WINCHESTER, IN :: Frank Kimmel made Winchester Speedway a little more historic Sunday afternoon. Kimmel won the Herr’s Chase the Taste 200 to claim his 79th all-time ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards victory. In doing so, he tied Iggy Katona for the all-time series victory record.
“Every once in a while you have one of those near flawless days,” the 51-year-old Kimmel said after a long post-victory celebration. “This was one of those days for us.”
It was a remarkable day for the Indiana native, winning for the third time of the season and sixth time at Winchester Speedway. He led 158 laps of the 100-mile, 200-lap event. At the end, he had to hold off a hard challenge from teenager Austin Wayne Self in the AM Technical Solutions Dodge, who finished a length away.
“He had a fast car, but I knew if I didn’t make a mistake, held my line and stayed in the middle and didn’t spin out or something that he would have a hard time passing me,” Kimmel said.
Rounding out the top five were Brennan Poole in the No. 55 Break the Cycle Toyota for Venturini Motorsports, Kyle Weatherman in the No. 11 Rogers Automotive Group/Pat Rogers Harley-Davidson Dodge and Mason Mitchell in the Happy Cheeks-BeavEx-Reliance Tool Ford.
Self said he needed a few more laps to catch Kimmel.
“With a couple of laps to go, I told myself I was either going to win this race or scrape the wall trying,” Self said. “We had a really good car. I’m happy with the finish. Now we know what this car can do.”
Weatherman advanced 18 spots from his 22nd starting position and led five laps. Menards Pole Qualifying presented by Ansell was rained out on Saturday, meaning Weatherman had to start near the back.
“It’s too bad qualifying was rained out,” Weatherman said. “We had a really fast car and were able to pass a lot of cars. We have a lot of racing to go.”
Poole attributed his top five finish to some nifty changes made by his pit crew and even had to come from a lap down.
“We had a decent car, then lost a lap and got it back,” Poole said. “It was a solid finish.” Besides the historic win, Kimmel also extended his point lead because his closest two competitors – Mason Mingus and Tom Hessert – had problems. Hessert rebounded to finish sixth in the Barbera’s Autoland Dodge while Mingus settled for 12th, his first time outside the top 10 all season.
The race started under caution as the cars worked to dry the track from a morning rain. Kimmel led those first 10 laps under caution; then, as the race went green, led until lap 106. Mingus finally tracked down Kimmel and made the pass for the lead on lap 107, but got caught up in a lap 128 multi-car crash in turn two. From there, Weatherman inherited the lead, then pitted for four tires, as did all of the lead-lap machines, including Mitchell, who won the race off turn pit road. Kimmel came out on the tail-end of the lead lap cars after a lengthy pit stop for a missed lug nut. Mitchell led for 15 laps until Kimmel took over the lead for good on lap 149.
Kimmel was presented a sign by ARCA Racing Series officials in post-race, commemorating the 79th win. He said he started to think about win No. 79 just before the end of the race.
“It crossed my mind, but then I told myself not to think about it too early,” he said. “When I saw the checkered flag, it was a sort of a flood of emotion. It is a big deal.”
Kimmel got his first ARCA Racing Series victory in 1994, also on a half-mile track, at Toledo Speedway. “This is really something to enjoy,” he said. “There were some family and friends here. It’s Indiana, my home state. Any win at Winchester is great, but this one I’m really going to enjoy.”
Driver James Swanson, in the No. 06 GreatRailing.com Ford, was transported to an area hospital for observation. He was soon cleared and released. That was one of five cautions on the day for 47 laps.
The ARCA Racing Series will next travel next to Chicagoland Speedway for the July 21 ActivArmr 150.
Sunday’s Herr’s Chase the Taste 200 from Winchester Speedway will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network at 11 p.m. Aug. 1.
