Catchfence

TOLEDO OH (8-17-09) - In between events on a 1.5-mile superspeedway and a mile dirt track, the versatile ARCA RE/MAX Series will turn its attention to its home turf at the Toledo Speedway short-track Friday night, September 4 for the ARCA RE/MAX 200 presented by Federated and Belle Tire, the 66th appearance of the hometown touring series at Toledo since 1963.

Nine time series champion and nine time Toledo winner Frank Kimmel will have his hands full with race-ready rookies, including Penske Development driver Parker Kligerman, who won at Toledo back in May. The victory for Kligerman set off a trend during which the 19-year-old Westport, Connecticut rookie won four consecutive races at Michigan Int’l Speedway, Mansfield Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway and Kentucky Speedway.

Justin Lofton, who owns the one-lap track record at Toledo (15.860 seconds/113.493 mph), finished second to Kligerman at Toledo in May and snapped Kligerman’s four-race win-streak with back-to-back wins of his own at Berlin Raceway and Pocono Raceway.

Other entrants include Kligerman’s teammate Dakoda Armstrong, who has just signed on as a Penske Development driver, and Greenville, North Carolina rookie Craig Goess. Goess is currently battling Miami Springs, Florida rookie Joey Coulter for Rookie of the Year honors. Goess and Coulter are currently fourth and fifth in championship points behind Kligerman, Lofton and Kimmel.

Ken Butler III is also planning a Toledo Speedway return. The Lilburn, Georgia driver won his one and only ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Toledo in May of 2007 after bumping his teammate Michael McDowell out of the way in the closing laps.

In addition to Kimmel and Butler, former Toledo winners include Justin Allgaier, Ken Schrader, McDowell, Bill Venturini, Ramo Stott, Iggy Katona and Jack Bowsher.

Kimmel, who is just five wins shy of tying Katona’s all-time win mark of 79, hasn’t won at Toledo since September of 2005.

In addition, the University of Toledo Marching Band will be performing on the frontstretch during pre-race festivities, which also includes an hour-long, on-track autograph session with the stars and cars of the ARCA RE/MAX Series.

ARCA RE/MAX Series practice is scheduled from 2:00 to 3:30 PM Friday, September 4 followed by Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell at 5:00 PM. The ARCA RE/MAX 200 presented by Federated and Belle Tire is scheduled to start at 8:30 PM under the lights. The event will also feature live streaming video and audio of all the on-track activity at ARCAracing.com.

Toledo Speedway is located at 5639 Benore Rd., Toledo OH, near the intersection of I-75 and Alexis Road. For more information, please call ARCA at (734) 847-6726, or Toledo Speedway at (419) 727-1100.

- ARCA Press Release