By Dustin Dow
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SPARTA, Ky. - Channel 5-205 second-place finisher Billy Venturini suggested that ARCA points leader Frank Kimmel's bad luck could be problematic, as Kimmel looks for a fifth straight points title.

Kimmel, who started from the pole position, crashed on the 23rd lap Saturday. He drove his banged-up car to a 20th-place finish, but lost some ground in the points battle to Venturini, who entered the race in second, 105 points behind Kimmel.

"I don't know if we can beat Frank, but we're going to give him a heck of a run," Venturini said. "If he goes through a season of bad luck, and we get top fives, it will be hard for him to win."

Venturini has a second place, two thirds and a 12th-place finish this season.

Kimmel, who started from the pole position, spun out in Turn 3 on his 23rd lap and smashed the back end of his No. 46 car into the wall.

Kimmel and his crew spent worked to rehab the rear of his car, including changing the right rear tire, to get back in the race, but he later received a black flag for being too slow on the race trace. Kimmel returned to the pits, and everything the crew could find, from aluminum bats to sledgehammers were used to reshape the back end, but Kimmel was a non-factor. By the time the leader completed 55 laps, Kimmel was still working on his 43rd lap. He completed 109 laps, pitting several times.

SPONSOR IN QUESTION: Local NBC affiliate WLWT sponsored Saturday's Channel 5-205 in the final year of the three-year agreement. Whether Channel 5 will sponsor next season's ARCA race at Kentucky has yet to be decided but was discussed this weekend.

"We had a meeting (Saturday) at the track with ARCA, Speed Channel and Channel 5," said Kentucky Speedway general manager Mark Cassis who would like to see the partnership with Channel 5 extended three more years. "It's everyone's hope that Channel 5 will return."

OUT AT THE START: Three drivers, including 64-year-old Vern Slagh ended the race before the first lap was complete as a result of a three-car collision in Turn 4.

Slagh, David Ragan and Brandon Knupp were all involved in the crash. "A car got crossways a couple of cars in front of me, and I checked up," Slagh said. "Somebody didn't check up in front of me."

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E-mail ddow@enquirer.com