(MARNE, Mich. - August 10, 2012) - Through 24 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards events at Berlin Raceway, no driver has equaled the success of nine-time series champion Frank Kimmel.
With three wins, Kimmel holds the all-time record for wins at the short track, and looks to add to that total and chase down the championship lead Saturday. When the 25th ARCA event goes green at 8:30 p.m. tomorrow - with live audio and timing and scoring coverage at ARCARacing.com - Kimmel will be one of the favorites to go to Victory Lane, and the only previous Berlin winner in the field.
It has been no secret that short tracks have been the bread and butter for Kimmel and ThorSport Racing's No. 44 Ansell/Menards team in 2012. Kimmel broke back into Victory Lane two weeks ago at Lucas Oil Raceway after coming close at Salem and Toledo earlier this season. Combining ThorSport's short track program and Kimmel's history at Berlin, the final stretch of ARCA events leading toward the championship lend themselves toward the strength of the No. 44 Ansell/Menards team. Five of the final six events are on tracks one mile or shorter, and Kimmel has visited Victory Lane at five of the remaining venues.
Through 14 events, an impressive summer stretch has yielded results to place Kimmel in the mix for the series championship. Since a disappointing 11th-place finish at Winchester in June, Kimmel and the Ansell/Menards team have rattled off one win, five top-fives, and six top-10s in six races. Combining consistency with strong performances, the upcoming stretch of events leading toward Kansas has the ThorSport Racing team focused on returning to Victory Lane and taking hold of the championship battle.
"We've had great performances the last few weeks on all types of tracks," Kimmel said. "The team is doing a great job making adjustments through the weekend and getting our cars better. We come to the track prepared every week, and have had solid performances each race. We need to capitalize when guys make mistakes and keep clicking off those top-five finishes, especially with these tracks coming up that we've had success at in the past."
Kimmel and the team have four consecutive top-five finishes, including Kimmel's Indianapolis win and a fourth-place run at Pocono last Saturday. He will race ThorSport's A-1 chassis for the eighth time this weekend. The car is the same one he drove to runner-up finishes at Salem and Toledo and the Indianapolis win.
Kimmel has finished outside the top eight just once in 13 races at Berlin. In the last six Berlin races, Kimmel has led a total of 257 laps.
The Berlin ARCA 200 presented by Hantz Group will start at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, with live timing and scoring and live audio coverage available at ARCARacing.com.
Practice for the 200-lap race will take place that afternoon from 2-2:45 and 3:15-4, with Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell following at 5 p.m. ARCA Racing Series drivers will participate in an autograph session - open to all fans - at 6:15. The race will be the 15th of 20 this season.
From Team Release
