(SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – August 17, 2014) – As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Kevin Swindell wasn’t sure what he was doing this weekend, but he didn’t plan on racing.
That changed when Venturini Motorsports’ Billy Venturini called and offered him a chance to drive the No. 15 Zaxby’s Toyota on the one-mile dirt track in Springfield, Illinois. Swindell accepted the offer early Wednesday morning and took the team to victory lane Sunday afternoon.
“This is awesome,” Swindell said. “They gave me a great car and did a lot of work on it. I’m so thankful for the chance to take this car to victory lane.”
It wasn’t easy – and Swindell’s beat-up race car after the race was proof. He hit a wall during practice, and had a few hits on the track during the race. But, the Venturini team fixed it at every chance.
“They kept beating and banging on the car during the pit stops and the car was good,” Swindell said. “Luckily, the hits weren’t too hard and didn’t do a lot of damage. It didn’t really affect the car.”
Swindell led 21 laps, taking the lead for good on lap 89 of the 100-mile, 100-lap Central Illinois SuperChevyStores.com 100. He held off ARCA Racing Series point leader Mason Mitchell, who got stronger at the end of the race, zipping from seventh to second over the final dozen laps. In doing so, he maintained his series point lead over Grant Enfinger, who led the most laps and finished third.
“I knew we were going to be there at the end,” Mitchell said. “I was digging real hard, trying to get everything I could get. We had a little something there at the end, but not enough for the 15.”
Enfinger was running his first dirt track race since 2011 and was pleased with his finish. He led 33 laps, compared to 31 for Mitchell.
“I knew Pickle (crew chief Ryan London) would give me a good car,” Enfinger said. “In practice I didn’t offer him much feedback, I just was content to let him set up the car. I’ll take third place for sure. This GMS Racing Team just keeps working hard every race. I’m excited now, going to DuQuoin in a couple weeks.”
The race took 1 hour and 17 minutes to complete and was delayed by nearly an hour as crews from the fairgrounds and Track Enterprises – the race promoter – worked on prepping the track after heavy rains hit the Springfield area Saturday.
When qualifying was rained out, it forced the fastest car in practice – the No. 16 of Kelly Kovski – to start 27th. Within four laps the Springfield, Ill. native was in the top 10 and he took the lead momentarily in fact.
“I’m comfortable driving like that, driving on a dirt track,” Kovski said. “I knew I had to go early to make up all of the track position that was lost from not qualifying. I got caught up in one of those restarts and lost several spots. I didn’t come here to finish second or sixth, though, I came to win, so that’s a little disappointing.”
Shane Cockrum was another of the fast cars that started near the back. He came from 29th to ninth.
“That was a lot of fun out there,” said Cockrum, who lives in nearby Benton, Ill. “I got banged up a little bit. I think I was a sandwich for several cars out there. But, I’ll get my body guy working on the car and we’ll be ready for DuQuoin.”
The No. 44 Ansell-Menards Toyota of Frank Kimmel finished fourth with his nephew Will Kimmel fifth in the No. 69 Messina’s Ford. Kovski was sixth in the Billingsley Towing-Fire & Ale-Schluckbier Chevrolet, Justin Boston seventh in the ZLOOP Toyota, Kenny Schrader eighth in the Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet and SCOTT Rookie Austin Wayne Self in the AM Technical Solutions Dodge was 10th and the highest finishing rookie of the race.
James Swanson finished a career best-14th in the No. 0 Wayne Peterson Racing Dodge, despite pitting only once for fuel only. He led four laps, the first four laps he’s led of his career.
“Pit strategy worked out for us for once,” Swanson said. “Plus, Hoosier gave us a great racing tire – good enough that we could go all 100 laps on it. It was a good race.”
The race had six cautions for 32 laps.
The ARCA Racing Series goes next to Madison (Wisc.) International Speedway for the Herr’s Live Life With Flavor 200. The race will be live on CBS Sports Network at 2 p.m. CT, Sunday, August 24.
2014 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #15
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield IL, 8-17-14
SuperChevyStores.com 100
FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS
1 8 15 Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN Zaxby’s Toyota 100 Running
2 1 98 Mason Mitchell/West Des Moines IA Musselman’s-Wildlife Foundation of Florida-TTS Ford 100 Running
3 2 90 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL Casite-Motor Honey-Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 100 Running
4 3 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Toyota 100 Running
5 10 69 Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN Messinas Ford 100 Running
6 27 16 Kelly Kovski/Springfield IL Billingsley Towing-Fire & Ale-Schluckbier Chevrolet 100 Running
7 9 25 Justin Boston/Baltimore MD ZLOOP Toyota 100 Running
8 5 52 Ken Schrader/Fenton MO Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet 100 Running
9 29 71 Shane Cockrum/Benton IL Tim Cooksey Oil Ford 100 Running
10 7 22 Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX AM Technical Solutions Dodge 100 Running
11 4 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ CareGard-AxiomWarranty.com Dodge 100 Running
12 28 24 Ryan Unzicker/El Paso IL Hendren Motor Sports Chevrolet 100 Running
13 24 27 A.J. Fike/Galesburg IL Liberty Village-McGladrey-Office Specialists Ford 100 Running
14 15 0 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ Wayne Peterson Racing Dodge 99 Running
15 12 2 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL DK LOK Ford 99 Running
16 19 97 Roger Carter/Sunfield MI Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge 98 Running
17 20 5 Mark Littleton/Arenzville IL Birdsley Electric Chevrolet 97 Running
18 25 73 Dale Shearer/Alhambra IL Dale Shearer Racing Ford 92 Running
19 11 3 Ron Cox/Soddy Daisy TN Hixson Construction Chevrolet 65 Radiator
20 14 48 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Radon.com Ford 56 Radiator
21 22 80 Brian Finney/Merritt Island FL Eagle Jet Int’l-Finney Racing-Bob Steele Chevrolet 52 Engine
22 18 40 Ray Ciccarelli/Elliott City MD Carter 2 Motorsports Dodge 49 Overheating
23 6 55 Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX Venturini Motorsports Toyota 36 Radiator
24 30 89 Brad Dubil/Bettendorf IA J.C. Dubil Dodge 30 Engine
25 17 06 Wayne Peterson/Pulaski TN Wayne Peterson Racing Ford 14 Brakes
26 16 68 Chris Bailey/South Park PA Kimmel Racing Ford 6 Handling
27 23 7 Brent Cross/Cortland NY Northeast Transformer Chevrolet 3 Accident
28 13 66 Bob Strait/Manteno IL Hendren Motor Sports Chevrolet 2 Transmission
29 26 50 Karl Weber/Ambia IN Silveus Insurance Group Chevrolet 1 Engine
30 21 00 Dale Matchett/Cherry Hill NJ Wayne Peterson Racing Chevrolet 0 Vibration
Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell: None (rained out)
Margin of Victory: 8.317 seconds Cautions: 6 for 32 laps
Time of Race: 1:17:53 Average Speed: 77.045 mph
Lap Leaders: Mitchell 1-30 (31); Swanson 31-34 (4); Boston 35-45 (11); Enfinger 46-51, 62-88 (33);
Swindell 52-61, 89-100 (21)