Catchfence

“Finishes Third in Short-Track Racing Action”

MANSFIELD, Ohio (July 19, 2010) – Frank Kimmel drove his No. 44 Ansell/Menards Ford Fusion to a third-place finish in the Tim Richmond Memorial 200 at Mansfield Motorsports Park Saturday night. The finish marks his best of the ARCA Racing Series presented by RE/MAX and Menards season. Kimmel climbed another position in the championship standings, now standing in the third, only 85 markers behind leader, Justin Marks.

Saturday was another full day of short-track action with practice, qualifying and the drop of the green flag for the Tim Richmond Memorial 200. The Ansell/Menards team fought their No. 44 Ford Fusion during practice, posting the 12th-fastest speed of the session (17.076 sec./105.411 mph). Battling a loose racecar, the team made several changes before qualifying later in the day. Kimmel ran a lap of 16.829 seconds (106.958 mph) to place him 10th on the starting grid for the race later that evening.

At the drop of the green flag, the nine-time ARCA Racing Series champion quickly climbed to the eighth position, but radioed to crew chief, Bill Kimmel Jr., that he needed the car to be tightened up from the middle out of the turns. Fighting a loose car, Kimmel slowly made his way into the fifth position throughout the first 62-lap stretch of the race.

When the yellow flag waved on lap 62 most of the leaders took the opportunity to bring their cars down pit road for service. The Ansell/Menards crew made a great strategy call, taking only two fresh Hoosier tires, filling their Ford Fusion with fuel and making a track bar adjustment. Kimmel beat everyone off pit road, as the rest of the leaders took four fresh tires, and returned to the track in fourth position.

After a 17-lap yellow flag, the drivers were ready to return to action when the green flag dropped on lap 79. Kimmel immediately dove to the bottom of the track, going three-wide to take the third position. It didn’t take long for the drivers with four tires to catch the Ansell/Menards Ford Fusion, dropping to the sixth position on lap 108. With a long green-flag run, Kimmel began to gain strength climbing back to the fourth position when the yellow flag waved on lap 143.

Under the yellow, Kimmel called to his crew that the car was “rolling around in the middle but OK off.” The leaders came down pit road for what would be their final stop of the night on lap 146, and the Ansell/Menards crew went to work on their Ford Fusion, taking four tires, fuel and making a one pound air pressure adjustment. As the only leader to take on four fresh Hoosier tires, Kimmel lost two spots on pit road, returning to the track in sixth position.

The green flag dropped on lap 151 and Kimmel began his chase for the leaders, taking only three laps to move into fourth position. Chasing the third place driver for the next 13 laps, Kimmel snuck his Ford under the No. 31 on lap 167, completing the pass and moving into third place.

The final caution flag of the night waved on lap 190, tightening the field for a final run to the finish. The green flag waved for a final time on lap 194, setting up the field for a six-lap shootout. Kimmel was not able to pass the leaders, taking the checkered flag in third position.

“It was a really good day for us,” said Kimmel. “All in all the car ran fairly well all day. We were concerned after qualifying. I didn’t know what kind of car we had, but the guys battled real hard and it turned into a really good finish. It was a good points day for us.”

The ARCA Racing Series takes a week off before returning to action in two weeks with the Weis Markets 125 at Pocono Raceway. On-track activity begins on Friday, July 30, with live timing and scoring and live audio coverage of practice and Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell available at ARCARacing.com. The 50-lap, 125-mile event goes green at 3 p.m. EST on Saturday, July 31, with live television coverage on SPEED.

- Activ8 Communications Press Release