FACTSHEET - RACE: Prairie Meadows 200
- TRACK: Iowa Speedway
- LOCATION: Newton, Iowa
- WEBSITE: www.arcaracing.com
- RACE DISTANCE: 200 Laps / 175 Miles
- TRACK CONFIGURATION: .875-Mile Paved Oval
- FIRST ARCA RACE: 2006
- TOTAL ARCA RACES RUN: 6
- QUALIFYING RECORD: Steve Wallace, 22.933, 137.357 mph, 2006
- RACE RECORD: Tom Hessert, 105.634 mph, 2010
- NO. OF ARCA RACES WON FROM THE POLE: 2
Iowa Race #11; 60th Anniversary Season The Prairie Meadows 200, the seventh appearance of the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards at Iowa Speedway, is the 11th of 20 events on the 2012 schedule. It follows events at Daytona, Mobile, Salem, Talladega, Toledo, Elko, Pocono, Michigan, Winchester and New Jersey Motorsports Park. It also marks the official start of the second half of the 2012 season. The 2012 season also marks the 60th Anniversary Season for the ARCA Racing Series. 10 Races, Seven Different Winners; Ranger Newest Winner in 2012 The first six events in 2012 produced six different winners: Bobby Gerhart at Daytona, where he picked up a record eighth career Daytona triumph; at Mobile, Cale Gale, who's spending the majority of his time on the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule; at Salem, Alex Bowman; Brandon McReynolds at Talladega; Chris Buescher at Toledo, and point leader Brennan Poole at Elko. However, Poole became the first repeat winner in 2012 with his dominant win at Pocono Raceway. Buescher, as a result of his thrilling victory at Michigan, became the second repeat winner of 2012. Bowman became the third repeat winner of 2012 with his victory at Winchester. Roxton Pond, Quebec's Andrew Ranger became the seventh different winner of 2012 most recently at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Series Standings Tight to Iowa
Brennan Poole, driver of the No. 25 Venturini Motorsports entry, holds a slim 10-point advantage over Chris Buescher headed to Iowa Speedway. Buescher, driver of the No. 17 Roulo Brothers Racing Ford, is under the Roush Fenway Racing driver development banner. Both Poole and Buescher have two wins each on the season. Veteran and nine-time champ Frank Kimmel, with no wins this year, is third, 160 behind the leader. Alex Bowman, despite a DNF early on at Talladega, and a mechanical issue that relegated the Tucson, Ariz. driver to 13th at New Jersey, is fourth in points, 165 from first. Kimmel Still in the Hunt; Winless Streak at 73
Frank Kimmel turned 50 years young in late April, yet the nine-time ARCA champion is clearly still on his game. Kimmel, whose winless streak is 73 races long, has not gone to Victory Lane since September 13, 2008. After struggling with his own team for four seasons, the 74-time ARCA Racing Series winner (second all-time to Iggy Katona's 79 wins) has new life with ThorSport Racing in 2012. After a disappointing start in 2012, Kimmel has rebounded with runner-up finishes at Salem and Toledo, coupled with a solid seventh-place finish at Talladega, a fourth-place finish at Elko, a sixth-place result at Pocono, a seventh-place finish at Michigan and seventh-place finish at New Jersey. Kimmel is the all-time ARCA Racing Series lap leader with 10,395 laps led in 195 races. Kimmel is also the all-time superspeedway lap leader with 2,677 laps led in 81 races. Kimmel and Hessert Only Former Iowa Winners Entered
Frank Kimmel, who won at Iowa in 2007, and Tom Hessert, victorious at Iowa in 2010, are the only former Iowa winners entered. Both, however, have moved onto different teams. Kimmel drives for ThorSport Racing while Hessert drives for Ken Schrader Racing. Kimmel's sole Iowa win came in a car fielded by nine-time ARCA car owner champ and Newton, Iowa native Larry Clement; Hessert's victory at Iowa in '10 came in a Cunningham Motorsports car. Cunningham Motorsports Two-Time Iowa Winners
Cunningham Motorsports, the winningest ARCA team since 2009, is the only team which has won twice at Iowa Speedway. Cunningham won for the first time in 2009 with Parker Kligerman at the helm, and again in 2010 with Tom Hessert driving. Cunningham has entered the No. 22 Dodge for the upcoming Prairie Meadows 200 with Tucson, Ariz. rookie Alex Bowman driving. Bowman has already won twice for Cunningham in 2012, at Salem and again at Winchester. W. Des Moines Rookie Mitchell to Make Debut for Championship ESR Team
