Tom Hessert scores victory in wild ARCA finish at Salem

SALEM, IN - Tom Hessert won for the fifth time in his career Saturday and third time at Salem Speedway, but it's safe to say he has never won like this before. Hessert grabbed the lead from Mason Mitchell with 12 laps to go, then held on and beat Mitchell despite both cars bouncing off each other and the wall coming out of the final turn of the 200 lap event. "I was bouncing off the fence and the wall, but I just kept the throttle down," Hessert said. "Crazy, crazy finish. I was just thinking 'don't hit that pit gate, that might hurt.'" Austin Wayne Self finished third, the only other car on the lead lap, with Grant Enfinger fourth and polesitter Kenny Schrader fifth in the Federated Car Care Fall Classic presented by JayC Food Stores. Hessert's No. 77 Barbera's Autoland Dodge scraped the wall but beat Mitchell to the finish line after the No. 98 TTS-Musselman's-Wildlife Foundation of Florida Ford spun and crossed the finish line backwards, nearly five seconds after Hessert took the checkered flag. The two drivers laughed and hugged after the race. "I was really good in turns three and four and he was really fast in turns one and two," Hessert said of the finish. "I got a lead on him, but he was right on my bumper. We were side-by-side. We both drove it into four and we just were beating and banging." Mitchell, who now leads Enfinger by 45 points heading to Kentucky, said he just drove the car in hard and gave it his best shot. "I was doing everything I could," he said. "I knew what happened to me at Winchester and I didn't want to do that to anyone. I respect these guys too much. I just didn't want to hit that wall after I spun. I'm happy to leave here with a bigger points lead. I had to think big picture, too." Mitchell finished second for the sixth time of the season. The race went caution free for more than 100 laps, putting numerous cars on a variety of pit strategies. Hessert was one of the final cars not to pit when the first caution came out. "Kevin (crew chief, Kevin Caldwell) kept telling me to stay out, stay out," Hessert said. "We needed tires so bad, but it worked out for us." Once the caution did come out, Hessert was able to stay near the front, although Mitchell would regain the lead. Mitchell led 127 laps. Hessert (28), Schrader (44) and Kyle Benjamin (1) also led laps. Officially, Hessert, from Cherry Hill, NJ, led the final 12 laps. Hessert's Cunningham Motorsports teammate Self was third and watched the two cars in front of him battling for the win. "I had a great vantage point from where I was," he said. "What a great day for Cunningham Motorsports. I knew that something was going to happen ... you knew that two guys racing that hard that something would happen. I was just there, waiting." Enfinger said his car was just a little off in the beginning and once it was better, the No. 98 Allegiant Travel Chevrolet regained some of the laps he lost early on. Eventually he was able to get to within one lap down before the race ended. "This was one of those races where we needed a caution," he said. "That hasn't happened to our GMS Racing team much, because there have been races where we didn't want a caution. Today, we did." Enfinger said his team remains confident, despite slipping 25 more points behind Mitchell for the championship point battle. "GMS has great cars for both Kentucky and Kansas," he said. "We'll go there and see what happens." Brennan Poole finished sixth in the Zaxby's Toyota while defending race winner Kyle Benjamin was seventh. Bill Catania was eighth - his first top 10 finish in ARCA in the No. 18 State Line Speedway/ Stacks Original Wings & BBQ Sauce Chevrolet. Indiana native J.J. Haley, in the No. 55 BraunAbility-Braun Auto Group Toyota, was ninth and Blake Hillard, from nearby Owensboro, Ky. was 10th in the Blake Hillard Racing