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 SALEM,
IN (September 18) -- Third generation driver Jason Jarrett returned to
victory lane Saturday night capturing the ARCA RE/MAX Series Eddie
Gilstrap 200, at Salem Speedway. It was Jarrett's second win in the
series with his first win coming back in 2001 at Kansas Speedway. The
Hickory, NC driver took the lead on lap 146 and led the remaining 66
laps en route to the win after starting sixth. Frank Kimmel, despite a
23rd place finish as a result of an accident, clinched his
record-tying sixth ARCA RE/MAX Series championship. Kimmel becomes the
first driver to ever win five championships in a row in the series and
ties Iggy Katona as the only drivers to ever win six series titles.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series will complete its 22-race schedule at Talladega
Superspeedway in two weeks. This marks the tenth year the ARCA Series
has competed exclusively on Hoosier tires.
Frank Kimmel was the Pork Pole Award winner circling
the .555-mile high banks of Salem in 17.604 seconds (113.497 mph).
Kimmel took the lead on the opening lap and led through lap 84 before
coming in for servicing on one of the 13 race cautions. The move
handed the lead to Washington, D.C.'s Will Langhorne. With Kimmel
sporting a fresh set of Hoosier's, the defending series champion took
back the lead 22 laps later on lap 107. Kimmel looked to be in command
and well on his way to his seventh win of the season when disaster
struck. The Clarksville, IN driver got caught up in another driver's
wreck ending his day at 145 laps.
Kimmel's loss was Jason Jarrett's gain as the
28-year-old driver took over the race lead on lap 146. Despite another
caution late in the race which extended the 200-lap race another 11
circuits, Jarrett would not be denied his second series win finishing
.508 seconds ahead of 16-year-old Justin South who stunned the
capacity crowd while making his first-ever ARCA RE/MAX Series start.
The Gardendale, AL youngster started 16th before charging through the
field to claim the runner-up spot. Mark Gibson finished in third place
after starting 11th. The race had 13 cautions for 71 of the 211 race
laps.
Norm Benning finished in fourth place followed by Josh
Clemons, Ryan Howard, T.J. Bell, A.J. Fike, Christi Passmore and Brent
Sherman. Benning also won the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger Award for
advancing the most positions. The Pittsburgh, PA driver started 24th
before motoring to a fourth place finish.
Frank Kimmel (5555), who clinched his record-setting
fifth consecutive ARCA RE/MAX Series title, is followed in the driver
standings by Brent Sherman with 4815 points. T.J. Bell is in third
place in the rankings with 4685 points followed closely by Billy
Venturini with 4645 points. Jason Jarrett commands the fifth spot with
4530 points. Jarrett finished last season runner-up in the points
chase behind Kimmel.
The ARCA RE/MAX Series 2004 season finale will be
October 2nd at Talladega Superspeedway and will be telecast LIVE on
SPEED Channel at 2 pm (ET).
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