Frank Kimmel

Frank Kimmel
Nationality United States American
Born (1962-04-30) April 30, 1962
Clarksville, Indiana, U.S.
Related to Bill Kimmel, Sr.
Will Kimmel
ARCA Racing Series career
Debut season 1991
Current team Kimmel Racing
Car no. 46
Starts 491
Wins 80
Poles 43
Best finish 1st in 1998, 2000, '01, '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '13
Championship titles
1998, 2000, '01, '02, '03, '04, '05, '06, '07, '13 ARCA Racing Series
Awards
1992 ARCA Permatex Super Car Series Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
7 races run over 2 years
Best finish 54th (2002)
First race 1999 Pepsi 400 (Michigan)
Last race 2002 Pocono 500 (Pocono)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish 94th (2001)
First race 2001 Pepsi 300 (Nashville)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
14 races run over 8 years
2013 position 48th
Best finish 44th (1996)
First race 1995 Ford Credit 200 (Louisville)
Last race 2013 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 2 0
Statistics current as of September 20, 2014.

Franklin Or Francis "Frank" James Kimmel (born April 30, 1962) is an American stock car racing driver. He competes in the ARCA Racing Series, driving the No. 25 Menards/Ansell Toyota for Venturini Motorsports. Kimmel has won the ARCA championship ten times, including eight consecutive. He won the championship in 1998 and also won the 2000 through 2007 championships, and again in 2013.[1]

Personal

Frank Kimmel was born in Clarksville, Indiana on April 30, 1962. His father, Bill Kimmel, Sr., was a three-time ARCA race winner.[2] Frank resides in Borden, Indiana [3] with his wife Donna. He has two children Holly and Frank II.[4] He also has two years of college education. Kimmel is involved in his community, participating in school events and coaching youth sports.[4]

Early career

Kimmel made his first career start racing street stock at the age of 15. Seven years later he moved to late models. Before racing in ARCA, Kimmel won three championships racing Late Models.[5]

ARCA

Kimmel's 2013 championship car at Road America

Kimmel's first ARCA start was in 1990. His first full season was 1992, driving the #02 Indiana Steel Co. Pontiac. Kimmel was consistent and was able to claim Rookie of the Year honors. Frank won his first race at Toledo Speedway in 1994.

He is the only ten-time champion in the ARCA Racing Series and the only driver to win eight championships in a row (2000–2007). Kimmel became the first ever ARCA Racing Series driver to be assigned a seat in the IROC (International Race of Champions) Series in 2006.

As of 2006, the crew chief on Kimmel's team is his brother, Bill Kimmel Jr.[3] In 2008, the Kimmel brothers left Larry Clement Racing to form their own team, known as Kimmel Racing. The team initially ran a Dodge with the support of Cunningham Motorsport and sponsorship from Riverside Auto at Daytona before joining forces with Ford Racing for the remainder of 2008.

On August 2, 2008, Kimmel was injured in a 3 car crash on lap 68 at Pocono Raceway, suffering a concussion. H[4] He was taken to the hospital for observation overnight.[6] Though lacking a title sponsor for the entire year of 2008, Frank and team were able to pull out a 2nd-place finish in points by a margin of 50. The loss of the championship was not the surprising part of that year but rather the surprise was how close Kimmel Racing was to winning a tenth title. As a result of his performance, Ansell and Menards joined forces with him the following season, a partnership that continues to this day.

Following the 2011 ARCA Racing Series season, Kimmel left the Kimmel Racing team, and drove for ThorSport Racing in the ARCA Racing Series starting in 2012.[7]

On June 30, 2013 Kimmel tied Iggy Katona's record for most wins in the ARCA Racing Series, winning his 79th career victory at Winchester Speedway.[8] On October 4, 2013, he clinched his tenth ARCA Racing Series championship at Kansas Speedway.[9] Kimmel went on to win the race, surpassing Katona to become the all-time win leader in ARCA Racing Series history.

For the 2014 season, Kimmel moved to Win-Tron Racing, retaining his No. 44.[10]

Kimmel holds ARCA records in a number of categories, including starts, wins, and poles.

NASCAR

Kimmel made seven starts in the NASCAR Winston Cup (now Sprint Cup) Series,[11] five of those coming with Travis Carter Motorsports in 2002.[12] He found little success in the series. His best finish to date was a 26th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He had one Busch Series start.[11] Through 2010 he had had two Top-10 finishes from twelve Craftsman Truck Series starts.[11] and ran the 2011 and 2013 Camping World Truck Series season finales at Homestead-Miami Speedway for ThorSport Racing.[7]

IROC

Kimmel was invited to participate in the 2006 edition of the International Race of Champions, IROC XXX. Kimmel was the first ever ARCA Racing Series driver to be assigned a seat in IROC.

That season, he placed seventh in points[13] with a best finish of third in the first race[14] of the four-race IROC season.[13]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series

Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
2007 Fast Track Racing Enterprises Ford DNQ

Busch Series

Camping World Truck Series

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

International Race of Champions

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

References

  1. ↑ http://www.arcaracing.com/content/view/5833/2/
  2. ↑ http://www.arcaracing.com/content/view/992/136/
  3. 1 2 RoundAbout Entertainment Guide - Harley-Davidson of Cincinnati 150
  4. 1 2 3 http://www.frankkimmel.com/Default.asp?ActionID=1
  5. ↑ Racing beat - Truckers News
  6. ↑ http://www.arcaracing.com/news.cfm?contentid=6958
  7. 1 2 "ThorSport Racing Expanding to ARCA Series with Frank Kimmel in '12". ThorSport Racing PR. Iowa Speedway. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
  8. ↑ http://www.arcaracing.com/news.php?contentid=15756
  9. ↑ "Kimmel clinches 10th ARCA Racing Series title". Rotoworld. NBC Sports. October 4, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-04.
  10. ↑ Kerchner, Mike (December 22, 2013). "Short-Track Roundup: ARCA champion Frank Kimmel changing teams". Autoweek. Retrieved 2014-01-22.
  11. 1 2 3 Frank Kimmel Career Statistics - Racing-Reference.info
  12. ↑ Frank Kimmel 2002 Winston Cup Results - Racing-Reference.info
  13. 1 2 IROC Standings and Statistics for 2006 - Racing-Reference.info
  14. ↑ Frank Kimmel's IROC Results at Daytona International Speedway - Racing-Reference.info

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Tim Steele		 ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series Champion
1998 		Succeeded by
Bill Baird
Preceded by
Bill Baird		 ARCA Re/MAX Series Champion
2000–2007 		Succeeded by
Justin Allgaier
Preceded by
Chris Buescher		 ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards Champion
2013 		Succeeded by
Mason Mitchell
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