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Bozell Gambles, Takes Governor's Cup 200 Checkers At The Milwaukee Mile
Milwaukee, Wis. (August 27, 2006) - He drove the hauler here and he’s
driving the hauler home. In the meantime, Phil Bozell went out and won
his first ARCA RE/MAX Series race Sunday afternoon at The Milwaukee
Mile. It was the decision not to pit late in the going that sealed his
first career victory in four starts with Hagans Racing this season.
It wasn’t easy as the twenty-three year old Michigan native had to drive
through the middle of a multi-car wreck and hold off the charge of Wisconsin
rookie Tim Schendel and seven-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion Frank Kimmel to
pull into victory lane following the Governor’s Cup 200.
Polesitter Blake Bjorklund led the early stages until a flat right front tire
forced him to pit road. The sudden departure of the leader forced second
place Bozell to check up, opening the door for 20 year-old Justin Allgaier to
take over the lead. The next twelve laps belonged to Allgaier as he
stretched out his lead only to be slowed when the caution flag came out.
When Allgaier pitted, he found himself alone as the rest of the leaders stayed
out.
As soon as the green flag dropped, Allgier put on a show as he stormed his way
through the field. It only took ten laps for him to reclaim the
lead. Allgier won his first career ARCA race in front of a hometown
crowd last Sunday on the Springfield, Ill. mile dirt track, and was poised to
make it two in a row. During Allgaier’s rise to the top, another
caution bunched up the field, this time for a multi-car wreck involving
Kimmel.
With an altered pit strategy, Bjorklund mounted his own charge through the
field. When the leaders pitted under one of the event’s six
caution flags – this one for debris on the frontstretch - the Minnesota
series rookie stayed out and restarted in the second position behind Alabama
veteran Mike Harmon.
Bjorklund would soon fall prey to another deflated tire and lose laps while
nursing his ailing mount back to the pits, dropping him from contention.
While in tight quarters past the race’s midpoint, Bozell escaped serious
damage to his Dodge in a multi-car tangle.
“Luckily I saw it happen,” Bozell recalled. “I cut through the
grass and I was worried that I tore the front valence off. It happened
right in front of me and you can’t really check up in that situation or
you’ll get run into from behind. So I just kind of drove through
it.”
The wreck must have fired the young driver up. On the resulting restart,
Bozell would take the green flag in the third spot just behind the machines of
Schendel and Allgier. Schendel, fielding his racing efforts from his
Wisconsin race shop, drew even with the once-dominant Allgier, staying on his
bumper and passing him five laps later.
Schendel led until pitting under the final caution, much to the delight of the
11,716 partisan fans. When Schendel and the majority of the leaders
decided to pit, Bozell ultimately made the move of the race and stayed out,
leaving the only car ahead of him the bright yellow series pace car.
The green flag flew with thirty-five laps to go and Bozell pulled away from
the field leaving Kimmel and Schendel to battle for the runner up spot.
For Schendel, second place was all that he could muster.
“I tried to drive the car a little harder and I had to use the brakes a
little more and the peddle got a little bit spongy, then the throttle spring
broke”, explained the first year ARCA RE/MAX Series driver.
“Sometimes I drove harder into the corner than I wanted to. Lucky I
had second, I guess. I didn’t want to go another five laps.”
Kimmel made a couple charges to try to take away the second spot from Schendel
but was not able to complete the pass.
Kimmel, the defending Milwaukee race winner settled for third after leading 19
laps and surviving a late race run-in with points rival Bobby Gerhart.
“It was a pretty eventful day”, said Kimmel. “We just never had a
good handle on the car all day. I was hanging on the best I could all
day. But, it was a good points day.”
The win by Bozell made him the tenth first-time ARCA RE/MAX Series winner this
season, and fifteen different winner in seventeen events this year.
“This is a pretty special place where some pretty famous people have
raced,” the winner said. “I have a photo of my dad’s race car he
raced here in the 1992 Governor’s Cup race hanging on my wall. I’ll
put (my Governor’s Cup 200) trophy right with it.”
Bozell was aided by several family members and Michigan late model buddies
comprising his pit crew, including his father Andy serving as his
spotter. The second generation standout reflected on the importance of
winning at The Milwaukee Mile, with what may be the underlying message
many of the 220 competitors that competed in four different divisions over the
103 year-old speedway’s Governor’s Cup weekend would want to be able to
say:
“When you win one here, you’ve really done something.”
