TOLEDO OH (5-17-06) – With a much-improved forecast and a full weekend of ARCA action ahead, the 59th appearance of the ARCA RE/MAX Series at its hometown track Toledo Speedway this Sunday, May 21 has race fans and competitors alike abuzz with enthusiasm for the Hantz Group 200 presented by Federated Car Care.

It may have something to do with the rock-solid entry list, 46 in all, chalk-full of flavor from bottom to top, or it could be the very tight points race among some interesting new players mixed in with the regulars.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that NASCAR Cup/ARCA RE/MAX Series veteran Ken Schrader, fresh from the Nextel Open the night before at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, is dragging his own #99 Federated Auto Parts Chevy Monte Carlo to town for a chance to rumble with ARCA’s best.

Schrader, in 40 RE/MAX Series starts, has 12 victories, three of which have come on Toledo’s lightning-quick, half-mile banked oval.

Schrader first won at Toledo in the #39 Roulo Brothers car in 1997 when he lapped all but two cars. Since then, with the competition clearly on the rise, victories have not come quite as easily for the Fenton, Missouri driver at Toledo…like last year when he did all he could to hold off seven-time series champion Frank Kimmel over the final five rounds to earn the hard-fought and thrilling victory.

Kimmel is, without question, the driver to be most concerned with when it comes to Toledo Speedway. In fact, among his 65 career series victories (2nd only to Iggy Katona), no track appears in his win column more than the storied Toledo oval. In all, Kimmel has won nine times at Toledo. It was also where, 12 years ago to almost the exact day (May 22, 1994), Kimmel won his first ARCA RE/MAX Series race. It would spark the beginning of an amazing string of ARCA RE/MAX Series successes that would culminate with stats unrivaled in the modern era.

“I absolutely love Toledo Speedway,” said Kimmel from his race shop in New Albany, Indiana. “The ARCA RE/MAX Series belongs on these half-mile tracks, the Salem’s, the Toledo’s, the Winchester’s. I’m not saying we don’t have a place on the superspeedways, but the short-tracks are where the series roots are, where it built much of its character and identity.

“The Toledo track is like a second home to me. It’s where I won my first ARCA race in ’94. It’ll always be special to me for that reason alone; but the wins there just seem to get better and better.”

And, in a field packed full of talent, outside of Kimmel, only Schrader can call himself a former Toledo ARCA winner.

“Schrader’s gunna be tough,” added Kimmel. “In the last three spring races, he’s won twice and won two poles. But he won’t be my only headache there. Every time I look at the entry list, it just keeps growing. And there are so many quality teams coming. You’re definitely gunna have to get up on the wheel and stay there to win this thing. But we have a great set-up for Toledo; we’re coming to win, nothing less.”

Kimmel’s also coming to Toledo fifth in points behind a new cast of characters illuminating their own brand of magic on the 54-year-old ARCA sanction. The cast includes four-time Daytona winner Bobby Gerhart, who finds himself the point leader headed to Toledo.

“Our plan was to run the first five or six races, and see where we are,” said the Lebanon, Pennsylvania veteran. “The entire Lucas Oil team’s been riding a serious wave of confidence. We came out strong with our fourth win at Daytona. From there, we’ve certainly held our own; the points reflect that. I, personally, really like Toledo; it’s smooth; it’s fast and the drivers always seem to make the biggest difference. If you want to run well, you’ve got to get up on the wheel and stay there. I really like the place.”

Gerhart’s had his fair-share of success at Toledo with fourth place finishes there in 2004 and 2000.

No time to breathe easy though. Gerhart’s on top headed to Toledo, but not by an overwhelming margin. Sparks, Nevada driver TJ Bell, in the #50 Bobby Jones Racing Dodge, is hot on his heels in second with 1165 points to Gerhart’s 1210. A step away in third is Kennewick, Washington’s Damon Lusk, just 35 markers away from Bell. Lusk is driving the #65 Construct Corps Dodge for Brack Maggard Racing. Lusk, who has raced a lot in the NASCAR Busch Series, won ARCA RE/MAX Series events at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Pocono Raceway in 2002.

Fourth in points is third-generation racer Billy Venturini, who’s riding his own wave of success in 2006. Venturini, in the family-owned #25 Hamptons Luxury Homes Chevrolet, earned his career-first RE/MAX Series victory earlier this year at Salem Speedway, holding off a late-race hard-charge from Schrader. After falling out at Winchester with fuel pump issues, Venturini battled back with a ninth place finish at Kentucky last week to find himself fourth in points just five away from Lusk.

Kimmel, who’s had an up and down season, sits in fifth position. Through the top, just 105 points separate the leaders adding more fodder for the upcoming Toledo short-track thriller.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in the mix is Lowell, Arkansas 18-year-old rookie Ryan Foster, a teammate to Kimmel for the 2006 season. Despite not competing in the Daytona opener, Foster finds himself an eye-opening sixth in points. Foster finished 13th in his superspeedway debut at Nashville, and from there, he continued to improve his finishing positions to include three consecutive top-10 runs – ninth at Salem, sixth at Winchester followed up by a stellar career-best fifth place run at Kentucky Speedway last Saturday night.

Brett Rowe, who drives the #90 Chevy Monte Carlo for Wayne Day Motorsports, is currently seventh in points. Rowe, who earned the 2005 ARCA Lincoln Welders Truck Series championship, won the Pork Pole award at Winchester Speedway and nearly won the race before an altercation racing for the lead shuffled him back to eighth there. Despite a solid effort to start the season, Rowe’s season could come to a conclusion following Toledo unless sponsorship is secured.

