NOTEBOOK: Willie Mullins, Will Kimmel team up once again for Elko Speedway

A couple weeks ago, Will Kimmel assisted fellow competitor Willie Mullins by fielding the latter’s driver Regina Sirvent in the former’s No. 68 at Michigan International Speedway.

Mullins is returning the favor to Kimmel for Saturday’s Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy at Elko Speedway. Fresh off a top 10 at Berlin Raceway, Mullins is once again bringing his own No. 3 CW Metals/Crow Wing Recycling Toyota to Elko, where Kimmel will serve as his crew chief.

The Kimmel name is one that has been synonymous with success on the ARCA Menards Series platform over the past several decades. Mullins said the presence of Will on top of his box at Elko is a tremendous benefit as he looks to build off the momentum from his solid performance at Berlin.

“It’s great to have somebody with so much notoriety at one of my races, [along with] everything that comes with the Kimmels,” Mullins said. “A lot of times, we’re short-crewed, so we’re excited to have Will on the box for us.”

Mullins only knew Kimmel as just another competitor until the two convened at Daytona International Speedway. With Mullins being unable to field cars for Sirvent’s planned three races, he approached Kimmel about having her drive for his team, a partnership Mullins saw as beneficial for both programs.

The goal for Mullins was to ensure Sirvent could get the most out of her ARCA Menards Series experience by learning from a seasoned competitor like Kimmel. Seeing Kimmel earn a pole in his own equipment at Charlotte Motor Speedway only reinforced Mullins’ confidence that Sirvent would be in good hands at their shop.

Kimmel is thankful to be on such good terms with Mullins, especially since their first on-track encounter years ago was strenuous. During a pre-race practice at Daytona, Kimmel recalls Mullins being overly aggressive with him in the draft, which Kimmel reciprocated by moving Mullins in Turn 4.

Daytona is now in the past for Kimmel and Mullins, both of whom continue to gradually build up their small operations. Kimmel expects to race with Mullins for the foreseeable future, so he is thrilled to help him by fielding cars for Sirvent while also lending his knowledge as a crew chief for this weekend’s race at Elko.

“Our relationship has actually been really good the last two years,” Kimmel said. “For them to help us with the deal with Regina, it says a lot about the type of people [the Mullins’] are. I want to do a good job and have a good run with them this weekend by working hard and seeing what we got.”

Kimmel has just one ARCA Menards Series start at Elko, but he said the facility is comparable to the defunct Louisville Motor Speedway, where his dad Bill won several Late Model championships. Although there are some differences between the two, Kimmel feels he has a solid baseline about Elko to utilize with Mullins.

At the very least, Kimmel believes he can help guide Mullins to a top 10 finish at Elko on Saturday evening. The competition will be stiff throughout the field, but Kimmel said if the setup on the car is ideal and Mullins avoids trouble throughout the evening, they can depart Elko on a positive note.

“I’m going to tell [Mullins] to keep the fenders on it, not knock the tow out and try to keep the brakes on the car,” Kimmel said. “Let’s make sure we have the car where it needs to be for the last stage. Wherever we’re at and whoever we’re racing at the time, we need to be prepared to go as hard as we can and take advantage of everything we can.”

For Mullins, Elko is a race he always tries to attempt whenever it arrives on the calendar, as his wife Dinah is from nearby Brainerd, Minnesota and still has plenty of family in the city. Dinah’s late father Dutch VanWyngeeren was also from Brainerd and competed at dirt tracks in the region during his career as a driver.

Elko is also where Mullins tallied his best performances at a non-drafting track, as he has finished eighth there in 2021 and 2023. With Kimmel as his crew chief for the weekend, Mullins is confident he can not only improve upon his 10^th at Berlin, but also score a career-best non-drafting showing to date.

“We already had a very successful weekend [at Berlin],” Mullins said. “I’m looking for a fifth-seventh place finish this weekend. It looks like all the same top 10 cars [from Berlin] will be back, so we’re going to have a good-sized mountain to climb, but we’re excited to do that.”

