Three-time DuQuoin winner Ken Schrader (No. 52 Federated Auto Parts Toyota) became the oldest pole winner in the history of the ARCA Menards Series with his 22nd career General Tire Pole Award in qualifying for this evening’s Southern Illinois 100 on the Magic Mile at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds.
Schrader’s lap of 33.621 seconds/107.076 miles per hour was just three hundredths of a second quicker than Christian Eckes (No. 15 JBL Audio/Illinois Truck & Equipment Toyota).
“I told (crew chief) Donnie (Richeson) that the car felt pretty good when I went out for qualifying,” Schrader said. “I said the new tires felt a lot better than those 20 lap tires we had on in practice. He told me “well they should feel better because those tires were from last year.”
Illinoisan Kelly Kovski (No. 16 Schluckebier Farms/RaceTires.com Chevrolet) was third fastest at 33.747 seconds/106.676 miles per hour. Carson Hocevar (No. 28 GMPartsNow.com/Scott’s Coins/KBR Development Chevrolet) was fourth at 33.764 seconds/106.622 miles per hour, and Springfield winner Michael Self (No. 25 Sinclair Lubricants Toyota) rounded out the top five at 33.789 seconds/196.544 miles per hour.
Will Kimmel (No. 69 Kimmel Racing Ford), last year’s DuQuoin runner-up, Riley Herbst (No. 18 Monster Energy/ORCA Coolers/Terrible Herbst/Advance Auto Parts Toyota), Bret Holmes (No. 23 Holmes II Excavation Chevrolet), Ryan Unzicker (No. 24 RJR Transportation Toyota), and last year’s DuQuoin winner Logan Seavey (No. 20 Craftsman Toyota) rounded out the top ten in qualifying.
The Southern Illinois 100 is set for a 9 pm ET/8 pm CT green flag and will be shown live flag-to-flag on MAVTV. ARCA for Me members can follow live timing & scoring, live chat, and live track updates at ARCARacing.com.