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SALEM, IN - Tracy Leslie nipped Frank Kimmel by .201 seconds in the ARCA 200 stock car race here Sunday that was dominated early by the Warsaw ML Motorsports entry.
The two former ARCA champions battled for the final two laps before Leslie passed Kimmel on the final corner of the last lap to take the checkered flag.
Brian Ross, of Plymouth, was the top qualifier at a speed of 113.904 miles per hour in the Biomet Chevrolet. Ross started on the pole for the race and stayed in front for 98 laps on the half-mile track before pit stops shuffled the field. Ross later lost the lead lap when a tire went flat on his Monte Carlo and a trip to the pits under green flag racing cost him two laps. Ross, however, returned to the track setting a blistering pace picking up one lost lap and was gaining on the field when the race finished. He was eighth, one lap down to the leaders.
According to Ed Mullen, ML Motorsports manger, Ross was clicking off laps .3 of a second faster than the leaders but just ran out of time. Mullen credited the pit crew with excellent pit stops allowing Ross to make up for lost time. "We had a winning car," Mullen said, "if the tire problem hadn't occurred."
The pole was the first for the Biomet team which was formed last year. In six ARCA starts for the Warsaw-based race team, Ross has three top 10 finishes in his rookie season.
Other in the top 10 following Leslie and Kimmel were Tim Steele, Mark Gibson, Joe Cooksey, Norm Benning, '99 ARCA champion Bill Baird, Ross, Shawna Robinson and Kirk Shelmerdine.
Shelmerdine has the season points lead in ARCA with 420 while Bob Strait is second at 410. Robinson (driving a Jeremy Mayfield car) is tied with Ross for third place. Both have 360 points and both are battling for the Rookie of the Year honors. Ross won the Prestone Highest Finishing Rookie award at Salem.
The next race will be May 14 at the .250-mile Anderson, IN speedway where, ironically, Ross won the feature Saturday in the Kendall Indiana Late Model Series. Ross is the defending champion in the Kendall series.
