#26 at Martinsville? UPDATE 4 yep with Kimmel – Nemechek to qualify the car: FSN’s Totally NASCAR reports that a decision is near on if the #26 Haas Carter Motorsports team will go to Martinsville or not. If they go, Frank Kimmel will be the driver.(4-9-2002) UPDATE: #26 Team owner Travis Carter hopes that Kimmel’s sponsors will pay to put him in the #26 for at least five more races this year, buying Carter time to find a permanent sponsor. Carter says Kimmel could be in the car this weekend at Martinsville Speedway. “Right now, that’s not firmed up,” he says. Meantime, drivers Todd Bodine [#66] and Joe Nemechek [#26] remain under contract to Carter. Both are racing in the BGN but are free to pursue other Winston Cup opportunities (so Nemechek would be free to move to the #44, see rumor below). Carter says he still talks with team co-owner Carl Haas every couple of days about sponsorship prospects, but Haas is not directly involved with the effort to field cars for Kimmel “just to make it a little simpler,” Carter says. Even if he can’t come up with a sponsor for the rest of the season, Carter thinks he might be able to wait and see if he can put something together for next season.(USA Today)(4-10-2002) UPDATE 2: For the second consecutive week, 3-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champ Frank Kimmel will be competing in the Cup Series. Kimmel, who drove the #26 Advance Auto Parts-Pork Ford for Travis Carter last weekend at Texas, will again drive the car this weekend at Martinsville. The difference this time is that Kimmel will also be competing in the PFG Lester ARCA 150 at Nashville Superspeedway on the same weekend. Since the ARCA race at Nashville is the same day as Cup qualifying at Martinsville, another driver will have to qualify the #26 Ford (hey DW used to drive for Carter). Kimmel’s plan is to qualify the ARCA car at Nashville on Thursday, then fly out right after qualifying so he can practice the Cup car at Martinsville Friday morning, then fly back to Nashville early afternoon in time for the ARCA race which starts at 4:00pm. Then fly out right after the ARCA race for practice and happy hour Saturday at Martinsville. If all goes well at Martinsville, Kimmel plans to run for Travis Carter at Talladega the following weekend. Fortunately for Kimmel and crew, the ARCA RE/MAX Series does not have a race scheduled the weekend that Kimmel will be in Talladega for the Winston Cup race. Kimmel’s busy schedule will continue however following the Winston Cup race at Talladega (4-21) as he’ll be returning to his home turf at Salem Speedway IN the following weekend for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 on Sunday, April 28.(ARCA Racing Site)(4-10-2002) UPDATE 3: Travis Carter Enterprises announced that Frank Kimmel, along with sponsors Pork. The Other White Meat(R) and Advance Auto Parts, is officially joining the team for several 2002 Winston Cup races. Kimmel, three-time ARCA Re/Max champion, drove for team owner Travis Carter in 1998 as substitute for the injured Jimmy Spencer and most recently in the Samsung/RadioShack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 7, 2002. Several members of Kimmel’s ARCA team, including crew chief Bill Kimmel, will assist Donnie Wingo and the Travis Carter team in the race. The National Pork Board and Advance Auto Parts participated in last weekend’s race in Texas, and have signed on for several additional races, the first of which will be this weekend in the Virginia 500 at the Martinsville Speedway.(Business Wire)(4-11-2002) UPDATE 4: Joe Nemechek will qualify the #26 Ford for Travis Carter Enterprises while the team’s scheduled driver, Frank Kimmel, must leave the track early Friday to compete in an ARCA race at Nashville Superspeedway. Kimmel will practice in the #26 Friday morning at Martinsville before returning to Tennessee for the ARCA race, which starts at 4:00pm/et. He would then return to Martinsville for Saturday’ Winston Cup practice, if the car makes the field (36th in owners points).(ThatsRacin.com), Kimmel won the pole for the ARCA race at Nashville.(4-12-2002)
