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By
Don Ward
Editor
SPARTA, Ky. (May 10) – For three years,
Frank Kimmel practically owned the main
groove at the Kentucky Speedway.
He had won three of the four ARCA RE/MAX
Series races held there. But in mid-May,
ARCA’s four-time season champion was
dethroned yet again by a teenaged driver
bent on making history. This time, the young
spoiler carried a famous name in auto racing
circles. And he was driving some of the
best equipment supplied by a well-known
name among team owners.
Kyle Busch, who had turned 18 only the previous
week, outdueled the 41-year-old Kimmel to
win the “Channel 5-205” in what
could only be described as a two-man race
from the start. Busch, the younger brother
of Winston Cup Series driver Kurt Busch,
was powered by the Hendrick Motorsports
racing team as he throttled his ditech.com
Chevrolet around the 1.5-mile tri-oval.
Kimmel, of Jeffersonville, Ind., won the
pole on Friday and took the lead early on
Saturday. But only 15 laps into the race,
Busch passed Kimmel on the outside. Kimmel
followed closely behind, with the third-place-running
Matt Hagans running 10 seconds or more behind
the two leaders. In fact, only during the
few cautions did the field catch the two
speedier drivers, never threatening.
Kimmel regained the lead on Lap 49 when
he got a good restart off a caution and
passed Busch on the front stretch. Several
more cautions later, Busch threaded the
traffic to retake the lead on Lap 87. He
never relinquished his lead after that,
holding off Kimmel on several caution restarts,
including a final opportunity for Kimmel
on the restart of Lap 124 of 137. But Busch
powered off the start and held on for the
victory before a crowd of 25,486.
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Kyle's
older brother Kurt Busch signs autographs.
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Hagans, of Brownstown, Ind., placed third
and Shelby Howard of Greenwood, Ind. took
fourth. Jason Jarrett, son of Winston Cup
driver Dale Jarrett, finished fifth, with
Mark Gibson in sixth. Only six cars stayed
on the lead lap throughout much of the race.
“It was a great battle,” Busch
said later. “I enjoyed it a lot. (Kimmel)
is one of the greats. I can’t credit
him enough for being there and racing hard
with me and racing clean.”
Busch celebrated with his team in Victory
Lane, accompanied by his mother and famous
brother, Winston Cup Series driver Kurt
Busch. The younger Busch then called his
prom date back home in Las Vegas, Nev.
It was the second ARCA race this season
that Busch had outran Kimmel. Busch started
on the pole and won at Nashville, Tenn.,
on April 11. His victory in Sparta made
him the youngest winner in the four-year
history of the Kentucky Speedway.
“We contended with him, and that was
our first goal,” said Kimmel following
the Sparta race. “At Nashville, we
couldn’t see him at all. This time
we passed him a little bit. At one point,
we were a half a lap ahead of everyone,
and I was thinking, ‘If he wasn’t
there, I wouldn’t have to be running
this hard.’ ”
Luckily for Kimmel, Busch plans to compete
in only seven ARCA races this year, while
entering six Busch Series events upon turning
18. He plans to join the Busch Series full
time in 2004.
Busch said he did not plan to compete in
the Busch Series race in June at Kentucky
because he wanted to experience as many
different tracks as possible this year in
preparation for his fulltime Busch schedule
next year. In all, he plans to enter 14
events at 13 different tracks this year.
“I’m trying to gain as much experience
as I can to get ready for Busch next year,”
he said. “We want to learn all we can
about the tracks, the set-up, everything.”
The race had six cautions, resulting in
35 laps under yellow. Several top ARCA drivers
had trouble early, bowing out to either
engine trouble or collisions with other
drivers.
Veteran driver Vern Slagh was an early casualty,
bowing out on Lap 24 because of problems
resulting from a spin on Lap 11. Brent Sherman,
who qualified third, was forced out of the
race on Lap 44 when his car stalled on the
backstretch and began to smoke. Fuel caught
fire and emergency vehicles responded.
Chase Montgomery, who had been running in
the top five most of the night, was forced
to garage after Lap 53 because of engine
problems. London, Ky., driver Jamie Mosley
took a disappointing early exit after experiencing
car trouble. Mosley, a dispatcher at the
state police post in London, had alternator
problems and pitted on Lap 20.
Kimmel won the first of two ARCA races last
season at the Kentucky Speedway, but lost
the second race in July to eventual Rookie
of the Year Chad Blount, then age 23. Blount
finished second behind Kimmel in the May
race last year. This year, ARCA is making
only the one stop in Sparta.
