Blount Hired By ML Motorsports
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
When the ARCA RE/MAX Series holds it's annual awards banquet tonight, ML Motorsports will cart away a trophy for finishing fifth in the 2004 season standings.
Next year, the members of the Warsaw-based stock car team believe they can sit at the head of the table as the series champion.
After hiring 25-year-old Walkerton native Chad Blount, the crew at ML Motorsports expect to make some noise during the 2005 season. They expect to qualify on the pole, win races and challenge now six-time ARCA champ Frank Kimmel.
"I can't wait to get back in there and be a competitive force on the track," said Blount, who was the 2002 ARCA Rookie of the Year. "ML Motorsports is one of the best ARCA teams out there and I'm looking forward to the challenge of picking up where I left off in 2002. We just need to get that one extra spot and win the championship. The guys on this team are awesome and the (Dane and Mary Louise) Miller family has been very supportive."
Blount, who was chosen from a pool of nearly 100 applicants, replaces 29-year-old North Carolina driver Jason Jarrett, who in four seasons with ML Motorsports qualified on the pole once and won two races.
Jarrett was let go at the conclusion of the 2004 season, a season in which he posted his worst points finish.
With Blount, the members of the ML Motorsports team have someone they've known for a long time as he grew up in Walkerton and raced at Plymouth and New Paris, among other places, before taking his talent to the national level and Blount is someone with a proven record of success.
During his 2002 rookie season in ARCA, Blount drove the No. 77 Dodge for Braun Racing.
In 22 starts that season, Blount won four races, five poles and finished second in the season standings to Kimmel, who has now won five straight championships.
Since the late 1990s, no full-time ARCA driver has pressured Kimmel the way Blount did in 2002.
In 29 career ARCA starts, Blount has 12 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. His wins came at Michigan International, Kentucky, Chicagoland and Lowe's.
At Michigan International Speedway, site of his first national touring series win, Blount qualified on the pole for the 200-lap race and led 73 of 100 laps.
At Chicagoland, where he set a new track record, he led 120 of 134 laps en route to the win.
He set a track record at Atlanta Motor Speedway and finished second in the closest ARCA race in history.
The facility and pit crew at ML Motorsports have been tabbed as the best in ARCA.
The 40,000 square foot shop rivals a number of shops in Charlotte, and the pit crew has worked for teams in the Craftsman Truck Series, Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series.
With championship-winning crew chief Tom Sokoloski jumping on board last year and the hiring of Blount this week, the pieces seem to be falling in place, and only time will tell if the puzzle is complete.
"We just want to go win some races and have fun," said Sokoloski, who won three championships with Michigan driver Tim Steele. "If we can go win some races, things will fall into place. Chad's been around racing all his life. He's made a living at it. Basically, his whole family has made a living through racing. He's been around racing all his life and he knows what's going on."
After his 2002 rookie season in ARCA, Braun Racing moved Blount - whose father Bobby Blount has won hundreds of feature races and can still be found in his late model at tracks like New Paris and Plymouth - to Charlotte.
He competed in the Busch Series for Braun Racing in 2003 and made two Nextel Cup starts in 2004.
He is currently the test driver for Penske Racing, which fields Nextel Cup cars for Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman.
Blount, who lives in North Carolina, plans to stay on as Penske's test driver, allowing him to stay close to a top-notch Nextel Cup team, as well as getting true seat time while running for the championship with ML Motorsports.
"We know he's good on the speedways," said Sokoloski. "I think we'll be pretty good on the short tracks, too. We should be pretty competitive everywhere we go. We've got things in place here to go win some races and really challenge Frank for the championship."
The ARCA RE/MAX Series gets underway Feb. 12 at Daytona International Speedway. [[In-content Ad]]
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When the ARCA RE/MAX Series holds it's annual awards banquet tonight, ML Motorsports will cart away a trophy for finishing fifth in the 2004 season standings.
Next year, the members of the Warsaw-based stock car team believe they can sit at the head of the table as the series champion.
After hiring 25-year-old Walkerton native Chad Blount, the crew at ML Motorsports expect to make some noise during the 2005 season. They expect to qualify on the pole, win races and challenge now six-time ARCA champ Frank Kimmel.
"I can't wait to get back in there and be a competitive force on the track," said Blount, who was the 2002 ARCA Rookie of the Year. "ML Motorsports is one of the best ARCA teams out there and I'm looking forward to the challenge of picking up where I left off in 2002. We just need to get that one extra spot and win the championship. The guys on this team are awesome and the (Dane and Mary Louise) Miller family has been very supportive."
Blount, who was chosen from a pool of nearly 100 applicants, replaces 29-year-old North Carolina driver Jason Jarrett, who in four seasons with ML Motorsports qualified on the pole once and won two races.
Jarrett was let go at the conclusion of the 2004 season, a season in which he posted his worst points finish.
With Blount, the members of the ML Motorsports team have someone they've known for a long time as he grew up in Walkerton and raced at Plymouth and New Paris, among other places, before taking his talent to the national level and Blount is someone with a proven record of success.
During his 2002 rookie season in ARCA, Blount drove the No. 77 Dodge for Braun Racing.
In 22 starts that season, Blount won four races, five poles and finished second in the season standings to Kimmel, who has now won five straight championships.
Since the late 1990s, no full-time ARCA driver has pressured Kimmel the way Blount did in 2002.
In 29 career ARCA starts, Blount has 12 top-five and 19 top-10 finishes. His wins came at Michigan International, Kentucky, Chicagoland and Lowe's.
At Michigan International Speedway, site of his first national touring series win, Blount qualified on the pole for the 200-lap race and led 73 of 100 laps.
At Chicagoland, where he set a new track record, he led 120 of 134 laps en route to the win.
He set a track record at Atlanta Motor Speedway and finished second in the closest ARCA race in history.
The facility and pit crew at ML Motorsports have been tabbed as the best in ARCA.
The 40,000 square foot shop rivals a number of shops in Charlotte, and the pit crew has worked for teams in the Craftsman Truck Series, Busch Series and Nextel Cup Series.
With championship-winning crew chief Tom Sokoloski jumping on board last year and the hiring of Blount this week, the pieces seem to be falling in place, and only time will tell if the puzzle is complete.
"We just want to go win some races and have fun," said Sokoloski, who won three championships with Michigan driver Tim Steele. "If we can go win some races, things will fall into place. Chad's been around racing all his life. He's made a living at it. Basically, his whole family has made a living through racing. He's been around racing all his life and he knows what's going on."
After his 2002 rookie season in ARCA, Braun Racing moved Blount - whose father Bobby Blount has won hundreds of feature races and can still be found in his late model at tracks like New Paris and Plymouth - to Charlotte.
He competed in the Busch Series for Braun Racing in 2003 and made two Nextel Cup starts in 2004.
He is currently the test driver for Penske Racing, which fields Nextel Cup cars for Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman.
Blount, who lives in North Carolina, plans to stay on as Penske's test driver, allowing him to stay close to a top-notch Nextel Cup team, as well as getting true seat time while running for the championship with ML Motorsports.
"We know he's good on the speedways," said Sokoloski. "I think we'll be pretty good on the short tracks, too. We should be pretty competitive everywhere we go. We've got things in place here to go win some races and really challenge Frank for the championship."
The ARCA RE/MAX Series gets underway Feb. 12 at Daytona International Speedway. [[In-content Ad]]