Nate Mecha/HSP

Five-Time ARCA RE/MAX Series Champion, Frank Kimmel, has been adapting nicely to the necessary responsibilities of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driver. Kimmel, who is piloting the No. 29 K Automotive Motorsports Ford F-150 for Friday night’s Florida Dodge Dealers 250, has enjoyed his diverse responsibilities as a truck driver.

Kimmel started his NCTS week with a visit to the Halifax Medical Center Pediatrics unit, known as ‘Speediatrics’ where he had the opportunity to visit and share many of his racing experiences with both the patients and their families. From there he has had the usual media duties from local and national radio interviews to the numerous television interviews that he hopes will draw attention to the K Automotive team.

“It has been a really great experience being involved in the activities around the NCTS event here at Daytona,” said Kimmel. “While we also have a lot of responsibilities surrounding the ARCA RE/MAX Series races when we are here, there are just so many activities that Craftsman has put together to promote this race and the teams involved. I just want to do what I can to help the K Automotive team and the Keselowski family to gain attention for their team and see if we can get them the sponsorship that they need this season.”

Luckily Kimmel was not required to work the NCTS Rookie meeting into his week of activities as series director, Wayne Auton, really didn’t classify Kimmel as a rookie to the Daytona International Speedway being that he has competed on the 2.5-mile superspeedway for 13 years in the ARCA RE/MAX Series and earned eight top ten finishes.

The morning of the Gatorade Twin 125s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series qualifying races gave Kimmel his first chance to meet and greet with many of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series fans who lined up at the Sears store across the street from the Daytona International Speedway. Kimmel along with numerous other NCTS drivers signed hundreds of autographs for nearly two hours before heading back to the race track to prepare for Thursday night’s final practice sessions.

“It is really amazing to see the excitement that the race fans have toward this NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series,” said Kimmel. “Some of the fans had been in line since eight o’clock in the morning and were just so excited to meet the drivers. NASCAR and Craftsman have really done an impressive job in marketing this series and building the

fan base that follows these truck teams. This is a really exciting series for the fans to watch and they are certainly excited about all the opportunities they have to meet their favorite drivers.”

Responsibilities continue tonight for Kimmel with two evening practice sessions. While the teams spent Wednesday searching for a clear race track in order to get a qualifying run, they will spend tonight looking for drafting partners and getting comfortable in a large pack of traffic.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out on the race track tonight for the drafting practice sessions,” said Kimmel. “Based on testing here over the winter, we were aware that this truck was not going to be the greatest for qualifying because it was built for the draft. Once we get the chance to see who else we can work with on the track I think you will see this No. 29 Ford moving to the front. This team has worked really hard and given me a great truck, I just hope that I can use my ARCA drafting experience in these race trucks and find some other drivers to work with on the track. There is quite a bit of difference in the feel of the trucks versus the feel of the cars, but I feel like we have a great piece and at a track like Daytona, the driver is only a small piece to success.”

Kimmel qualified the No. 29 K Automotive Ford in the 28th position for the Florida Dodge Dealers 250. Kimmel also competed in the Advance Discount Auto Parts 200 ARCA RE/MAX Series event at the speedway on Saturday night where he finished in the second position.