When the ARCA Menards Series field takes the green flag at Elko Speedway on Saturday (Aug. 3), there will be an addition to the record books. Yes, there will be a new victor there, but this achievement is different. Clubb Racing Inc. will have the Clubb father-son duo racing with owner/driver Alex Clubb in his usual No. 03 and his father Brian Clubb in the No. 86.
Although numerous fathers and sons have raced in ARCA, especially with the ARCA Menards Series East and West as part of the series platform, only eight father-son duos have gone to victory lane in ARCA competition.
Those eight are Bobby and Davey Allison, Jack and Bobby Bowsher, Jerry and Randy Churchill, Bob and Brian Keselowski, Bill and Frank Kimmel, Scott and Scott Lagasse Jr., Tracy and Billy Leslie, Kyle and Adam Petty, and Bill and Billy Venturini.
Of the eight, the most accomplished pair are the Bowshers. Jack Bowsher won three straight titles from 1963-65 and is third all-time in series wins with 49. His successes came within about three years as he first won at 0.5-mile short track Canfield Speedway in Canfield, Ohio on April 20, 1963. His last win was at Daytona International Speedway on Feb. 20, 1966.
Bobby Bowsher continued his father’s legacy with two titles and 17 triumphs. Furthermore, from 1989-96, Bowsher finished inside the top 10 in points each season. In his second title season of 1994, Bowsher won three times and beat ARCA winningest driver Frank Kimmel, Bob Keselowski, current ARCA team owner Jeff McClure and Bill Venturini for the title. Randy Churchill, one of those winning father-son combos, won as well.
Speaking of the Kimmels, Frank Kimmel is the series GOAT. With 10 titles, 80 wins, and the only driver to lead more than 10,000 laps — he led 11,275 — among his records, his records may never be beaten, even as the series has undergone many changes. Consider this about Kimmel: He won four times in 2013, his final championship-winning year, at age 51. You might’ve heard of his team too; it’s storied NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team ThorSport Racing.
Kimmel’s dad Bill Sr. won once in ARCA, albeit in three career starts.
Frank’s son Frankie made 11 ARCA starts and accrued three top 10s, all at Salem Speedway. Frankie Kimmel now serves as a spotter in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Instead, Frank’s nephew Will Kimmel carries on the Kimmel name in ARCA racing. In 135 starts, Will remains winless with his career-best of second set three times, most recently at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in 2018. He also wound up fourth in the most recent ARCA race this season at Salem. Although he only competes part time, Will regularly runs well.
Richard Petty might be the NASCAR GOAT, but his son Kyle Petty and grandson Adam Petty have one win apiece in their ARCA tenures. Richard Petty has three ARCA West wins when it was named the NASCAR Winston West Series. All three triumphs occurred at Phoenix Raceway, which currently hosts the NASCAR national series and West season finales.
The name Venturini is eponymous with the winningest organization in series history. With over 100 trophies and the most recent driver and owner’s titles, Venturini Motorsports remains a powerhouse.
While Bill especially and Billy both enjoyed successes in ARCA, it was not under the Toyota banner with TRD backing. Rather, it was a family-run organization. Bill scored a pair of titles and 12 wins, but he credits his all-women pit crew championship-winning campaign in 1987 as one of his greatest accomplishments.
Billy Venturini, meanwhile, registered a third-place points finish in 2006, two spots shy of becoming the second father-son duo to win ARCA titles.
Billy, the architect of the VMS Toyota-backed program, only won once in ARCA. In ’06 he won at Salem, leading 95 laps to win by 0.217 seconds ahead of Ken Schrader.
After finishing fifth at Talladega Superspeedway in the penultimate race of the 2007 season, Billy Venturini stepped out of the driver’s seat and the rest, they say, is history. The organization has launched the careers of Christian Eckes, Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, and most recently, Jesse Love.
In the 2023 ARCA East race at Flat Rock Speedway, the first ARCA event there since 2000 — then won by Frank Kimmel — Billy came out of retirement to make a self-described “cameo appearance.”
After not having been in the racecar for 15 and a half years, Billy Venturini reacclimated himself well in his No. 20. He started fifth and finished fourth, one spot ahead of part-time Truck Series competitor Luke Fenhaus and four ahead of Will Kimmel.
Don’t bet on Alex or Brian Clubb to win at Elko, though. In 57 starts, all in underfunded equipment, Alex has four top 10s, most recently tying his career best of eighth at Daytona in the ’24 season opener.
Brian Clubb will wear two hats on Saturday, too. In addition to driving the No. 86, he is Alex’s crew chief as Alex seeks to improve upon his ninth-place standing in the driver points and 13th in the owner standings.
Nevertheless, it is a special occasion for the Clubb family and CRI.
“This Saturday is going to be pretty cool,” Alex posted on his Facebook page. “My dad Brian will be racing the 86 car at Elko. Mom & Dad have always done whatever it takes to make sure me and my brother Nick were able to be as competitive as possible over the years. Dad’s bucket list item when he was running super late model was to race at the Milwaukee Mile. He was never able to do that over the years. I don’t have a super late for him to race at Milwaukee but I’ve got my ducks in a row to have 2 ARCA cars race ready. Dad and I will both be racing at Elko this Saturday and the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday August 25th.”
The Clubb duo will compete against their fellow competitors on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 9 p.m. ET, with live coverage provided by FOX Sports 1 and FloRacing.
About the author
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.
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Who’s the best in ARCA, is a lot like who’s the best in Cup. Petty wins 200 races & 7 championships over his long and outstanding career. While David Pearson won “only” 105 races and 3 championships. Petty was always a full season driver. Where as Pearson only ran all of the races in a season 3 times. In those 3 seasons, he also won the championship, and his winning percentage was better than Petty’s. Both should have been first ballot HoF inductees.
Frank Kimmel won 80 races, and 10 championships. Jack Bowsher only won 49 races, and 3 championships. It took Kimmel decades to win his totals. Jack Bowsher only ran 3 seasons in ARCA, but won 49 races & 3 championships. His race winning percentage was astronomically higher than Frank’s. One other thing, Jack owned and crew chiefed for Bobby’s wins and championships too. After Jack’s last championship in ARCA, he moved over to the USAC Stock’s division. He won numerous races there too. But his only series championship there was as a crew chief for some guy names Foyt.
I loved watching both Jack and frank race, as both were outstanding wheelmen. Two of Jack’s other sons ran some ARCA & USAC Stocks races too. I’ve seen them run races, but never in the same races that I saw. When I saw Jim race and win, it was just as a fan. When I saw Gary race, it was as a helper on his first season in a late model, at the long closed Tri-County/Queen City Speedway, in Cincinnati. Unfortunately I never got to see Gary win. I joined the Air Force in 1975, and Gary didn’t start winning until I believe it was in USAC, but it might have been in ARCA. He won one of the last races held at Texas World Speedway. I don’t remember if it was a USAC or ARCA sanctioned race. I think AJ was in it too. Unfortunately, back in those days there wasn’t any internet. At the time of Gary’s win at TWS, I was actually stationed in TX. Yeah, I would have made the trip to see that race!!