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Francis James Kimmel (born April 30, 1962) is an American former stock car racing driver. He competed primarily in the ARCA Racing Series, from 1990 through 2016. Kimmel is the most successful driver in ARCA history. He has won the ARCA championship ten times, including eight consecutive. He won the championship in 1998, the 2000 through 2007 championships, and again in 2013. Kimmel also holds the all-time record for race wins in the ARCA Racing Series with 80.
Kimmel is currently the crew chief for Jason Kitzmiller and CR7 Motorsports, which fields the No. 97 Chevrolet in the ARCA Series. From after the end of his driving career in 2017 through 2019, he returned to Venturini Motorsports (the team he drove for part-time in 2015) as a crew chief and a driving coach for their drivers, such as Leilani Münter, Gavin Harlien, and Hailie Deegan.
Kimmel would join Steve Rauch Racing in 1996 on a part-time schedule and transitioned from the No. 02 to the No. 46. Despite being part-time that year, Kimmel won three races and finished eighth in the points. He would return to full-time in 1997 in the No. 46, winning one race en route to finishing second in the points.
In 1998, Kimmel joined Clement Racing, driving the No. 46 Advance Auto Parts Chevrolet. Kimmel found immediate success, winning nine races en route to his first ARCA championship. After finishing second in the points in 1999, Kimmel won eight championships in a row (2000–2007). During this streak, Kimmel broke Iggy Katona record for the most championships in ARCA Series history. He became the first ever ARCA Racing Series driver to be assigned a seat in the IROC (International Race of Champions) Series in 2006.
In 2006, the pit stop on Kimmel's team was his brother, Bill Kimmel Jr. RoundAbout Entertainment Guide - Harley-Davidson of Cincinnati 150
In 2008, Kimmel left Clement Racing after ten seasons, where he won 63 races and nine championships. Kimmel would form his own team with his brother Bill, known as Kimmel Racing in the No. 44. The team initially ran a Dodge with the support of Cunningham Motorsport and sponsorship from Riverside Auto at Daytona before joining forces with Ford Racing for the remainder of 2008.
On August 2, 2008, Kimmel was injured in a three car crash on lap 68 at Pocono Raceway, suffering a concussion. He was taken to the hospital for observation overnight. Though lacking a title sponsor for the entire year of 2008, Kimmel and his team won three races and were able to pull out a second-place finish in points by a margin of 50. The loss of the championship was not the surprising part of that year but rather the surprise was how close Kimmel was to winning a tenth title. As a result of his performance, Ansell and Menards joined forces with him the following season, a partnership that continued until the end of his racing career.
Following the 2011 ARCA Racing Series season, Kimmel left the Kimmel Racing team, and drove for ThorSport Racing in the ARCA Racing Series starting in 2012.
On June 30, 2013, under crew chief Jeriod Prince, Kimmel tied Iggy Katona's record for most wins in the ARCA Racing Series, winning his 79th career victory at Winchester Speedway. On October 4, 2013, he clinched his tenth ARCA Racing Series championship at Kansas Speedway. Kimmel went on to win the race, surpassing Katona to become the all-time win leader in ARCA Racing Series history.
For the 2014 season, Kimmel moved to Win-Tron Racing, retaining his No. 44. His final start came in 2016.
Kimmel holds ARCA records in a number of categories, including starts, wins, and poles.
On December 20, 2019, KBR Development hired Kimmel as team general manager.
That season, Kimmel placed seventh in points with a best finish of third in the first race of the four-race IROC season.
| ARCA Hooters SuperCar Series | Shirley Racing | 21 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 5005 | 5th |
| ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series | Steve Rauch Racing | 15 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 1 | 3105 | 8th |
| ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series | Steve Rauch Racing | 22 | 1 | 13 | 18 | 1 | 5470 | 2nd |
| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series | Black Tip Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115 | 88th |
| ARCA Bondo/Mar-Hyde Series | Clement Racing | 22 | 9 | 16 | 19 | 3 | 6155 | 1st |
| NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series | Sonntag Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 97th |
| NASCAR Winston West Series | Clement Racing | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 185 | 42nd |
| ARCA Re/Max Series | Clement Racing | 25 | 10 | 21 | 22 | 11 | 7080 | 1st |
| Larry Clement Racing | ||||||||
| NASCAR Winston West Series | Clement Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 53rd |
| ARCA Re/Max Series | Clement Racing | 22 | 10 | 18 | 19 | 6 | 6175 | 1st |
| ARCA Re/Max Series | Clement Racing | 22 | 7 | 19 | 19 | 6 | 6145 | 1st |
| ARCA Re/Max Series | Clement Racing | 22 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 5 | 5930 | 1st |
| ARCA Re/Max Series | Clement Racing | 23 | 4 | 13 | 15 | 2 | 5480 | 1st |
| ARCA Racing Series | ThorSport Racing | 21 | 4 | 15 | 21 | 4 | 5735 | 1st |
| Cunningham Motorsports |
| 2007 | Fast Track Racing Enterprises | Ford | DNQ | |
Season still in progress
Ineligible for series points
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