Catchfence

(TOLEDO, Ohio) - Sunday’s Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway is sure to entertain ARCA fans watching live at the track and nationally on SPEED, but plenty of activity outside of Sunday’s race is planned for racing enthusiasts in the area.

The following community events and promotions are scheduled for the days ahead.

Friday, 4-5:30 p.m. and 6:30-8 p.m.

Frank Kimmel, nine-time Toledo Speedway winner, nine-time ARCA champion, and driver of the No. 44 Ansell / Menards Toyota, will greet ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards fans at two Menards stores near Toledo Speedway to drop the green flag on his Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care weekend.

Kimmel will sign autographs, pose for pictures, and even offer a special promotion to store customers at the Oregon store – located at 3100 Brown Rd., several miles southeast of the track – and the Holland store – located at 7001 Orchard Centre Dr., southwest of the track.

Kimmel will appear at the Oregon location from 4-5:30 p.m. Friday, and the Holland store from 6:30-8 the same night. Store visitors can take advantage of a special promotion, simply by purchasing a pair of Ansell gloves inside either store. Those purchasing Ansell gloves inside Menards will receive a voucher for a free second pair of gloves, personally given by Kimmel outside the store.

The No. 44 Toyota will be on display at both stores while Kimmel is present.

Friday, 7-8:30 p.m.

Several ARCA Racing Series drivers will practice their skills in go-karts and go wheel-to-wheel with local area children.

The drivers will sign autographs and speak to kids about living a drug-free, healthy lifestyle, while also providing the kids the opportunity to race against drivers for free.

ARCA drivers Larry Barford Jr., Chad Hackenbracht, and Charles “C.J.” Evans Jr. are scheduled to participate. Stay on Track and the RAD Racing Team are new partners of the ARCA Safety Initiative.

Friday, 8-10 p.m.

Action at Toledo Speedway for the only ARCA Racing Series event of the year starts Friday with a live appearance from Nashville’s CJ Solar Band at the Toledo Speedway Bar and Grille. The band, described as “edgy country rock,” will take the stage at 8 p.m., highlighting a big-screen watch party for that evening’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race from Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The band recently released a new six-song EP titled “Cars, Bars, and Broken Hearts,” featuring the single “Fast.” Before winding through Toledo, the band’s tour began earlier this month at the ARCA Racing Series event in Talladega, Ala.

More information is available on the band’s website, www.cjsolarband.com.

Saturday

ARCA Fan Fest, featuring interactive displays fit for all ages, will be open just outside the Toledo Speedway gates starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards and ARCA Truck Series will each take the track for two practices between 11:15 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. The trucks will hold qualifying at 2:15 p.m., with Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell setting Sunday’s ARCA Racing Series starting field at 3:30.

The Grogan’s Towne 50, the season opener for the ARCA Truck Series, will start at 5 p.m. Customers visiting Grogan’s Towne Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram at 6100 N. Telegraph in Toledo for oil change service can receive two tickets to the race after service is completed.

Sunday

ARCA Fan Fest will open Sunday at 10 a.m. for fans of all ages, leading to an on-track autograph session featuring every driver in the ARCA Racing Series’ starting field. The autograph session will begin at noon.

ARCA Racing Series drivers will support the National Center for Prevention and Research Solutions’ drug prevention and healthy lifestyles programs, Stay on Track and the RAD Racing Team (Race Against Drugs), by hosting an autograph session and exciting racing Friday from 7-8:30 p.m. at Sportway of Toledo, located at 5950 Angola Rd.

Pre-race ceremonies and the recognition of past drivers and champions as part of ARCA’s 60th Anniversary Season will begin at 1:15 p.m., with the Menards 200 starting at 2 p.m.

SPEED will air its national broadcast of the Menards 200 at 5 p.m., one of 10 live and/or same-day delayed broadcasts of ARCA Racing Series action this season.

New Grandstands Open to Public

Toledo Speedway’s two new grandstand towers will both be open to the public for the first time since assembly in the offseason. Combined, the two towers will seat 3600 guests.

Tickets Remain Available

Tickets still remain for the Menards 200 presented by Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway, and are on sale at the track office or at any of the three Toledo-area Menards stores or stores in Defiance, Findlay, and Sandusky.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 28 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.4 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama’s Mobile International Speedway for the first time. In June, the first event at Minnesota’s Elko Speedway will give ARCA a race in a 29th state.

Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.

- Automobile Racing Club of America Press Release