SPARTA, KY. - ARCA RE/MAX Series points leader Frank Kimmel claimed his second Old Milwaukee Pole Award of the season on tonight in qualifying for Saturday's "Channel 5 205."
The four-time series champion turned his winning lap in 31.980 seconds (168.856 mph) to take his third pole in an ARCA RE/MAX Series race at Kentucky Speedway in front of 10,852 fans. A three-time winner on the 1.5-mile tri-oval, Kimmel has twice won from the pole.
"This is kind of like my home track and we expect to do real well when we come here. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves," Kimmel said. "We knew that there was a lot of strong competition coming (to qualify) for this race. Kyle and the Hendrick guys kicked our butt at Nashville and we knew that we had to come back and do everything we could. It's going to be a heckuva race. A lot of guys really stepped up to the plate."
Rounding out the top five qualifiers for tomorrow's "Channel 5-205" were Matt Hagans (No. 77 Eagle Creek Aviation-First Wing Management Dodge), Brent Sherman (No. 44 Sera Mattress-Hickory Farms Ford), Kyle Busch (No. 87 ditech.com Chevrolet) and Shelby Howard (No. 64 Mack Trucks-Beck Dodge).
Kimmel's registers his 13th career superspeedway pole and the 29th pole of his career, the second-most in ARCA history. The native of Jeffersonville, Ind., is third in career victories with 44 entering this weekend. Kimmel also was fastest in the series first practice session after topping out at 166.981 miles per hour (32.339 seconds).
ARCA RE/MAX Series driver Jerry Glanville (No. 81 Frickers/POW MIA Dodge) was involved in a single-car incident on the racetrack during qualifying. He was conscious and alert when removed from the car, and was transported and admitted to an area hospital for further observation.
The green flag drops for "The Channel 5-205" tomorrow evening at 8:00 p.m. at Kentucky Speedway. Gates open at 4:00 p.m. and an exclusive pre-race concert with Tammy Cochran begins at 5:30 p.m. on the WUBE-FM B-105 Country Soundstage in the Turn 1 Concourse.
All tickets are $30 and seats are still available. Visit the main ticket booth at Kentucky Speedway.
FINAL PRACTICE: Busch improved on his qualifying effort during the final
practice session of the night with a fastest lap of 165.985 mph.
