Ron Cox and crew check over the engine of the 1-800 SERVPRO Chey
before the green flag drops on raceday.
photo by Matthew Whitaker
Ron Cox of Soddy-Daisy muscled his 1-800 SERVPRO Chevy from the back of the pack to a strong 6th place finish Sunday afternoon in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200.
The race was the third on the ARCA RE/MAX series and was held at the historic Southern-Indiana oval Salem Speedway.
The Hixson Motorsports driver worked his way to the front passing cars at
both ends. The performance won Cox the Hoosier Tire Hard Charger honors.
"The team made a great showing for 1-800 SERVPRO and some of their local
sponsors including Double-Cola and MARCO Printing," officials said.
After going winless at his home track in 2003, Frank Kimmel, the undisputed
king of Salem Speedway, reclaimed his throne Sunday afternoon at the
historic, southern-Indiana oval with a convincing victory in the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200. Kimmel, who pitted twice for fuel and tires during the 200-lap slug-fest, weaved his Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford in and out of traffic as necessary en route to his 51st career series victory and eighth overall at Salem.
Kimmel, for the most part, dominated the day with 153 laps-led trading the
lead with only Jason Jarrett. Jarrett, who led 47 laps, finished second a couple of car lengths back after mounting a spirited late-race charge in the Gladiator GarageWorks-Bennigan's Chevrolet.
"We were catching him (Kimmel), but we needed more laps," said Jrrett. "Our tires were a little fresher. We just needed more time. Second place is strong, but we're sure hungry for a win. We'll take this, keep are heads high, and go down the road." It was Jarrett's third runner-up finish to Kimmel at Salem in seven starts there.
Thirteen cautions for a wide variety of wrecks made for plenty of tense
moments throughout the race including one during a restart with just two
laps remaining. With Kimmel leading followed by Andy Belmont, Billy
Venturini and Jarrett, Venturini made contact with Belmont off turn four
just as the green flag waved. Belmont spun and Venturini checked up while
Jarrett charged around both. In less than two laps, Jarrett all but erased
Kimmel's ten-length advantage but could not get close enough to make a move on the eventual winner. By the time Belmont finally re-fired his Ford, he had gone a lap down and fell to seventh in the final running order.
Outside polesitter David Ragan, in the Sadler Racing Ford, was impressive for much of the way running in third before his engine finally gave up less than 40 laps from the finish. AJ Fike was also a major player racing among the top-five contenders much of the way before an unscheduled, late-race pit
stop took him from contention.
In addition to Kimmel's winnings, he received the Bennigan's Halfway Lap
Leader award while Todd Bowsher, who was racing in the top five early on,
received the Landrum Spring Hard Luck award when his motor expired well shy
of the finish.
The next event for the ARCA RE/MAX Series will be the Channel 5-205 from
Kentucky Speedway LIVE on SPEED Channel Saturday night, May 8 at 8 p.m. eastern.