ARCA Racing Series Returns to Winchester Speedway for All-ARCA Triple Header;
Monday, June 4, 2012 Herr's Chase the Taste 200 Finale Set For June 24 (TOLEDO, Ohio) - The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards will return to Winchester Speedway, the "World's Fastest Half-Mile," on Sunday, June 24, 2012 for the Herr's Chase the Taste 200, marking the series' 23rd appearance at the historic half-mile oval located near the Indiana-Ohio border, just northeast of Indianapolis. |
The Herr's Chase the Taste 200 serves as the grand finale in an all-ARCA branded weekend during which the ARCA Truck Series will kick things off with a 50-lap feature followed by a 100-lap main event from the ARCA CRA Super Series Saturday, June 23. The big ARCA triple header race weekend will culminate with the Herr's Chase the Taste 200 finale Sunday afternoon. The first ARCA Racing Series event at Winchester was held in 1957, just the fifth season of ARCA Racing Series competition. "It's important for the ARCA Racing Series to race at Winchester Speedway. It's exactly the type of Midwestern facility where the ARCA brand is well-known and has the chance to be successful," said ARCA president Ron Drager. "Winchester is big enough and fast enough to play to the very nature of our cars." Drager noted the important influence of Menards, the series' presenting sponsor, in scheduling the Winchester event. "One of the strategic advantages of racing at Winchester is hosting an event inside the Menards footprint. As Menards emerges as our highest-profile marketing partner, racing inside that area has a lot of value." Indiana native Frank Kimmel is the leading ARCA Racing Series winner at Winchester, with five victories (1996, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006) followed by three-time series champ Tim Steele, who won four times (1993, 1995, 1997, 2001). Billy Leslie won from the pole in 2007. Leslie's father and 1988 series champion Tracy Leslie was also a winner at Winchester, triumphing in 1988 and 1999. Dakoda Armstrong, in the Cunningham Motorsports Dodge, is the most recent winner at Winchester with his victory in June of 2011. ARCA's tenure at Winchester reaches back to 1957 when Don O'Dell won the inaugural event in a Chevrolet. Other ARCA winners at Winchester over the years include Jack Bowsher (1964), Ralph Latham (1972), Bobby Watson (1972) and two-time series champion Marvin Smith, who won back-to-back races in 1982 and 1983. Other winners include Bob Keselowski (1990), Gary Bradberry (1994) and Bob Strait (1998). One of the oldest speedways in America, Winchester debuted in 1914 as a flat half-mile dirt oval and remained that way through 1921. The high-banks were added in time for the 1922 season; however, the track would not be paved until 1952. All three divisions will divide track time Saturday with back-to-back practice sessions beginning at 11:30 a.m. Menards Pole Award Qualifying presented by Ansell for the ARCA Racing Series is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., followed by the ARCA Truck Series race at 5:30 and the ARCA CRA Super Series race at 6:30. The Herr's Chase the Taste 200 is slated to begin Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m., preceded by pre-race ceremonies at 1:30. The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 26 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.375 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama's Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota's Elko Speedway for the first time. Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events. CONTACT: Griffin Hickman, ARCA Don Radebaugh, ARCA |
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