Fast Again: Bowman Earns Second Pole in 2012
Fast Again: Bowman Earns Second Pole in 2012
(TOLEDO, Ohio - May 19, 2012) - Alex Bowman earned his second career Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell this afternoon at Toledo Speedway, and appears fast enough to take his second short track victory of the season as well.
Bowman turned a lap of 16.046 seconds (112.178 mph) to top Brennan Poole and three-time Toledo winner Chris Buescher, giving himself a sweep of the practice and qualifying sessions for the first day of the 71st ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards event at the half-mile oval.
His No. 22 St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Dodge also won the pole at Mobile International Speedway in March, and he ran away to a victory at Salem Speedway in April, then his third in five career ARCA starts. Tomorrow, in his seventh series outing, he'll be a favorite to win a second time for Cunningham Motorsports and a fourth time overall.
"Our car's been really fast all day," Bowman said. "We were fastest in both practice sessions. We've just got to stay out of trouble and not tear the nose off the thing. We've got a great pit crew and we'll hopefully not make any mistakes."
Bowman received the pole award in Toledo Speedway's Sun Drop Winner's Circle from Mary Alati, a territory manager for Ansell who represents markets in Michigan and Ohio.
In joining Bowman on the front row, Poole (No. 25 Venturini Motorsports Chevrolet) is in a good position to make up for last October's disappointment at Toledo, when he was leading late in the season finale before being spun by eventual series champion Ty Dillon. Buescher (No. 17 Roulo Brothers Racing Ford) went on to win the race, ARCA's most recent Toledo appearance.
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series regular Joey Coulter will start fourth in a special ARCA appearance, just ahead of 17-year-old Jared Marks of Napoleon, Ohio. Erik Jones, a 15-year-old driver, will start sixth. Chad Hackenbracht of New Philadelphia, Ohio will start seventh.
Mason Mingus, Matt Lofton, and Tom Hessert will fill out the remainder of the top 10. Mikey Kile will start 11th. Frank Kimmel, a nine-time Toledo winner, will start 12th.
The full lineup is available by clicking here.
The 200-lap, 100-mile Menards 200 will begin at 2 p.m. tomorrow, with live timing and scoring coverage available at ARCARacing.com. SPEED will air the race on a same-day delay at 5 p.m. The race is scheduled as the fifth of 20 this season.
2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards' 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.