Frank Kimmel

0 0 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | 1 race run over 1 year | | | | | 94th (2001) | | | | | 2001 Pepsi 300 (Nashville) | | | | | Wins Top tens Poles

0 0 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 | 0 | 0 | | | 14 races run over 10 years | | | | | 48th | | | | | 44th (1996) | | | | | 1995 Ford Credit 200 (Louisville) | | | | | 2013 Ford EcoBoost 200 (Homestead) | | | | | Wins Top tens Poles

0 2 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | | 0 | 2 | 0 | | | Statistics up to date as of September 20, 2014. | | | | | | | | |

Francis James Kimmel (born April 30, 1962) is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, from 1990 through 2016. Kimmel is the most successful driver in ARCA history. He has won the ARCA championship ten times, including eight consecutive. He won the championship in 1998, the 2000 through 2007 championships, and again in 2013. Kimmel also holds the all-time record for race wins in the ARCA Racing Series with 80.

Kimmel is currently the crew chief for Jason Kitzmiller and CR7 Motorsports, which fields the No. 97 Chevrolet in the ARCA Series. From after the end of his driving career in 2017 through 2019, he returned to Venturini Motorsports (the team he drove for part-time in 2015) as a crew chief and a driving coach for their drivers, such as Leilani Münter, Gavin Harlien, and Hailie Deegan.

Kimmel was born in Clarksville, Indiana on April 30, 1962. His father, Bill Kimmel, Sr., was a three-time ARCA race winner. Frank resides in Borden, Indiana with his wife Donna. He has two children Holly and Frank II. He also has two years of college education. Kimmel is involved in his community, participating in school events and coaching youth sports.

Kimmel made his first career start racing a street stock at the age of fifteen. Seven years later, he moved to late models. Before racing in ARCA, Kimmel won three championships racing Late Models.

Kimmel's 2013 championship car at Road America

Kimmel's first ARCA start was in 1990. His first full season was 1992, driving the No. 02 Indiana Steel Co. Pontiac for Wallace Racing. Kimmel was consistent and was able to claim Rookie of the Year honors. Kimmel joined Shirley Racing in 1993, still driving in the No. 02. Kimmel won his first race at Toledo Speedway in 1994 en route to finishing second in the points that year.

Kimmel would join Steve Rauch Racing in 1996 on a part-time schedule and transitioned from the No. 02 to the No. 46. Despite being part-time that year, Kimmel won three races and finished eighth in the points. He would return to full-time in 1997 in the No. 46, winning one race en route to finishing second in the points.

In 1998, Kimmel joined Clement Racing, driving the No. 46 Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet. Kimmel found immediate success, winning nine races en route to his first ARCA championship. After finishing second in the points in 1999, Kimmel won eight championships in a row (2000–2007). During this streak, Kimmel broke Iggy Katona's record for the most championships in ARCA Series history. He became the first ever ARCA Racing Series driver to be assigned a seat in the IROC (International Race of Champions) Series in 2006.

In 2006, the crew chief on Kimmel's team was his brother, Bill Kimmel Jr.

In 2008, Kimmel left Clement Racing after ten seasons, where he won 63 races and nine championships. Kimmel would form his own team with his brother Bill, known as Kimmel Racing in the No. 44. The team initially ran a Dodge with the support of Cunningham Motorsport and sponsorship from Riverside Auto at Daytona before joining forces with Ford Racing for the remainder of 2008.

On August 2, 2008, Kimmel was injured in a three car crash on lap 68 at Pocono Raceway, suffering a concussion. He was taken to the hospital for observation overnight. Though lacking a title sponsor for the entire year of 2008, Kimmel and his team won three races and were able to pull out a second-place finish in points by a margin of 50. The loss of the championship was not the surprising part of that year but rather the surprise was how close Kimmel was to winning a tenth title. As a result of his performance, Ansell and Menards joined forces with him the following season, a partnership that continued until the end of his racing career.

Following the 2011 ARCA Racing Series season, Kimmel left the Kimmel Racing team, and drove for ThorSport Racing in the ARCA Racing Series starting in 2012.

On June 30, 2013, under crew chief Jeriod Prince, Kimmel tied Iggy Katona's record for most wins in the ARCA Racing Series, winning his 79th career victory at Winchester Speedway. On October 4, 2013, he clinched his tenth ARCA Racing Series championship at Kansas Speedway. Kimmel went on to win the race, surpassing Katona to become the all-time win leader in ARCA Racing Series history.

For the 2014 season, Kimmel moved to Win-Tron Racing, retaining his No. 44. His final start came in 2016.

Kimmel holds ARCA records in a number of categories, including starts, wins, and poles.

On December 20, 2019, KBR Development hired Kimmel as team general manager.

Kimmel made seven starts in the NASCAR Cup Series, five of those coming with Travis Carter Motorsports in 2002. He found little success in the series. His best finish to date was a 26th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He had one Busch Series start. Through 2010 he had two top-ten finishes from twelve Craftsman Truck Series starts. and ran the 2011 and 2013 Camping World Truck Series season finales at Homestead-Miami Speedway for ThorSport Racing.

Kimmel was invited to participate in the 2006 edition of the International Race of Champions, IROC XXX. Kimmel was the first ever ARCA Racing Series driver to be assigned a seat in IROC.

That season, Kimmel placed seventh in points with a best finish of third in the first race of the four-race IROC season.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Season still in progress

1 Ineligible for series points

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

• Frank Kimmel driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Frank Kimmel crew chief statistics at Racing-Reference
• Frank Kimmel owner statistics at Racing-Reference