(TOLEDO, Ohio) – Nineteen-year-old Chris Buescher and 50-year-old veteran Frank Kimmel are preparing to take the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards championship title fight to the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds mile dirt Labor Day Monday, September 3 for the 60th running of the Southern Illinois 100. With just three races remaining on the 2012 tour – DuQuoin, Salem (Sept. 15) and Kansas (Oct. 19) – the stakes could not be higher for both.
Buescher, who won at Madison Int’l Speedway last Sunday, increased his point lead to 60 points over Kimmel headed to DuQuoin. However, Kimmel dominated with a convincing victory on the Springfield mile dirt two weeks ago, and heads to DuQuoin as a five time winner of the Southern Illinois 100 presented by Federated Car Care.
“We didn’t help ourselves with our finish at Madison,” Kimmel said following his ninth place finish there. After leading late in the race, Kimmel was running second when he got bumped from behind and spun off turn two.
“That’s real unfortunate to have the race end that way. We raced clean with those kids all race, and didn’t get the same in return. We had a good race and a great racecar, and got run over there at the end. As far as the championship, it puts a dent in our chances. It’s just a very frustrating day. To get knocked back to ninth; that’s tough to take.”
As a five time winner of the Southern Illinois 100 at DuQuoin, Kimmel is arguably the favorite going in. However, Buescher is the defending race winner at DuQuoin, and looks forward to his return.
“We had a great run there last year, so DuQuoin definitely works for me,” Buescher said.
“It’s a short track, and I love the short tracks. We were good right off the trailer there last year, and we should be the same this year. I really like the way DuQuoin is shaped. It’s a lot more square, and drives differently than Springfield, which is more of a true oval. DuQuoin reminds me of Indy with short chutes in the center of the corners. We don’t straighten out (through the corners) but the walls do. It actually makes for passing opportunities through the corners, but it can also make for more trouble.”
Buescher withstood several late-race restarts to win at Madison, including several from Kimmel.
“Frank was a tough competitor. He raced me clean, as well as the 15 (Clint King) and 22 (Alex Bowman) there at the end. I was definitely getting nervous there at the end, but I’m glad it’s over. (The points lead) was definitely in the back of my mind, but I tried not to think too much about it. You can go out here and win these last couple of races and win the points.”
Buescher, under the Roush Fenway Racing driver development banner, drives for the Roulo Brothers, and finished second in ARCA championship points in 2011. Buescher’s win at Madison was his fourth of the year.
In addition to what could be a good points day, Kimmel could also secure another milestone at DuQuoin with what would be a record sixth victory there. Currently, Kimmel is tied with the late Dean Roper in all-time Southern Illinois 100 wins – each having five victories in the prestigious stock car classic.
Kimmel, who has 76 career ARCA victories overall, is also inching closer to Iggy Katona’s all-time ARCA win mark of 79.
The past winners list of the Southern Illinois 100 includes some of the greatest names in motorsports. Jay Frank won the inaugural Southern Illinois 100 in 1950. Just some of the winners who would follow include Marshall Teague, Indy 500 winners Jimmy Bryan and AJ Foyt, Fred Lorenzen, Don White, Norm Nelson, Jack Bowsher, NASCAR champions Rusty Wallace and Tony Stewart, Bob Keselowski, Billy Thomas, Ken Schrader, Parker Kligerman, and most recently, Buescher, in 2011.
Practice for the September 3 Southern Illinois 100 presented by Federated Car Care is scheduled from 9:00-10:00 a.m. with Menards Pole Award Qualifying presented by Ansell following at 11. The 60th annual Southern Illinois 100 starts just after 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