ARCA RE/MAX Series Event #17
Milwaukee Mile, West Allis WI (8-27-06)
Official Results, Governor's Cup 200
FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS
STATUS
1 2 9 Phil Bozell/Portage MI Eagle Creek Aviation-Sappanos Brothers Racing
Dodge 200 Running
2 3 52 Tim Schendel/Sparta WI Mathews Archery-Texpar Energy Chevrolet 200
Running
3 13 46 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Pork The Other White Meat Ford 200
Running
4 5 16 Justin Allgaier/Springfield IL Auto Xpress-AG Tech-Hoosier Tire Midwest
Chevrolet 200 Running
5 7 22 Ryan Mathews/Lake Geneva WI Eddie Sharp Racing Dodge 200 Running
6 25 24 Tony Leis/La Crosse WI Hydro Cool-Volden Construction-Bagniefski HVAC
Ford 200 Running
7 11 29 Brian Keselowski/Rochester Hills MI Holloway Motorsports-Dusty's
Collision Ford 200 Running
8 17 53 Todd Hansen/Minneapolis MN Bill Hansen Racing Chevrolet 200
Running
9 20 25 Billy Venturini/Chicago IL Central Limosine-Giuffre Cranes Chevrolet
200 Running
10 14 5 Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA Lucas Oil Chevrolet 200 Running
11 21 59 Ryan Howard/Tipp City OH Williams Bros Lumber Chevrolet 199
Running
12 18 4 Chase Miller/Canton GA Dodge Motorsports Dodge 199 Running
13 12 04 Brent Sherman/Barrington IL Serta Mattress Ford 199 Running
14 26 28 Mike Buckley/Ann Arbor MI St. Crois Chippewa of Wisconsin Pontiac 198
Running
15 8 90 Brett Rowe/Barboursville WV 31W Insulation-Imperial Bedding Chevrolet
198 Running
16 24 65 Justin Marks/Rocklin CA Construct Corps Dodge 198 Running
17 22 21 Todd Bowsher/Springfield OH Safe Auto Insurance Ford 197
Running
18 1 32 Blake Bjorklund/Isanti MN Country Joe Racing-Red Line Oil Dodge 197
Running
19 23 1 Andy Belmont/Penndel PA FansCrew.com Ford 195 Running
20 9 50 Bryan Silas/Stuart FL Palm Beach Grading Dodge 195 Running
21 35 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Darrell Basham Racing Pontiac 193
Running
22 34 84 Norm Benning/Pittsburgh PA Benning Racing Chevrolet 193 Running
23 33 62 Tom Berte/West Allis WI CGS Premier Chevrolet 191 Running
24 37 26 Brad Smith/Belleville MI Kool Mat Ford 188 Running
25 16 08 Jason Hedlesky/Clinton MI Hardcore Motorsports Ford 182 Running
26 38 48 James Hylton/Inman SC Mountain Rock Music Ford 181 Running
27 36 7 Jeff Caudell/Austin IN Craig Auto-Tim's Body Shop Chevrolet 172 Main
Seal
28 30 11 Andy Hillenburg/Indianapolis IN Fast Track Driving School Chevrolet
168 Running
29 39 06 Tim Mitchell/Fayetteville TN Star Wheels Skate Center-Nealco-Kev's
Painting Ford 154 Oil Leak
30 29 23 Ricky Sanders/Stockbridge GA ARCASimRacing.com Pontiac 147 Oil
Pump
31 10 38 Mike Harmon/Birmingport AL Oostlander Racing Chevrolet 139
Accident
32 19 72 Angela Cope/Puyallup WA Sundance Vacations Chevrolet 135 Engine
33 32 93 David Boggs/Rock Hill SC Drew White Motorsports Chevrolet 125
Transmssn
34 15 2 Michael McDowell/Phoenix AZ 2-Lane Design/Southern New Hampshire
University Dodge 120 Accident
35 6 6 Dexter Bean/Westby WI Five Star Telecom Chevrolet 72 Accident
36 27 39 Pete Shepherd/Brampton ON Griddly Headz Games-Beavex-Logel's Auto
Parts Ford 43 Overhtng
37 4 47 Ryan Foster/Lowell AR Frank Kimmel Racing Ford 38 Overhtng
38 28 12 Jim Hollenbeck/Kalamazoo MI Spectra Contracting Ford 37 Brakes
39 40 13 Mark Gibson/Winder GA Mark Gibson Racing Chevrolet 4 Vibration
PORK POLE AWARD: Blake Bjorklund 30.425 (118.324
mph)
MRGN OF VICT: 1.493 seconds CAUTIONS: 6 for 34
laps
TIME OF RACE: 2:10:27 AVG SPEED: 91.989
mph
LAP LEADERS: Bjorklund 1-17, 70-87 (35); Allgaier 18-34,
48-66, 88-115 (64); Schendel 35-47, 135-159 (38);
Harmon 67-69 (3); Kimmel 116-134 (19); Bozell 160-200 (41)
Top-10 ARCA RE/MAX Series points after Milwaukee (8-27-06)
1) Frank Kimmel 3935; 2) Bobby Gerhart 3765; 3) Billy Venturini 3390; 4) Ryan
Howard 3265; 4) Damon Lusk 3265; 6) Ryan Foster 3195; 7) Blake Bjorklund 3105;
8) Todd Bowsher 3100; 9) Brett Rowe 3050; 10) Jason Hedlesky 2900.
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