Mason Mitchell, an 18-year-old from West Des Moines, Iowa, will join Eddie Sharp Racing as a developmental driver in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. Mitchell will make select starts this season, and plans to make his debut in the Prairie Meadows 200 at Iowa Speedway this Friday. Mitchell spent the last year racing on the American Speed Association Midwest Tour and as a regular at Hawkeye Downs Speedway. "It's been my dream since I was a little kid to make it to big-time stock car racing," said Mitchell, who has over 50 late model races under his belt. "Joining a team the caliber of ESR is a dream come true. I want to thank my dad and our great sponsor J&S AG Services for making this a reality." In addition to the Iowa event, the team's plans are to run Mitchell in several test sessions and a handful of ARCA Racing Series events this season including July 27 at Indianapolis, and the October 19 season finale at Kansas to get his feet wet leading into a full-time ARCA effort for 2013. ESR earned the 2009 ARCA Racing Series championship with Justin Lofton driving. Matt Lofton, Man on the March; Iowa Familiar to Roxboro, N.C. Driver
After a bumpy start in 2012, Matt Lofton has become one to watch. The Roxboro, N.C. driver struggled at the onset with a 34th-place finish at Daytona followed by 16th and 14th place results at Mobile and Salem, respectively. However, after shaking off the first three, Lofton was second at Talladega, 11th at Toledo, second at Elko, fourth at Pocono, third at Michigan, and fifth recently at Winchester. However, Lofton crashed in his road course debut at New Jersey last week and finished 25th. But, for a driver who was nowhere near the top-10 in points early on, he has risen to seventh in the series standings headed to Iowa. It's also worth noting that, while most of the tracks on the ARCA tour are new to Lofton, he is quite familiar with Iowa Speedway, having raced there twice in the Pro Cup Series and in the ARCA race in 2011. Hackenbracht Knocking on Victory Lane Door
New Philadelphia, Ohio's Chad Hackenbracht is knocking on the Victory Lane door, and Iowa Speedway could be his next best shot to get there. With crew chief Kevin Reed turning the wrenches and Hackenbracht's confidence on the rise, the team won the pole on the New Jersey road course last time out. Hackenbracht has already finished second twice in 2012, at Mobile and most recently at Pocono. In between, the driver of the No. 58 family-owned Chevrolet finished third at Talladega, seventh at Elko, and eighth at Toledo and Winchester. Hackenbracht is currently fifth in the championship standings. Superspeedway King Gerhart Entered for Iowa, A Rare Short Track Appearance
Lebanon, Pa.'s Bobby Gerhart, renowned for his record eight victories at Daytona Int'l Speedway, and another at Talladega, has filed an entry at Iowa in his own No. 5 Lucas Oil sponsored-Chevrolet. Gerhart's ARCA schedule is mostly comprised of the superspeedways, all of which are televised on SPEED. However, the lure of the live SPEED telecast at Iowa is enough for Gerhart to enter the event. Bobby's brother Bill Gerhart serves as his crew chief. Venturini Motorsports x 5 at Iowa
Venturini Motorsports is headed to Iowa with plenty of momentum, not to mention five race teams. On the near heels of back-to-back wins with Brennan Poole (The Woodlands, Texas) at Elko and Pocono that has him atop the series standings, Venturini Motorsports has entered five teams at Iowa, including the No. 15 Chevrolet with Ryan Reed (Bakersfield, Calif.) in the driver's seat. Venturini Motorsports has also entered the No. 20 Chevrolet with Tom Berte (New Berlin, Wis.) driving, the No. 25 Chevrolet with Poole, and the No. 55 Chevrolet with Erik Jones (Byron, Mich.). Jones, 16, became the youngest driver to ever race in an ARCA Racing Series event at the age of 15 when he debuted in early March at Mobile Int'l Speedway. If Jones were to win at Iowa, he would become the youngest winner in ARCA history, surpassing the mark set by James Buescher in 2007, who won at USA Int'l two days shy of his 17th birthday. Nelson Canache, who has just moved into 10th in the Series standings, is also entered in the No. 66 Venturini Motorsports-Venezuela Tourism Chevrolet. Canache, from Caracas, Venezuela, is coming off a career-best 12th place finish at New Jersey. |
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