ARCA: Will Kimmel first of many apparent start-and-parks in a Kansas race of high attrition
by Ben Schneider / LASTCAR.info Staff Writer
PHOTO: Michael Reno Johnson, @MichaelReno27
Will Kimmel finished last in Friday’s Tide 150 at Kansas Speedway when his No. 68 Kimmel Racing Ford pulled behind the wall after 2 of 105 laps.
The finish came in Kimmel’s 137th career ARCA start.
Longtime ARCA fans will no doubt be familiar with the Kimmel name. Frank Kimmel, a 10-time champion of the series and 80-time ARCA race winner, continues to remain active in the sport as a crew chief for Jason Kitzmiller. While Frank’s last ARCA start as a driver came in 2016, his nephew Will continues to compete in the series on a part-time schedule for his father Bill Kimmel Jr.’s Kimmel Racing team.
Over the years, Kimmel has gained a reputation for taking the fight to some of ARCA’s top teams. While he remains in pursuit of his first career victory, he’s scored three runner-up finishes and finished in the Top Five 22 times, two of which came last season with a pair of fourth-place finishes at Charlotte and Salem. Unfortunately, sponsorship dollars have frequently been hard to find for Kimmel, which has led him to “start-and-park” in many of his career starts, including one that led to an appearance on this site at Toledo in 2018.
Friday marked another one of those unfortunate instances, as Kimmel only made two laps before pulling behind the wall despite a strong qualifying run of 10th place. While Racing-Reference listed their standard “mechanical” DNF reason and The Third Turn simply said “quit,” Kimmel revealed on a Facebook livestream on Wednesday that he struggled with the car’s handling in practice and believed his No. 68 car would perform better at his upcoming starts later this season, perhaps leading to the decision to park the entry early and avoid any potential damage. Kimmel’s teammate, Portugal’s Miguel Gomes, went on to finish the race in 11th in only his second career ARCA start.
While 26 cars appeared on the entry list, only 25 took the green flag. Clubb Racing Inc.’s No. 86 was forced to accept a DNS result for the second race in a row, as an engine issue prevented Brian Clubb from competing.
Following Kimmel up the running order was Nate Moeller, the first of four early retirements for the Fast Track Racing organization. Handling issues also led Brad Smith to pull behind the wall earlier than desired. Patrick Staropoli then joined a garage area that was filling up quickly when his car went up in smoke after losing an oil line. Rounding out the Bottom Five was another Fast Track entry in Presley Sorah, who revealed that the team was essentially using the Kansas race as a test session, unworried by where they ended up in the final race results.
Up front, Pinnacle’s No. 28 and Gibbs’ No. 18 continued their series dominance, as Brenden “Butterbean” Queen and William Sawalich finished 1-2 just as they did at Daytona. The pair combined to lead 101 of the 105 laps, with Queen solidifying his lead on a last lap overtime restart following a hard crash for Isabella Robusto. While the incident left Robusto 13th, her Venturini teammate, 2014 ARCA champion Mason Mitchell, came away with a third-place finish in only his second ARCA start since 2018.
DID NOT START
26) #86-Brian Clubb
THE BOTTOM FIVE
25) #68-Will Kimmel / 2 laps / quit (handling?)
24) #10-Nate Moeller / 3 laps / handling
23) #48-Brad Smith / 4 laps / handling
22) #17-Patrick Staropoli / 5 laps / oil line
21) #9-Presley Sorah / 8 laps / dnf (mechanical)
2025 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES OWNERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 4 of 20)
1st) CCM Racing, Brad Smith Motorsports, Wayne Peterson Racing, Kimmel Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES MANUFACTURERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 4 of 20)
1st) Ford (3)
2nd) Toyota (1)
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Click HERE throughout the 2025 ARCA season to view the full drivers’ standings for both the ARCA Menards Series and its East and West divisions. You can also find the manufacturers’ and owners’ standings for all three series HERE.
2025 LASTCAR ARCA MENARDS SERIES DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP (After Race 4 of 20)