Chevrolet. James Swanson tied his career high by finishing 12th in the GreatRailing.com Dodge while rear axle trouble relegated nine-time Salem winner Frank Kimmel to 24th place. Kimmel, in the No. 44 Ansell-Menards Toyota, finished only 66 laps. Minnesota native Cody Erickson finished 14th in his ARCA debut, driving the No. 82 Performance Auto Ford for Empire Racing. Will Kimmel had hoped to start the race in the No. 69 Kimmel Racing Ford, but due to the length of the NASCAR Nationwide race at Chicagoland Speedway that he raced in earlier in the day Saturday, he did not make it to Salem Speedway until well after the race had begun. The race had only one caution for 8 laps and took just 1 hour and nine minutes to complete. One of the wild cards to the race was the new pavement in turns three and four. Hessert - who won the fall race at Salem in 2012 and spring race in 2013 - said once the race settled in, the pavement had little effect. "It's still the same old Salem," he said. "The grooves might be a little bit different, but it's still Salem." The ARCA Racing Series will return to action at Kentucky Speedway on Friday, Sept. 19. ARCA Racing Series Salem Speedway - Salem, IN Federated Car Care Fall Classic 200 - Sept. 13, 2014 FIN STR NO DRIVER/HOMETOWN TEAM & CAR LAPS STATUS 1 7 77 Tom Hessert/Cherry Hill NJ Barbera's Autoland Dodge 200 Running 2 2 98 Mason Mitchell/West Des Moines IA Musselman's-Wildlife Foundation of Florida-TTS Ford 200 Running 3 14 22 Austin Wayne Self/Austin TX AM Technical Solutions Dodge 199 Running 4 5 90 Grant Enfinger/Fairhope AL Motor Honey-Casite-Allegiant Travel Chevrolet 199 Running 5 1 52 Ken Schrader/Fenton MO Federated Auto Parts Chevrolet 199 Running 6 4 15 Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX Zaxby's Toyota 198 Running 7 3 37 Kyle Benjamin/Easley SC Benjamin Racing Ford 196 Running 8 10 55 JJ Haley/Winamac IN BraunAbility-Braun Auto Group Toyota 196 Running 9 18 18 Bill Catania/Westfield NY Stateline Speedway-Stacks BBQ Sauce Chevrolet 196 Running 10 11 11 Blake Hillard/Owensboro KY Blake Hillard Racing Chevrolet 195 Running 11 13 60 Kyle Weatherman/Wentzville MO Roulo Brothers Racing Ford 193 Running 12 17 06 James Swanson/Clarksboro NJ GreatRailing.com Dodge 193 Running 13 19 2 Thomas Praytor/Mobile AL DK-LOK Ford 192 Running 14 15 82 Cody Erickson/Ulen MN Performance Auto Ford 190 Running 15 22 34 Darrell Basham/Henryville IN Darrell Basham Racing Chevrolet 190 Running 16 6 72 Anderson Bowen/Suwanee GA Cunningham Motorsports Dodge 190 Running 17 20 10 Ed Pompa/Ballston Spa NY Milwaukee Crusher Co-Double H Ranch Chevrolet 185 Running 18 12 3 Karl Weber/Ambia IN Silveus Insurance Group Chevrolet 185 Running 19 21 73 Dale Shearer/Alhambra IL Dale Shearer Racing Ford 176 Running 20 8 25 Justin Boston/Baltimore MD ZLOOP Toyota 167 Running 21 16 80 Brian Finney/Merritt Island FL Eagle Jet Int'l-Finney Racing-Bob Steele Chevrolet 133 Accident 22 24 48 Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI Radon.com Ford 116 Oil Leak 23 23 40 Josh Reeves/Bassett VA FRYESTRONG-Texas Sales Dodge 103 Handling 24 9 44 Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN Ansell-Menards Toyota 66 Rear End 25 25 97 Katlynn Leer/Moulton IA A&A Underground Construction-Stajcar Farms Dodge 38 Brakes 26 27 0 Con Nicolopoulos/Columbus MI Wayne Peterson Racing Ford 11 Suspnsn 27 28 68 Michael Lira/Port Orange FL Gary Yeomans Ford 8 Handling 28 29 00 Billy Alger/Logansport IN Barbies Muffler Bearings Chevrolet 6 Transmssn 29 26 69 Chris Bailey/South Park PA Kimmel Racing Ford 4 Vibration Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell: Ken Schrader 17.061 (117.109 mph) Margin of Victory: 4.875 seconds Cautions: 1 for 8 laps Time of Race: 1:09:34 Average Speed: 95.746 mph Lap Leaders: Schrader 1-44 (44); Mitchell 45-107, 109-130, 146-187 (127); Benjamin 108 (1); Hessert 131-145, 188-200 (28)