(TOLEDO, Ohio – August 14, 2012) – Kevin Swindell was probably first known to motorsports enthusiasts via his famous father – World of Outlaws Sprint Car Champion Sammy Swindell. However, the ‘son of Sammy’ has, no doubt, carved out his own name in racing, winning the last three consecutive Chili Bowl National Championships in the open-wheel midget ranks.
To add yet another feather to his motorsports cap, the second-generation driver earned his career-first major-league stock car victory in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards at Chicagoland Speedway in July.
But either way one slices it, his roots are bred on dirt tracks. That said, it should be no surprise that Kevin Swindell will soon steer for Springfield, Illinois where the 50th running of the Allen Crowe 100 is taking shape on the Illinois State Fairgrounds mile-dirt Sunday, August 19. Regardless of Swindell’s experience on dirt, this will be his first ever attempt in a 3400-lb. ARCA stock car on dirt.
“I don’t think the stock car experience on dirt really changes anything for me,” Swindell said. “It’s just another day in the office. It doesn’t really seem all that different to me from anything else I’ve done. I think that whether it’s a midget or a stock car, the same rules apply. I’m really looking forward to it. This should be fun.”
Swindell is slated to drive one of five Venturini Motorsports cars entered in Sunday’s Allen Crowe 100, a No. 55 Chevrolet sponsored by Curb Records.
Since Swindell’s ARCA victory at Chicagoland, his traveling office has been aboard a sprint car where he most recently finished second in the 360 Nationals at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa.
Swindell certainly doesn’t deny that his dirt track experience will pay some dividends at Springfield.
“It definitely doesn’t hurt to have dirt track experience. I think if I have any advantage overall it would be in being able to read the track as it changes throughout the day, right up through the end of the race. Being able to see some things some of the other guys don’t see. Typically, these dirt tracks turn into pavement tracks where the groove is. They really become like slick pavement tracks.”
Swindell is also in tune with the significance of this particular event.
“It would definitely be a big deal to win this race. I know that so many great drivers have won this race over the years. To add my name to that list would definitely be cool to say.”
Nine-time ARCA Racing Series champion Frank Kimmel is the all-time Allen Crowe 100 winner with seven victories on the historic fairgrounds mile dirt track. Curtis Turner won the inaugural Allen Crowe 100 in 1963. Just some of the winners who would follow include Don White, AJ Foyt, Jack Bowsher, Al Unser, Ramo Stott, Dean Roper, Bob Keselowski, Ken Schrader, Springfield native Justin Allgaier and Parker Kligerman.
Practice for the August 19 Allen Crowe 100 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds is scheduled from 9:00-10:00 a.m. with Menards Pole Award Qualifying presented by Ansell following at 11. The 50th annual Allen Crowe 100 starts at 1 p.m. All times are local.
ARCA Celebrating 60th Anniversary Season
2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards’ 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.
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 26 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 0.375 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 and Minnesota’s Elko Speedway for the first time.
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.
CONTACT:
Griffin Hickman, ARCA
(419) 574-2685 (mobile)
ghickman@arcaracing.com
Don Radebaugh, ARCA
(419) 450-0611 (mobile)
dradebaugh@arcaracing.com