Mullins and Kimmel will put their combined experience to use when the green flag waves for Saturday’s Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy at Elko Speedway at 8 p.m. CT/9 p.m. ET. FS2 will provide live coverage of the on-track action.

ARCA Menards Series debut awaits Minnesota’s Ty Fredrickson

Ty Fredrickson will not have to go far from home in his first career ARCA Menards Series race with Venturini Motorsports.

The Northfield, Minnesota native lives only 20 minutes away from Elko Speedway and has always been surrounded by racing. Not only did Ty’s grandfather Bob briefly own Elko, but his father Dan was a successful short-track competitor whose list of accomplishments include an ASA Midwest Tour championship back in 2007.

Dan passed down his love for motorsports to Ty, who has already won a crown jewel event in the Dick Trickle 99 at LaCrosse Fairgrounds Speedway in 2024 just like his father did four times before. Ty also grabbed his first major championship the same year, prevailing in the TUNDRA Super Late Model Series by winning two of the five events.

Already familiar with the ARCA Menards Series platform following his participation in the Road to Daytona program, Ty now gets his first chance to showcase his talent in race conditions. The car Ty is driving for Venturini in the No. 25 previously won at Elko during the first ARCA Menards Series race at the track in 2012 with Brennan Poole behind the wheel.

Should Ty emerge victorious in his ARCA Menards Series debut, he will join a long list of notable winners at the track that includes Dan, who won there four times with the ASA Midwest Tour during his career.

Brad Smith set for 450^th ARCA Menards Series start

Of the drivers on the preliminary entry list for the Shore Lunch 250 presented by Dutch Boy at Elko Speedway, none have been around the ARCA Menards Series as long as Brad Smith.

Saturday’s race will serve as Smith’s 450^th start with the national ARCA Menards Series division. His first ARCA Menards Series appearance came in 1988 at Rockford Speedway, where he finished 24^th after getting collected in a crash.

During his time with the ARCA Menards Series, Smith has witnessed the platform undergo a plethora of changes and several different drivers showcase their talent. The list of competitors who have won events Smith competed in include Jeff Purvis, Tim Steele, Kerry Earnhardt, Frank Kimmel, Ken Schrader, Ty Dillon, Christopher Bell and Jesse Love, among many others.

Smith has not won a race himself in the ARCA Menards Series, but his perseverance and determination have been prevalent since his debut at Rockford in 1988. Those qualities rewarded Smith with a career-best ninth place showing at Winchester Speedway in 2020, which was followed by another top 10 at Berlin Raceway two years later.

Fresh off a 15^th place showing in his most recent outing at Berlin, Smith will bring his No. 48 Ford to Elko this weekend with the goal of putting together a clean, trouble-free evening for his 450^th start.

NOTES:

• Taylor Reimer is back with the ARCA Menards Series at Elko Speedway after finishing seventh in her most recent appearance at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds last year. The car Reimer is driving will be the No. 70 Toyota for Nitro Motorsports, which won at Berlin Raceway with Treyten Lapcevich last weekend.
• Both drafting races for Bryce Haugeberg at Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway ended with top-10 finishes. Haugeberg carries the momentum from those two strong runs into Elko Speedway, a track where he has finished 13^th in three of his four starts.
• The 10th start for Matt Kemp in the ARCA Menards Series ended with a career-best finish of ninth at Berlin Raceway on the lead lap. Kemp is back in a Fast Track Racing car for his debut outing at Elko Speedway, where he seeks to build on his strong Berlin performance with another top 10.
• Huxley, Iowa native Kadence Davenport will make her ARCA Menards Series debut at Elko Speedway on Saturday evening piloting the No. 7 Chevrolet for Eric Caudell. Possessing a background in go-karts and dirt racing, Davenport looks to make a strong first impression around Elko’s 3/8-mile layout.