TOLEDO OH (2-24-09) - In our nation's worst economy since The Great Depression, Frank Kimmel went from having no sponsor to having a full sponsor. It happened right before Daytona when Ansell and Menards joined forces with the 9-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion for the 2009 season.
How did he do it? A portion of the answer is respectably proprietary; however, other components of the equation are crystal clear. To cut to the chase - it simply means something to be a 9-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion.
Earning a championship in any touring series is commendable, but earning it here in the ARCA Nation is arguably and nearly as challenging as anywhere. Not to belabor the point, but no other touring series on earth demands diversity quite like ARCA; because no other touring series is as versatile, competing on an ultra-interesting variety of tracks to include superspeedways, short-tracks, dirt-tracks and road courses. Bottom line - it's very, very difficult to become an ARCA RE/MAX Series national champion, let alone, times 9.
"There may be something to that," said Kimmel. "But, personally, I've never really felt that way. You do the best job possible in showing companies the value of your race team, the value of the ARCA RE/MAX Series and the benefits for companies to go with your program. Given the 50 or 60 companies we talked to, we are very fortunate to be partners with Ansell and Menards. We're going to do everything within our power to show them they made the right choice. If being a 9-time champion here influenced their decision, then we consider ourselves very fortunate to have earned those credentials ahead of time."
Kimmel had just adjourned with the team's weekly Monday morning meeting.
"Beyond talking about the things we usually talk about - chew over what happened in the race, pit stops, the trailer, what we can do collectively to make our team better - we're talking more and more about what's the best way we can represent our sponsors. Ansell and Menards - they're the boss. If it wasn't for their partnership, we wouldn't be employing people at Kimmel Racing. We need to instill in our guys - many of whom are not necessarily used to dealing with sponsors - how best to represent the team, not only on the track, but off the track. Everything from dressing appropriately to how they present themselves. We go over every aspect of our relationship with our sponsors, say what needs to be said, and act accordingly."
What a difference a year can make. In 2008, there were no fulltime employees at Kimmel Racing. Not even Frank and his brother/crew chief Bill Kimmel were on payrolls. Yet somehow, a team with 100% volunteer help, a team that tested not at all, a team that subbed Frank's camper for hotels, a team that was considering not entering the race at Pocono, a team with a driver that sat on the sidelines at Nashville to recover from injuries, pulled it together and nearly pulled off another championship. Through it all, the Kimmel's finished second in points, only 50 away from Justin Allgaier.kimmelcarshotdaytona09.jpg
In 2009, different story. Not only are there six fulltime crew members on the payroll, the Kimmel Racing team is going to be doing a lot of testing.
"We have full intentions of testing more, especially at the mile-and-a-half tracks. With all the new technologies - the coil-bind springs and some other things we need to really pay attention to - we're definitely testing a lot more."
However, the next track on the schedule is far from an ultra-smooth 1.5-mile superspeedway palace - far from it. The next track on tour is the ultra-rough, high-banked, half-mile bullring known as Salem Speedway; and it's right in Kimmel's backyard.
"We've always tested at Salem whether the economy's good, or whether it's bad. We'd be crazy not to. We live too close. Even if it's to go back with the same set-up as last year just to make sure there are no leaks, no brake issues, just generally shake the car down. ‘The Don' is already painted up - we've been rubbing on it."
It was in a car the Kimmels named ‘The Don' that he won in at Salem last year in fairly dominating fashion, breaking a non-win streak at his hometown track that dated back to 2004. The emotional win at Salem also came on his father's 80th birthday. Kimmel has 9 victories overall at Salem dating back to his first win there in 1998.
It was also in ‘The Don' that Kimmel decimated the field last year on the Springfield and DuQuoin mile-dirts, leading about 96% of the total laps available.
kimmelstalk08.jpg"Springfield and DuQuoin are something we look forward to every year. I mean, we feel like we have a chance to win every time we go there, so naturally, it's something we look forward to. We almost expect to win there anymore, and are certainly very disappointed when we don't. There's something really neat about those places, the atmosphere of the state fairs, the great racing, the fans. Oh yah, it's a lot of fun. We enjoy those races as much as anywhere, as much or more."
Kimmel is the modern-day, undisputed king of ARCA's dirt track program. His average finish at Springfield in the last 10 years is 2.6 with 5 wins mixed in. Kimmel also has 5 wins at DuQuoin and another at West Virginia Motor Speedway.
With 74 career series victories overall, Kimmel is just 5 wins shy of Iggy Katona's all-time win mark of 79. In addition, Kimmel is just 42 laps shy of leading 10,000 laps in ARCA RE/MAX Series competition. Kimmel is also the all-time superspeedway lap-leader with 2,625 laps-led in 79 races.
The Kentuckiana Ford Dealers 200 at Salem Speedway on April 5 represents Kimmel's 372nd career ARCA RE/MAX Series start.
Kimmel will be the featured guest on "30 at 30" at arcaracing.com Tuesday, February 24 at 3:30 PM ET.
"30 at 30", a live on-line chat show at arcaracing.com, airs everyday at 3:30 PM ET featuring a different personality each day from the world of the ARCA RE/MAX Series.