Expanded Program Propels Kimball
Monadnock Driver Adds Lee USA, Wins N.H. Championship
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Bill Kimball Jr. expanded to a two-track, two-division effort in 2013, and won his first NASCAR Whelen All-American Series state championship in New Hampshire.
Kimball, 41, of Bennington, N.H., also won his third NASCAR Sportsman Modified division title at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. His previous championships in 2010-11 were before the cars were elevated to the premier division at the quarter-mile paved oval.
“We wanted to try for the state championship for the first time, but we knew it would be hard to do,” Kimball said.
By the end of July Kimball was tied atop the state point race, but was officially ranked second because leader Adam Norton had more feature wins, but an opportunity was just a click away. At about that same time Kimball’s step-son and crewman David Elliott discovered something interesting on the Internet – a newly built small-block Supermodified ride was available at Lee (N.H.) USA Speedway. The catch? It was a winged open-wheel style of car Kimball had never driven before, but definitely worth investigating.
Wayne Helliwell won the NASCAR New Hampshire championship for the three previous seasons and two of the three were won by racing the Lee-Monadnock, Friday-Saturday circuit.
“Kevin Moore gave me a tryout in his new Super at Lee and let me finish out the season,” Kimball said.
The five Lee starts helped Kimball pull off the state title, despite the learning curve. He had a best finish of eighth twice and four top-10 finishes. He won the state point race by 37 over Norton and the Monadnock point race by 20 over Tyler Jarvenpaa. He placed 15th in Lee’s Small Block Supermodified point standings.
All told, Kimball racked up two wins, 13 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes in 21 starts en route to the state crown.
“Small Block Supers are a lot different than Sportsman Modifieds,” Kimball said in assessment. “The G-forces took me by surprise. They pushed me right down into the seat. We found a set-up combination we liked and I got more and more comfortable in the car.”
Kimball became an owner-driver of his mainstay Monadnock car in 2013. He had driven it for a team owned by his sister, Liana Poodiak, and her husband, Jim, since joining the Sportsman Modified ranks in 2010. The team closed shop after 2012 and Kimball bought the Poodiak’s Troyer chassis race car.
He began his racing career in Strictly Stocks at Monadnock in 1997. He then progressed to Pro Stocks and placed as high as second in track points before moving into Sportsman Modifieds.
Kimball’s longtime sponsors Edmund’s ACE Hardware, Tyler’s Small Engine and T&J Waste Management moved with him to his newly formed team. Team members include his 12-year-old son, Matthew, who also competes in Monadnock’s Young Guns division, wife Theresa, Andre Evans, Bill Elliott, David Elliott, and Bill Kimball Sr. Matthew has a twin sister, Carly and Kimball has three other adult children – Bill, David and Angie.
Sources: Paul Schaefer/NASCAR PR