Dylan Kwasniewski started on the pole. It was his first career pole in his first career start in the series. Before the race had even started, Frank Kimmel had clinched the title. He was far enough ahead of Mason Mingus that all he had to do was practice for the race. When he went on the track Saturday, he was the 2013 ARCA Racing Series Champion for a record tenth time. Kimmel would still race because he wanted to say he won as well. The race went green and the action immediately picked up. Chad Boat made a three wide move underneath Dylan Kwasniewski and Corey LaJoie as the top three entered turn 1. Boat exited turn 2 with the advantage, but Scott Lagasse Jr. was able to get past him on the backstretch to lead the first lap of the race. Lagasse held the lead early, but LaJoie was coming. On lap 13, LaJoie was able to get by Lagasse to lead the lap, but Scott powered by Corey on the next lap to take the lead back. This led to a fierce battle between the two that would lead to a very terrible incident for both drivers.
On lap 17, LaJoie and Lagasse crossed the line with a lapped car in front of them. LaJoie went low and Lagasse went high around the lapped car. Because he was so low on the track making the arch into the corner, LaJoie had to get out of the throttle and hand Scott the lead. But LaJoie came back at the exit of turn 1. He nailed the throttle and made slight contact with the back of Lagasse. The contact was enough to send him around and into the outside wall rear end first. LaJoie also slammed the wall after the contact and both drivers ended up with huge damage on the backstretch of the track as Dylan Kwasniewski passed them for the lead. Both drivers would try to have their cars fixed, but the damage was too much. This caused the first caution of the race to wave. A little bit of strategy occurred during the caution. Frank Kimmel and Mason Mitchell decided to come down pit road to get four tires and fuel and see if they could make the strategy game work in their favor. It would be interesting to see if the strategy would work for the two drivers.
The race went back green and Dylan Kwasniewski was able to hold onto the lead. Kwasniewski held the lead for the next few laps before the second caution waved on lap 33. Roger Carter broke loose in turn 3 and went for a spin. Mason Mingus went high trying to avoid Carter, but Carter slid up the track and the two made slight contact. Both had damage, but Mingus had the least amount of damage between the two. The final strategy session occurred during the caution. Frank Kimmel and Mason Mitchell decided to stay on track with Justin Boston and Will Kimmel taking two tires and the rest of the lead lap drivers taking four tires. Kimmel and Mitchell had made their earlier strategy work for the moment, but would the race go the full distance or would the rain come? One drop of rain or one lap could decide the ultimate finish of the race.
The race went back green and Frank Kimmel held the lead. The race went a couple of laps before the third caution waved on lap 40. Bobby Grewohl got loose in turn 2 and went for a slide down the track. He slid onto the apron and made it to the backstretch where he corrected his car and continued on. The field lined back up and the race went green quickly. Frank Kimmel held the lead. The race would go only a few more laps before the fourth and final caution waved on lap 46. Chad Boat lost an engine on the frontstretch of the track. Smoke flew out the back of his car along with fire, but Boat was able to jump out of his car safe and okay. The oil was cleaned up on the track and the race went green for the final time. Frank Kimmel held the lead once again and this time it would be very important. ARCA officials radioed to the teams that the race would be shortened to sixty five laps instead of the scheduled ninety nine laps due to the impending rain. This meant that only ten laps remained for Kimmel to hold onto his lead.
Mason Mitchell and John Wes Townley began to charge at Frank Kimmel as the call was made for only ten laps to remain. Mitchell made it close, but Kimmel began to get away. With only six laps to go, Kimmel held a comfortable lead as Mitchell and Townley tried to mount a comeback. With four laps to go, Kimmel entered some lap traffic, but he moved through it easily. Behind the three leaders, Justin Boston, Will Kimmel, and Spencer Gallagher fought hard for fifth, but this did not affect the leaders. With two laps to go, Kimmel easily had the win in his hands. He took the white flag and made it effortlessly through all four corners to take his eightieth career victory in the ARCA Racing Series. To add to that, Kimmel is now a ten time champion in the ARCA Racing Series.
For a few years, it seemed like the younger drivers had taken over for Frank Kimmel in the ARCA Racing Series, but he proved that was not the case in 2013. Kimmel raced in perfect form all season with top 10s in every single event throughout the season. Plus, Kimmel grabbed fifteen top 5s and four wins in pursuit of history. All I have to say is that Frank Kimmel is probably one of the greatest to sit behind the wheel of a race car. Some of you guys will not agree because of the series he had success in, but that does not matter to me when you compare that to his success. What a tough break it was for Scott Lagasse Jr. and Corey LaJoie. The two were battling for the lead when they made contact in turn 2 and ended up with huge amounts of damage. Either one of these drivers could have been standing in victory lane when everything was said and done, but they will be back to avenge the mistakes they made. Once again, give a call to the great James Hylton. He made his final start in the series at the age of seventy nine years old. Not may people can say they drove a stock car at over 150 miles per hour at the age of seventy nine. Props to James Hylton for driving as long as he possibly could in a sport that he loves so much. I hope he continues to come to the race track and be a good mentor for some of the drivers heading up the ranks. The ARCA Racing Series returns in 2014 at the Daytona International Speedway. Will Frank Kimmel capture his eleventh series title, will Bobby Gerhart win his ninth race at Daytona, or will another driver come along to give Frank Kimmel a run for his money? We will have to wait until February 2014 to find this out and more.
(More Stats Down Below!)
Cautions:
1st Caution: Lap 17- Corey LaJoie made slight contact with Scott Lagasse Jr. in turn 2 that caused both drivers to slam the outside wall on the exit of turn 2.
2nd Caution: Lap 33- Roger Carter got loose in turn 3 and went for spin. Mason Mingus made contact with Carter after he drifted up the track on Mingus.
3rd Caution: Lap 40- Bobby Grewohl got loose in turn 2 and went for a slide down the track.
4th Caution: Lap 46- Chad Boat lost his engine on the frontstretch of the track.
Top 5 Finishers:
1st: Frank Kimmel
2nd: Mason Mitchell
3rd: John Wes Townley
4th: Dylan Kwasniewski
5th: Justin Boston
Notables Not in Top 5:
9th: Mason Mingus
11th: Justin Allison*
15th: Milka Duno
17th: Bobby Gerhart
18th: James Hylton^
23rd: Chad Boat
25th: Corey LaJoie
27th: Scott Lagasse Jr.
(*: Yes, he is one of those Allison's. He is the grandson of Donnie Allison.)
(^: James Hylton made his final ARCA start at the age of seventy nine.)
Credits:
-My Own Notes
-Statistics:
http://timing1.arcaracing.com/
http://racing-reference.info/race/2013_Kansas_Lottery_98.9/A
-Image:
http://arcaracing.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment