Frank Kimmel had a fruitful racing career. The only 10-time champion in ARCA Menards Series history, Kimmel earned 80 victories in 503 starts. He also made starts in all three NASCAR national series.
So, at 61 years old, no one could blame Kimmel for going off and enjoying life with his family away from racing. The only problem is that Kimmel doesn’t know how to do that and has no interest in it, either, which is why you can find him with Dean Thompson in the TRICON Garage pits on a Craftsman Truck Series race weekend.
“I think sometimes when you get my age and people that are my age, when you start sitting around and not doing as much, you fall apart,” Kimmel told RACER. “I don’t want to do that, and (wife) Donna would kill me if I did. So, I’ve got to do what she tells me, too. But I just really enjoy being around the cars, and David Gilliland and all the guys have made it a really good place for me to work.
“It’s the best of both worlds. I can go work on cars and be a part of it, I get to go to the racetrack and still have that urge to do that sort of thing. It’s what we’ve always done, so I don’t know anything a whole lot different.”
Kimmel serves as the truck chief for Thompson, a second-year driver in the Truck Series but in his first with TRICON Garage. With crew chief Derek Smith being so hands-on, which Kimmel can appreciate, Kimmel works alongside the team’s head mechanic, working on the truck every day. And some of the other team members will report to Kimmel, who takes matters to Smith.
“It’s our situation, it’s a little different (from other teams) because Derek’s there all the time, so it’s really not that big of a step one way or another,” Kimmel said. “But on some of the other truck teams that we have, the crew chief acts more like a crew chief, and he really takes care of sim and all the things he has to do to organize the whole program. The truck chief does 90% of all the work and guides all the crew members.
“Each team deals with it a little bit differently. think I’ve fallen into a really good spot here because it’s nice to be able to work on the trucks, but it’s not so bad to where I’m working myself to death.”
Before going to work for Gilliland’s operation, Kimmel previously spent time with Brad Keselowski’s now-shuttered Truck Series team. BKR was founded in 2008 and ran through the 2017 season before Keselowski made the difficult decision to shut down.
Upon joining Gilliland’s team, formerly known as David Gilliland Racing, Kimmel initially worked on the ARCA Series program, but that went away with the transition to Toyota for the 2023 season as TRICON Garage. In doing so, the focus shifted to its five Truck Series teams.
“Just a natural progression,” Kimmel said. “In some ways, it’s a little easier than the ARCA deal was because it’s not so demanding on each individual crew member. We have more people and more help. The pit stop guys come in and do that and they get all the pit boxes put back together and bring them back to the trailer, which in ARCA, the crew has to do. So, in some ways, it’s a better deal, and I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been fun to do something I’ve really never done on a full-time basis before.”
Thompson is 22 years old and loves working with Kimmel, giving high praise to the veteran for his support and constructive criticism. There are times, Thompson knows, that he’s going to hear when he did something wrong, but Kimmel does it in a way that doesn’t tear down the driver’s confidence.
“I’ve been racing all my life, and I’ve got a lot of experience,” Kimmel said. “Talent is something you can’t really teach, and Dean obviously goes out and does very well when it comes to running fast. We come off the truck almost every single week in the top 10 in speeds, and we’ve been qualifying well and doing better across the board than what he has in the past. So, he’s definitely making big improvements. Some of that is on him, and some of that is on the quality of race truck we bring.
“But when I do see him make a mistake and do something that he can actually change in himself, I feel like that’s part of my job, too. We’ll sit down and I’ll say, ‘OK, this might hurt your feelings a little bit, are you ready to hear this?’”
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But it’s a fine line for Kimmel, who views Thompson as a customer of the team. Kimmel might not be Thompson’s crew chief or team leader, but he speaks up only when he feels necessary. The good news is that Thompson is always receptive to feedback and doesn’t argue.
“And I’ve had the other side that looks at you and thinks you’re crazy, you’re old and don’t know how things are nowadays,” Kimmel said. “There is probably some truth to that, but there are some things I probably still know. Dean has not ever made me feel that I’m talking to a blank wall.
“He’s also taking it in and he may not always agree with me, and that’s OK, but at least he’s listening and hearing what we’re saying, and I think our product that we’re going to the racetrack with has gotten better every time we got out. That’s the most important thing.”
Although it’s been a career year statistically for Thompson, who has three top-10 finishes, it’s also been frustrating for all involved. Kimmel doesn’t shy away from that and doesn’t sugarcoat the performances. There have been great performances where Thompson has run inside the top five but the finish doesn’t reflect that.
On the other hand, there have been weekends where Thompson has caught up in incidents, some not of his own doing and hasn’t finished the race. Thompson has a series-leading (of full-time drivers) 10 DNFs through 20 races.
“There are things we could do better and could have, should have done better,” Kimmel said. “That’s as a group. The thing I’ve tried to help him (Dean) with is just making good decisions in the car and there are times when another guy might wreck you, and it’s your responsibility to say, do I really need to push this at this point? Do I need to step back out of this a little bit, and we’ll go back, and we’ll battle that guy later? Sometimes we haven’t done that.
“It’s a part of growing and that’s why he’s here. He’s trying to learn to be better at his craft and across the board, we’re always trying to improve.”
Kimmel, Thompson and the No. 5 team return to action Saturday at Talladega Superspeedway.
