radial design."
Frank Kimmel now takes a commanding lead in the ARCA
Series point standings with 5465 points followed by Chad Blount with
4950 points. Jason Jarrett, Chase Montgomery and Shelby Howard are
third through fifth, respectively, in the standings with just two
races to go in the 2002 season.
The ARCA Series will take a few weeks off before
returning to action on October 5th, at the 2.66-mile Talladega
Superspeedway.
Hoosier Racing Tire Corp. is proud to once again be
the exclusive tire supplier to the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
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