Milka Duno started on the pole, but there was some controversy behind it. John Wes Townley had the fastest time in qualifying, but his time was disallowed due to unapproved suspension mounting/placement and he was forced to start at the back. Bobby Gerhart, Mark Thompson, and Korbin Forrister also had their times disallowed and were forced to start at the back. The green flag waved and Duno was able to jump out to a quick lead and lead the first lap. It was a very short time before the first caution of the race came out on lap 2. Debris was spotted on the track in turn 1. The race went back green and the fastest car in the race would have huge problems.
John Wes Townley had been making his way from the back to the front in good time. He was outside of his teammate Milka Duno when it turned horrible. The field came up on a lapped car and Duno veered to the right because she thought she could not make it passed the lapped car. She made contact with Townley and Townley went sailing into the outside wall. He could not slow down the car and made even heavier contact with the inside wall. He would get out of the car and be okay. This resulted in the second caution of the race on lap 29. The race went back green one more time and once again Milka Duno ruined somebody's race. But this time there was a lot more drivers involved.
On lap 35, Thomas Praytor made contact with Milka Duno in turn 2, which resulted in a stack up behind them. Mason Mitchell was pushing Grant Enfinger and Enfinger slammed into Duno and they went for a spin, causing a massive pileup. Drivers like Spencer Gallagher, Tom Hessert, James Hylton, Drew Charlson, George Cushman, Justin Boston, Bo LeMastus, Donnie Neuenberger, Clay Campbell, Buster Graham, and Galen Hassler went spinning trough the grass and running into each other. There were cars with catastrophic damage everywhere. This resulted in the third caution of the race. The race went back green and it was a short time before the fourth caution of the race on lap 46. Debris was spotted on the frontstretch. The race went back green and one of the contenders in the race fell out.
Bobby Gerhart was coming out of turn 4 on lap 52 and a puff of smoke shot out from behind his car. He immediately slowed and it was obvious that he had a mechanical failure. He attempted to make it to pit road, but he did not have a lane and would have to limp back around. He was unable to and he was forced to stop on one of the exit roads on the backstretch. It was a short time before the fifth caution of the race waved on lap 56. Track officials were given time to move Bobby Gerhart's car from the exit road. The race went back green and it was a short time before the sixth caution of the race came out on lap 66. Thomas Praytor blew a tire in turn 2 and he went up the track. Darrell Basham was on his outside and they made significant contact. Basham also hit the wall with an extreme amount of force. Basham was able to drive away, but Praytor had too much damage to continue. Now, the race entered the late stages and the rain was coming quickly.
The race went back green and there was a mad dash to get up to the front, but it was a short time before the seventh and final caution came out on lap 72. Rain had begun to fall steadily on the track. Nobody was able to make a move on Frank Kimmel and he had the lead. The rain began to fall quickly after the caution flag waved and ARCA was forced to wave the red flag and pull the cars down pit road. Now, it was a waiting game. All the drivers wanted to get back to racing except for Kimmel, who had the win if it was called. It was a short time before the waiting game was over and Frank Kimmel was declared the winner. It was his first win of 2013 and his first since Springfield in 2012. It was a race packed with action, but we can only imagine what would have happened in those last twenty laps.
This race was a very physical one with drivers always contending for the lead and setting up their plans for a pass. It left you on the edge of your seat waiting for that one mistake that could cost the entire field. Like I said, no one knows what would have happened in those last twenty laps and I am certainly not going to take the win from Frank Kimmel. He fought hard all day and deserved it in the end. The ARCA Racing Series takes a week off and then heads to its birthplace, Toledo Speedway. It should be an action packed short track race and I hope to check it out on SPEED on May 19th.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 2- Debris was spotted in turn 1.
2nd Caution: Lap 29- Milka Duno moved up into John Wes Townley in turn 2 and Townley went into the wall. Townley would then make contact with the inside wall.
3rd Caution: Lap 35- Milka Duno and Thomas Praytor made contact in turn 2. Mason Mitchell pushed Grant Enfinger into Duno and Enfinger and Duno went for a spin. Drivers like Spencer Gallagher, Tom Hessert, James Hylton, Drew Charlson, George Cushman, Justin Boston, Bo LeMastus, Donnie Neuenberger, Clay Campbell, Buster Graham, and Galen Hassler also received damage.
4th Caution: Lap 46- Debris was spotted on the frontstretch.
5th Caution: Lap 56- Track officials were given time to move Bobby Gerhart's car.
6th Caution: Lap 66- Thomas Praytor blew a tire in turn 2 and went up the track into Darrell Basham.
7th Caution: Lap 72- Rain began to fall on the track.
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Frank Kimmel
2nd: Mason Mingus
3rd: Caleb Armstrong
4th: Mark Thompson
5th: Terry Jones
Notables Not in Top 5:
16th: Grant Enfinger
24th: Bobby Gerhart
26th: Tom Hessert
27th: Spencer Gallagher
29th: Milka Duno
34th: John Wes Townley
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_International_Motorsports_Hall_of_Fame_250/A
http://timing1.arcaracing.com/
-Image:
http://binaryapi.ap.org/dba01ea5c92b47748cc0eb4caa7c99e4/512x.jpg
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