CLARKSVILLE, IND. (March 23, 2009) – Frank Kimmel is preparing for a championship caliber 2009 race season by employing an age old secret – practice makes perfect.
Despite logging thousands of laps around his hometown race track Salem Speedway, Kimmel and his Ansell / Menards backed team made the 47-mile drive to Salem Speedway last Friday morning for a full day of on track testing.
“Even though we’re going to the same tracks we’ve been running at for years, the car and a team’s preferred set up changes a little bit year to year and definitely the race track changes,” said Kimmel. “Especially Salem Speedway, where there’s absolutely no grip at all.”
While the team tested all day, the strategy at Salem is different than at other race tracks.
“Salem is really hard on equipment, so mostly all we did was five or six lap runs at a time,” explained Kimmel. “Basically, we just shake down and make sure the brakes are working and there are no other issues that would give us problems on race weekend.”
Kimmel has won at Salem Speedway a record nine times, the most in ARCA Series history. Still, in the constant battle to surpass his competitors, the driver was quick to point out the benefits of regular testing.
“I think there are several things you can accomplish at a test,” said Kimmel. “First of all, you have that extra opportunity and time on track to try a variety of different set ups – some you don’t know how well they will work but a test is a better time to work through those questions than on a typical race weekend where your practice time is limited.
“Secondly, I think it’s good for the crew to get to the track and get back to their comfort zones and figure out everyone’s roles and responsibilities. We’ve got some new crew guys and the test was a good chance for them to see how we do things at Kimmel Racing.”
Like his battle for a 10th series championship, Kimmel hopes his extra effort and practice time at Salem will result in win number 10 at his hometown race track. The Kentuckiana Ford Dealer 200 sees the green flag fly at 2:15 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, April 5th.