 SALEM,
IN (September 16, 2006) -- Blake Bjorklund added his name to the list of ARCA
RE/MAX Series winners this year after capturing Saturday's Eddie Gilstrap
Motors ARCA Fall Classic at Salem Speedway. Bjorklund becomes the 17th
different winner this year in the 21 events contested to date. The rookie
driver took the lead from seven-time series champion Frank Kimmel with just two
laps remaining in the 200-lap race. The race-winning pass came when the
21-year-old driver faked a move to the inside of Kimmel. When the defending
series champion moved down to block the hard charging rookie, Bjorklund quickly
steered his Dodge to the outside. Bjorklund motored into the lead and on to the
win two laps later in front of a packed house of cheering fans. Interestingly,
last week Bjorklund won the 2006 ARCA
RE/MAX Series Bill France Triple Crown award. The award is given to the driver
with the most points earned during a grueling three-race span over a nine-day
period. The three events consisted of one race on dirt and two (one short track
race and one superspeedway race) on pavement which tests the versatility of the
drivers.
Forty cars were entered for the Eddie
Gilstrap Motors ARCA Fall Classic with 33
cars posting times in qualifying. Dexter Bean won the Pork Pole Award as
the event's fastest qualifier. The 19-year-old driver circled the 1/2-mile oval
in 17.838 (112.008 mph). It was the Wisconsin driver's first career pole, while
Ryan Mathews, Chuck Barnes, Jr., Justin Allgaier and Blake Bjorklund rounded
out the top five in qualifying.
Thirty-five cars started the race which featured seven leaders among four different
drivers. Drivers leading during the event included; Dexter Bean (1-60,
113-116), Blake Bjorklund (61-95, 199-200), Frank Kimmel (96, 117-198) and
Billy Venturini (97-112). The short-track had its share of incidents being
slowed 13 times for cautions for a total of 66 laps.
The deciding moment of the race came with just two laps to go. Blake
Bjorklund was bumper-to-bumper with Frank Kimmel when Bjorklund looked to the
inside causing Kimmel to move down to protect the inside lane. With Kimmel
hugging the inside lane, Bjorklund quickly moved up to the outside lane which
was now wide open. Bjorklund then motored into the lead and led the final two
laps to capture his first career win. Bjorklund finished .536 seconds ahead of
Kimmel who started in the race 15th.
Justin Allgaier finished in third place followed by Chuck Barnes, Jr. and
Billy Venturini. Michael McDowell was sixth followed by Gary Sherman, Bobby
Gerhart, Todd Bowsher and Ryan Howard to round out the top ten. Front row
starters Dexter Bean and Ryan Mathews finished 11th and 12th, respectively--the
last cars on the lead lap.
With the win, Bjorklund becomes the 17th different ARCA RE/MAX Series winner
this season and the 12th first-time winner--both are new records for the
popular series.
All the competitors raced on bias-ply tires supplied by Hoosier Racing Tire
Corp. Salem is one of ten races on the 23-race ARCA RE/MAX Series schedule in
which bias-ply tires are used. Hoosier has been the official tire of the ARCA
RE/MAX Series for the past 12 seasons.
All ARCA RE/MAX Series events are serviced out of Hoosier headquarters in
Lakeville, IN. The service team for the Salem event included; Dave Wroblewski,
Chad Wright, Larry Merrill, Mike Haenes, Jim Bartholomew and Jeff Yute.
With just two races remaining in the season, Frank Kimmel (4930) continues
to lead the driver standings over Bobby Gerhart (4640) heading into the next
event. Billy Venturini (4435) is third, while Ryan Howard and Blake Bjorklund
are tied for fourth with 4225 points. Amazingly, just 15 points separate second
through fifth place in the points race.
The next stop for the ARCA RE/MAX Series is Talladega Superspeedway on
October 6th. The race will be tape delayed and broadcast later that day at 8:00
pm on SPEED.
The season will come to a close on October 15th when the series travels to
the new Iowa Speedway in Newton, IA.
For complete race results and more information about the ARCA RE/MAX Series
visit their website at www.arcaracing.com.
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