2017 Season Preview

Posted: Tuesday, January 17, 2017 by Anonymous in
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The off-season has been a busy one for Will Kimmel and the entire team at Kimmel Racing. Buying cars, selling cars, setting up cars for aspiring drivers; all the responsibilities of a driver developmental race team. The team just got back from the 2-day open test session for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards that was held on January 13th-14th. "We didn't do a lot, but we accomplished what we needed to", said Kimmel, the third generation driver from Sellersburg, IN. "It was a successful, uneventful test which is what we needed after last year."

In case you don't remember, Kimmel Racing took two intact race cars to the Daytona test in 2016 and came back home with two torn up race cars due to factors completely outside of their control. Kimmel commented that, "...those pictures keep popping up on the Memories feature on my social media."

While the beginning of the season has started off much better in 2017, there is some uncertainty as to whether or not Kimmel will race at Daytona in 32 days. And like the test session in 2016, it is totally out of his control. Will's wife, Erica, is eight months pregnant and due sometime in early February.

"If she has the baby in the next few weeks, I'll be there. Otherwise, I'll be here (in Indiana) with her." The baby will carry on the namesake of his father, grandfather and great grandfather as William James Kimmel IV. While that may seem like a short turnaround for the team, Will assures his fans that they are ready.

"The Daytona car is just about ready as it sits right now. We'd have a few things to do, but not much. We anticipated this could happen and planned accordingly." So far, 2017 has started off the right way for Will and the entire team at Kimmel Racing, which bodes well for the rest of the season. Highlighted weekends on the calendar include Daytona (baby pending), both Salem races and both dirt races. There are other race weekends in play but you can expect the #69 to be fast and competitive at those five.

"Everyone wants to win those races. We've had success at each track in the past and just need one break to go our way." Here's to hoping all the breaks fall towards Kimmel Racing this season. Next up for the team, tentatively of course, is the Lucas Oil Engine Treatment 200 Driven by General Tire at Daytona International Speedway. The first practice is at 4:00pm on Thursday, February 16th. Qualifying is 3:30pm on Friday and the green flag drops Saturday, February 18th at 4:15pm EST.