Factsheets
RACE: Eddie Gilstrap Motors ARCA Fall Classic by Advance Auto Parts
TRACK: Salem Speedway, .555-mile paved oval
LOCATION: Salem, Indiana
DISTANCE: 200 laps, 111 miles
SANCTION: ARCA
SERIES: Event #18 of the 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series
PROMOTER: Owen & Beverly Thompson, PR Richard Deaton (812) 883-6504
SCHEDULE:
Sat, Sept 13: Practice 1:05-2:35pm; SIM Factory Pole Qualifying 4pm; Race at 7:15pm.
POSTED AWARDS: $114,907 in prize, point and contingency money.
ARCA OFFICIAL COMPANIES: RE/MAX International Inc, Aaron's Sales & Leasing, Featherlite Trailers, Hoosier Racing Tire, Lincoln Welders, Mallory Ignition, Racing Electronics, Sunoco Race Fuels.
ARCA OFFICIAL PRODUCTS: Amkus Rescue Systems, Bilstein Shocks, Casite, Cometic Gasket, Dodge Motorsports, Eibach Springs, Exedy, Fast Track High Performance Driving School, Flowmaster, G-Force Racing Gear, Holley HP Carbs, Intercomp, Klotz Synthetic Lubricants, Landrum Spring Service, Main Event, Mo'sGold, Motive Gear, SIM Factory, Stoner Car Care Products, SunTrust Bank, University of Northwestern Ohio.
PARTICIPATING COMPANIES: Accel Wires, BSR Products, Crane Cams, Ford Motor Company, Hutcherson-Pagan, Ilmor Engineering, Impact Racing, JE Pistons, Joyce Julius & Associates, Mechanix Wear, Moroso, RaceSafe Systems, Rhyne Racing Engines, Tesar Engineering, Toyota Racing Development, Wallace Race Car Lettering.
RECORDS:
Qualifying - Gary Bradberry, 16.785 (119.035 mph), 1994. Race - Les Snow, 85.913 mph, 1968.
RADIO: Live on WUME FM Mix 95.3 Paoli IN & Washington County reach.
NOTES OF INTEREST: This year's version of the Eddie Gilstrap Motors ARCA Fall Classic by Advance Auto Parts will mark the 84th appearance of the ARCA RE/MAX Series at Salem Speedway since 1955. In fact, no track has appeared more on the series schedule through the years than Salem. With over 40 top-notch teams entered and the talent pool riding as high as ever, race fans are in for a treat when the night-lights shine down upon the ARCA RE/MAX Series modern-day gladiators as they clash on the historic, high-banked, half-mile oval.
To add more intensity, the championship points battle is heating up heading to Salem between SunTrust Rookies' Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. Speed leads Stenhouse by just 50 points with Matt Carter and Frank Kimmel trailing in 3rd and 4th, both within reach of the top two. Stenhouse and Speed finished second and third respectively last Saturday at Chicagoland. At Salem in the spring, Speed finished fifth with Stenhouse trailing in sixth.
Springfield, Illinois veteran Justin Allgaier, who won the last two races at Salem, is shooting for a 3rd consecutive victory at Salem. Allgaier is the first back-to-back Salem winner since Shelby Howard swept both races in 2003. Prior to that, 9-time series champion Frank Kimmel won 5 consecutive 2000 through 2002.
Kimmel leads the parade of short-track warriors to Salem with a record 8 wins there; although he's not been to the Salem winner's circle since April of 2004. Having been raised in nearby Clarksville, Indiana, Salem's as hometown as it gets for Kimmel.
Entrants from across the nation include Sean Caisse (Pelham New Hampshire) in the Shigeaki Hattori-owned Aisin Toyota, Owensboro Kentucky's Brett Hudson, Seattle Washington's Tayler Malsam, Westmorland California's Justin Lofton, Cherry Hill New Jersey's Tom Hessert III, Phoenix Arizona's Gabi DiCarlo, Westby Wisconsin's Dexter Bean, Suwanee Georgia's Michael Phelps, Watkinsville Georgia's John Wes Townley and local favorite Darrell Basham of Henryville, Indiana.
Other past winners at Salem include NASCAR Cup champion Bobby Allison, six-time RE/MAX Series champion Iggy Katona & former ARCA national champions Bill Baird, Tracy Leslie, Nelson Stacy, Ron Hutcherson, Ramo Stott, Dave Dayton, Moose Myers, Marvin Smith, Bob Keselowski, Bob Brevak, Tim Steele and Kimmel. Other notable ARCA/Salem winners include '52 Indy 500 winner Troy Ruttman, USAC/ARCA stock car veteran Don White, series regular Justin Allgaier and Cup series regular Ken Schrader.