Earlier on Saturday, Country Music star
Tammy Cochran entertained the crowd on the
B-105 Country Soundstage on the west concourse.
Cochran later joined dignitaries on the
stage for driver introductions.
On Friday afternoon, six Winston Cup drivers
arrived in Sparta and signed autographs
for two hours on the concourse. The group
included Ricky Craven, Larry Foyt, Sterling
Martin, Jeremy Mayfield, Jamie McMurray
and Jimmy Spencer. Parsons also signed autographs,
along with some ARCA RE/MAX drivers.
Race Notes
The “Channel 5-205” was the first
Kentucky Speedway event to feature three
female drivers. Kim Crosby, Christi Passmore
and Deborah Renshaw successfully qualified
for the event. Passmore finished the highest
of the trio with a career Kentucky Speedway
best of 12th place after qualifying 12th.
She moved to seventh in series point standings,
trailing leader Kimmel by 410 points. Crosby
was next best among the group with a 21st
place finish after qualifying 24th. Renshaw
posted her second straight top-10 qualifying
effort at Kentucky. She started seventh
and finished 33rd after retiring from the
race on Lap 49 due to a failed valve spring.
Matt Hagans qualified second and finished
third, his first top-five performance in
three starts this season.
Henryville, Ind.’s Darrell Basham started
23d and finished 22nd. The 54-year-old self-employed
truck driver started racing in ARCA in 1972
and had 97 starts prior to this season.
His career-best seventh place finish in
season points was in 1976.
ARCA RE/MAX driver Jerry Glanville was involved
in a single-car incident during qualifying
on Friday. Glanville was released in good
condition from an area hospital on Saturday.
Former Winston Cup champion and TV analyst
Benny Parsons served as the event’s
grand marshal then joined Cincinnati’s
WLWT TV sports anchor Ken Broo in the broadcast
booth to call the race on live local television
station Channel 5.
2003 ARCA RE/MAX Series’ “Channel
5-205”
May
10 at the Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Ky.
Official Results
Finish Start
F. S. Driver, Car, Laps Reason out
1. 4 Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 137
2. 1 Frank Kimmel, Ford, 137
3. 2 Matt Hagans, Dodge, 137
4. 5 Shelby Howard, Dodge, 137
5. 6 Jason Jarrett, Chevrolet, 137
6. 8 Mark Gibson, Chevrolet, 137
7. 14 Joe Cooksey, Chevrolet, 136
8. 10 Michael Simko, Pontiac, 136
9. 17 Ron Cox, Chevrolet, 136
10. 16 Billy Venturini, Chevrolet, 136
11. 19 Mike Langston, Ford, 135
12. 12 Christi Passmore, Ford, 135
13. 21 Andy Belmont, Ford, 135
14. 26 Keith Murt, Chevrolet, 135
15. 20 Greg Sarff, Ford, 135
16. 27 Todd Bowsher, Ford, 133
17. 18 Brett Oakley, Chevrolet, 133
18. 37 Dan Shaver, Pontiac, 133
19. 29 Darrel Krentz, Ford, 133
20. 36 Carl McCormick, Ford, 132
21. 25 Kim Crosby, Chevrolet, 132
22. 23 Darrell Basham, Chevrolet, 132
23. 30 Jerry Middleton, Chevrolet, 130
24. 34 Mike Buckley, Chevrolet, 130
25. 15 Mike Burg, Chevrolet, 129
26. 31 Brad Smith, Chevrolet, 128
27. 33 Norm Benning, Chevrolet, 124
28. 24 Jamie Mosley, Pontiac, 74
29. 13 Bill Eversole, Chevrolet, 74
30. 9 A.J. Henriksen, Ford, 59
31. 11 Chase Montgomery, Chevrolet, 53
32. 28 Brian Conz, Chevrolet, 51
33. 7 Deborah Renshaw, Ford, 49
34. 3 Brent Sherman, Ford, 44
35. 35 Chuck Weber, Chevrolet, 39
36. 32 Randy VanZant, Pontiac, 38
37. 22 Vern Slagh, Dodge, 24
38. 38 Mike Koch, Chevrolet, 5
Time of race: 1:52:34
Margin of victory: 3.395 seconds
Cautions: 6 for 35 laps
Ave. speed: 109.535 mph
Leaders: Kimmel 1-14, 49-80 (46); Busch
15-48, 81-137 (91)
ARCA website: www.arcaracing.com
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