RACE REPORT
ANOTHER TOP-FIVE FOR McD
McDowell records seventh ARCA Pole of 2007
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McDowell: “It’s a testament to the 46 team (and driver Frank Kimmel) that they can come in and do what they need to do. They’re a formidable opponent ... it’s our turn to strike back.” |
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WEST ALLIS, WI (August 27, 2007) – In any other situation, one would be thrilled with a fourth place finish at a feisty race track such as the Milwaukee Mile. Not Michael McDowell—the ARCA RE/MAX Series rookie, in contention for the point championship, couldn’t come away from the Governor’s Cup 200 optimistic.
Locked in the closest ARCA point battle in the last half-decade with veteran Frank Kimmel, McDowell was hopeful for a third win on the 2007 season after reeling off a lap of 30.342, good enough for his series-leading seventh ARCA SIM Factory Pole Award of the year. And in the early stages of the race, a win in one of ARCA’s most heralded races looked to be a lock.
Leading the field to green, McDowell checked out, leading the first 26 laps of the race. With a pit strategy that called for early stops, he relinquished the lead only to re-gain it on lap 120. After more cycles of pit stops and staying in the race’s lead pack for the duration, McDowell found his tires falling off in the last twenty laps of the 200-lapper. With 13 to go, he pitted his No. 2 Z-Line Designs / Make-A-Wish / Beck Dodge for four tires, but the effort proved unsuccessful as McDowell could only climb as high as fourth place before the checkered flag fell on the Governor’s Cup 200. The top-five finish left McDowell wanting more.
“It was a good point day for us, which is a positive,” said McDowell. “Winning a pole and leading the most laps is a lot sweeter if you take home the trophy. But that’s fine. We’ll go to St. Louis with some added motivation.
“It’s a testament to the 46 team (and driver Frank Kimmel) that they can come in and do what they need to do. They’re a formidable opponent in the championship battle, so it’s our turn to strike back.”
Even though the championship is within reach, McDowell suggests that the focal point of the season should remain on individual race performance, instead of a bigger picture.
“It’s important that our place in the standings doesn’t consume us. This is a championship-caliber team and we believe we’re worthy of hoisting the trophy at the end of the year. We know that in order to get there, we need to continue doing what we’ve done all year and that’s focusing on one race at a time. We don’t have a weak track—we should be contending for wins each weekend for the remainder of the season.”
McDowell continues to trail Kimmel in the standings, 95 points out of the series lead. |
RACE REPORT
BAD LUCK FINDS KB3 AT MILWAUKEE Strong Run Goes Awry With Broken Axle
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Butler III: “ ...just one of those things that you can’t really help... We will take what we learned and keep pushing forward..." |
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MOORESVILLE, NC (August 27, 2007) – Ken Butler III was impressive again this weekend in the ARCA RE/MAX Series Governor Cup 200 at the Milwaukee Mile.
The No. 22 ESR team was on top of their game as they were able to secure a ninth place starting position for 40+ car field.
“We had a really good car,” said Butler. “Once we got out front in the clean air, our car took off. I think that we had a really good shot at winning. We were tight early, but I think if we would have had the opportunity to get new tires we definitely would have had a chance at the win.”
Butler was quickly able to move his machine up through the top-10 and was able to take the lead early in the race. And once he was out front, he was able to stretch out his lead to eight seconds over the rest of the field.
It looked as though KBII was well on his way to his next victory in the ARCA RE/MAX Series when bad luck found it’s way to the No. 22 machine on lap 89. The machine suffered a mechanical failure that sent the car spinning while going into a turn, ending KBIII’s day early and forcing the team to settle for a 32nd place finish.
“We had a part fall off the rear end of the car, and we lost an axle,” added Butler. “It was just one of those things that you can’t really help, and you just hope that doesn’t happen. We had a good car though, and a good run going. We will just have to take what we learned and keep pushing forward to our next race.”
For more information on the Butler Brothers please visit http://www.butlerbrothersracing.com
Up Next: Eddie Sharp Racing will be running under the lights at the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois on Friday, August 31
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RACE PREVIEW
McD TAKES POINTS CHASE TO MILWAUKEE
Fresh from his first drive in the dirt, McDowell returns to the scene of his first ARCA event
WEST ALLIS WI (August 23, 2007) - In last year's Governor's Cup 200 at the Milwaukee Mile, a relatively unknown (at least unknown in the ARCA RE/MAX Series ranks) driver by the name of Michael McDowell crashed while running third.
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McDowell: “We're going to go to Milwaukee fully focused on getting a pole and a win and narrowing that gap." |
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To give credit where credit is due, McDowell, who was making his career-first RE/MAX Series start that day in Milwaukee, crashed because he got caught up in someone else's on-track argument. Prior to the wreck, people were starting to take notice.
We're still taking notes. Since that time, the Phoenix, Arizona racer has gone from ‘crashed in first race' in 2006 to legitimate championship contender and ARCA RE/MAX Series winner in 2007.
Coming off a solid runner-up run to 8-time series champion Frank Kimmel on the Springfield mile-dirt last Sunday, McDowell and his Eddie Sharp Racing team are, needless to say, fairly-well pumped for their second go-round at Milwaukee.mcdowellpitmilwaukee06.jpg
"I'm really excited for Milwaukee," said McDowell. "It was my first ever ARCA race. We didn't qualify well, but we raced well. And our program is so much further along than it was last year at this time."
That, and McDowell has, at least, seen and raced at Milwaukee. That alone can seal the deal for the two-time series winner and six-time SIM Factory Pole Award winner. Give him one look at a track, and check your mirror. Give him two or more, and watch from the front windshield.