Series veterans’ Ken Weaver, Chuck Weber and Norm Benning finish out the top-10 in points. Weber, driving for Bob Schacht Motorsports in 2006, is fresh from a career-best sixth place run at Kentucky.

In addition to the point leaders, the entry list for the Hantz Group 200 presented by Federated Car Care is loaded with second- and third-generation talent.

Sons of former ARCA RE/MAX Series champions entered include Billy Leslie (Tracy Leslie 1988), Todd Bowsher (Jack Bowsher 1963, 64 & 65), Billy Venturini (Bill Venturini 1987 & 91) and Brian Keselowski (Bob Keselowski 1989). Clarkston, Michigan second-generation driver Michael Simko is also entered. Simko finished fourth at Winchester and recently announced the event sponsor – The Hantz Group – would also be the title sponsor on his Chevy Monte Carlos for the short-track portion of the 06 schedule.

NASCAR Busch and Cup Series veteran Brent Sherman has also filed an entry. Sherman finished second in ARCA RE/MAX Series points to Kimmel in 2004 prior to venturing off to NASCAR. The Hantz Group 200 marks Sherman’s first series attempt since Talladega October, 2004. The return also reunites Sherman with his longtime ARCA crew chief Lee Leslie, brother of 88 series driving champion Tracy Leslie.

Springfield, Illinois rookie Justin Allgaier, entered in the #16 Hoosier Tire Midwest-Trashman-USAF Pontiac, finished a solid fourth at Kentucky and is currently in a three-way tie for 11th in points with fellow rookies’ Jason Hedlesky and Ryan Howard. Allgaier started outside pole at Toledo to Schrader in 2004 and posted his career-best finish of second there later that same year.

Former USAR Pro-Cup champion and two-time ARCA RE/MAX Series winner Mario Gosselin is also expected to make his first Toledo appearance, as is Dodge Motorsports/Cunningham Motorsports development driver Scott Lagasse, who will be driving the #4 Dodge Motorsports Dodge. Other notables include rookies’ Dexter Bean of Westby, Wisconsin, Concord, North Carolina’s Ryan Mathews, Isanti, Minnesota’s Blake Bjorklund, Hueytown, Alabama’s Justin South and Tipp City, Ohio’s Ryan Howard, as well as veteran’s Mike Harmon, Johnny Leonard, Mike Buckley, Brad Smith, Darrell Basham, Tim Mitchell and 71-year-old stock car legend James Hylton.

In all, drivers from 17 states and Canada will help make up one of the most diverse and interesting cast of characters for the 59th running of the Hantz Group 200 presented by Federated Car Care at Toledo Speedway.

Past winners at Toledo through the years include Bobby Bowsher, Benny Parsons, Blaise Alexander, Iggy Katona, Bill Venturini, Ramo Stott, Andy Hampton and Bob Strait to name a few.

But that’s only Sunday! The action at Toledo actually kicks off Thursday night to celebrate the track’s brand-new, state-of-the-art lighting system. To mark the occasion, the track will hold a “Flip the Switch” Party Thursday evening, May 18. The party will be held at the Speedway Bar and Grille, which is adjacent to the track.

Qualite Sports Lighting Systems of Hillsdale, MI and U.S. Utility of Perrysburg, OH have worked together on the installation of the system.

“We cannot say enough about the crews that have worked on making this project a reality,” said Scott Schultz, General Manager of the track. “The folks from U.S. Utility and Qualite have been top-notch. We would like to invite everyone out to our little party Thursday night to see the lights go on for the first time.”

A $1 donation to the Toledo Police Athletic League will be charged upon entering the party Thursday evening. The public is invited to attend the festivities May 18. Food and drink specials will be available at the Bar and Grille Thursday evening. The party begins at 7 p.m.

Several ARCA Late Model teams will hit the speedway when track co-owners Roy Mott and Ron Drager flip the switch on the new lighting system, which features four-100 foot poles outside the oval and 25 superspeedway-style light fixtures in the turns and backstretch. The parking lot will also receive new lighting via fixtures attached to the backside of the tall poles. The switch goes on at dark.

The ARCA National City Bank Sportsman, Casite Figure 8’s, A-1 Auto Parts Factory Stocks and the ARCA 4 Cylinders will be the first classes to compete under the new lights Friday evening, May 19 as part of the A-1 Auto Parts/BCSN Autograph Night show. The autograph session is set for 7 p.m, with racing set to start at 7:30 p.m.

On Saturday, ARCA RE/MAX Series practice is scheduled from 12:30pm to 2:00pm followed by Pork Pole Award Qualifying at 3:30pm. All admission for Saturday’s on-track activity is free of charge! And to top it off, a Big-Screen TV will be available Saturday night in the Toledo Speedway Bar & Grille to watch the LIVE telecast of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Open from Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Sunday, raceday kicks off with an on-track autograph session from 12noon to 1:15. The Hantz Group 200 presented by Federated Car Care is schedule to roll off shortly after 2:00pm.

The race will be televised same-day on SPEED at 4:30pm ET.

For information, contact the track at 419-727-1100. Toledo Speedway is located on Benore Road at the I-75/Alexis Road exit on the Michigan-Ohio border.