Cases in point. In his second trip back to Kentucky Speedway, he drove away from eight Cup teams to earn his career-first series triumph. In his second trip back to Pocono, much the same - straight to victory lane. Now onto the Springfield mile-dirt, a track he had never seen before, much less raced on it. Moreover, he had never raced on dirt. All that said, finishing second to current point leader Frank Kimmel at Springfield was an accomplishment worth noting.
"Heading into Springfield, I admit, it was a little nerve wracking, especially when qualifying got rained out and practice was shortened. I just had no idea what to expect...what was coming in the race. It definitely added some pressure.
"And we were off on the gear and on the set-up some; but we know we can make it better. We blistered a right-rear trying to keep pace with Frank (Kimmel), so we just limped around the last few laps keeping third place in check, and just brought it home.
"But to finish second to Frank there has to be considered a win for us. I've really got to credit everyone at Eddie Sharp Racing for unloading such a great car. Patrick (Donahue, crew chief) and I have never raced dirt, so this will look good on both of our résumés.
"It was just a blast out there. It was a great motivator for DuQuoin. We expected to give up some points to Frank at Springfield, but I'm not sure we expect to at DuQuoin. But what an experience. Everyone told me, it'll drive just like asphalt. Well, it didn't drive anything like asphalt. It was completely new to me, and I absolutely loved it."
McDowell is also hoping he absolutely loves his second Milwaukee experience when this Sunday's Governor's Cup 200 rolls off. With just seven events remaining in 2007, the national championship points battle remains close with McDowell trailing Kimmel by 95 points headed into Milwaukee.
"Milwaukee will be a good weekend for us. We're realistic; we didn't expect to gain on Frank at Springfield and that's fine. We're going to go to Milwaukee fully focused on getting a pole and a win and narrowing that gap.
"Championships are hard to win, which makes Frank's accomplishments here all that more incredible. After seeing most of the tracks that ARCA races on, I'm getting a real good understanding of how difficult and challenging it is to win an ARCA championship.
"But we've been in a position to win at every race, but three or four bad runs can take you out of it. We'll just keep doing the same thing - put our best program forward, and if the points work out at the end of the year, then great. If they don't, we have every right to be proud of our season.
"And I know that when we look back on this season, we'll all look at it as a big accomplishment. The good thing is, is that, from here on out, with the exception of DuQuoin, I've seen most of the tracks coming up on the schedule, so I can't wait to see this thing out."
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RACE PREVIEW
BUTLER III READY TO ROCK THE MILE KBIII heads to a new track with a familiar car and a new crew chief
MOORESVILLE, NC (August 23, 2007) – Ken Butler III will be heading to Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend where he will compete in the ARCA RE/MAX Series’ Governor Cup event at the Milwaukee Mile. It will be his first time at the track, and ‘firsts’ seems to be the theme of the weekend for the No. 22 ESR team.
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Butler III : “...every time we have taken this car out we have run solid and been a contender..." |
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“I am really looking forward to heading to Milwaukee this weekend,” said Butler. “It is going to be a new track for us, but all of the tracks that we head to in the ARCA RE/MAX Series are a lot of fun to drive, and I don’t expect this one to be any different.
This will also serve as Butler’s first week with a new crew chief, as Wayne Carroll joins the crew, bringing new ideas and setups with the team as they prepare for Milwaukee.
“This weekend we have Wayne Carroll coming on board as our ARCA crew chief. He has a lot of experience in all levels of racing, and I think that the added experience will be a bonus for us this weekend.”
Some things will be similar though. Butler will be taking the same chassis that he won with in his first event at Toledo Speedway, and he hopes to be able to have the same type of experience this time around at Milwaukee.
“We are going to be taking the same car that we ran at Toledo when we won, and at Berlin when we were running up front,” added Butler. “Pretty much every time we have taken this car out we have run solid and been a contender, and I expect that it will be that way this weekend. We will just unload, get some experience out on the track and once the race starts, I think that we should be good to go.”
The Governor’s Cup 200 will get underway this Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile and will get underway at Noon local time. Catch the race live on SPEED 1:00 pm EST.
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For more information on the Butler Brothers please visit http://www.butlerbrothersracing.com/>
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| Governor's Cup 200 |
| Date: |
Sunday, August 26, 2007 |
| Track: |
Milwaukee Mile (West Allis, WI) |
| Race Distance: |
200 Laps (200 Miles) |
| Team: |
Eddie Sharp Racing |
| Crew Chiefs: |
Patrick Donahue (#2 car)
Wayne Carroll (#22 car) |
| Practice for the Governor's Cup 200 is scheduled from 1:00-2:15 pm local Central time Saturday afternoon, August 25th with SIM Factory Pole Award Qualifying following at 5:15 pm. The Governor's Cup 200 is LIVE on SPEED Sunday, August 26th at 1:00 pm ET. |
The Governor's Cup 200 at the Milwaukee Mile is part of a late summer surge for the ARCA RE/MAX Series that sees the tour compete at 8 different tracks in 6 weeks, including events on superspeedways such as Gateway Int'l Raceway and Chicagoland Speedway, as well as on mile dirt-tracks in Springfield and DuQuoin, Illinois.
Tickets to the Governor's Cup 200 are available by calling (414) 453-8277 or visiting http://www.milwaukeemile.com/. For more information on the ARCA RE/MAX Series, visit http://www.arcaracing.com/.
2007 ARCA RE/MAX SERIES DRIVER POINT STANDINGS
After Event #16, Allen Crowe 100,
Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield IL, 8-19-07 |
| POS |
NAME |
POINTS |
STARTS |
WINS |
TOP-5 |
TOP-10 |
| 1 |
Frank Kimmel |
3750 |
16 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
| 2 |
Michael McDowell |
3655 |
16 |
2 |
6 |
10 |
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