JOLIET, Ill. -- Kevin Swindell may have won the Ansell ActivArmr 150 over five hours before it started.

Swindell, 23, earned the Menards Pole Award presented by Ansell when Venturini Motorsports teammate Brennan Poole's would-be pole lap in the morning was disallowed for an inspection infraction. The Tennessee driver stayed out front for all 100 laps at Chicagoland Speedway and cruised to a 1.238-second victory over Poole, who drove from the back of the field to challenge for the win.

"The car was excellent," said Swindell, an accomplished dirt racer who has won three consecutive Chili Bowl Midget Nationals championships. "I was able to get out in front and keep clean air and try not to make any mistakes in traffic, and everything went well. I didn't have any trouble with the pit stops, and the Curb Records car was great. Everything was good, and I can't thank Venturini Motorsports and all the guys enough for a heck of car."

Swindell's win was his first in 11 career ARCA starts, and came in his sixth race for Venturini. No driver has led every lap in an ARCA event since Ryan Hemphill completed the feat in a rain-shortened 67-lap race on July 9, 2004.

The Venturini sweep of the top two positions capped off the team's grand celebration of 30 years in ARCA competition. The team selected Chicagoland Speedway as the site of its commemoration because of the track's proximity to Chicago, the Venturini family's home city and racing origin. Swindell's and Poole's cars, as well as those of Mark Thompson and Nelson Canache, carried throwback paint schemes from the team's championship years and other top moments.

After his leading qualifying lap of 30.64 seconds (176.24 mph), Swindell (No. 55 Curb Records Toyota) jumped to a 0.616-second lead on the first lap and pushed that lead to two seconds by Lap 15, easily outdistancing his closest competitors. Poole (No. 25 Texas Corral Toyota), meanwhile, had improved to 15th by Lap 5, when Korbin Forrister spun off of Turn 2 to bring out the race's first caution. He improved one position after the Lap 9 green flag and found himself in the top 10 by Lap 16.

From there, Swindell started to flex his muscle. He led by more than three seconds at Lap 20 and five seconds three laps later, when second-place Matt Lofton got caught behind the car of Buster Graham. That allowed Canache (No. 35 Venezuela Tourism Toyota) to pass from fourth to second and let Frank Kimmel (No. 44 Ansell/Menards Toyota) move around him.

Swindell advanced his lead to more than six seconds at Lap 27. At the same time, Poole passed teammate Ryan Reed (No. 15 JDRF Ford) to move into fifth place. Swindell drove around Mark Thompson to leave just 16 cars on the lead lap at Lap 34, while Poole had moved into fourth, 9.181 seconds back.

Spencer Gallagher experienced mechanical issues while running seventh on Lap 45 to bring out the race's second caution flag. Swindell saw his nine-second lead disappear with a trip to pit road, but his sizable advantage easily allowed him to exit first with fuel and four fresh tires. Kimmel improved to second off of pit road, with Canache, Chris Buescher (No. 17 Reliance Tool/BeavEx Ford), and Poole following.

Swindell led again at the Lap 51 green flag, but his progress was slowed when Thompson slid into the grass just two laps later and the caution flag flew again.

He got away clean at the Lap 56 restart and climbed to a three-second lead within 10 laps. Poole was making his own advances, passing Canache for third on Lap 63 and Kimmel for second six laps later. Swindell led Poole by 3.84 seconds at Lap 70, but Poole sliced that gap by more than a second within five laps. With 25 to go, Poole seemed to be making a charge.

Swindell kept the advantage, though. By Lap 80, he continued to lead by 2.62 seconds, the margin fluctuating as the two leaders weaved in and out of lapped cars.

Poole closed the gap to 1.202 second with 10 laps left; only the 10th-place car of Will Kimmel (No. 68 AccucareTX/Joliet Tilted Kilt Ford) - one lap down - sat between him and Swindell. In the end, Swindell was too much, and he finished having led every lap for his first win. Frank Kimmel finished in third, about 18 seconds behind. Buescher finished fourth and kept the points lead over Poole with eight races to go. Reed earned his first top-five in the ARCA Racing Series.

Chad Hackenbracht (No. 58 CGH Motorsports Chevrolet) was sixth and Canache finished seventh - another career best. Alex Bowman (No. 22 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital Dodge) was eighth, edging Tim Andrews (No. 53 Van Dyke Recycling Solutions Dodge) and Will Kimmel in the top 10.

The race lasted just one hour, three minutes, and 47 seconds, finishing with an average speed of 141.103 mph to shatter the 2009 race record of 111.02 mph. The three caution flags slowed the field for just 11 laps. The full race results are below.

2012 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards Event #12
Chicagoland Speedway, Joliet Illinois, 7-21-12
Ansell ActivArmr 150
FIN
STR
NO
DRIVER/HOMETOWN
LAPS
STATUS
1
1
55
Kevin Swindell/Germantown TN
100
Running
2
31
25
Brennan Poole/The Woodlands TX
100
Running
3
8
44
Frank Kimmel/Clarksville IN
100
Running
4
10
17
Chris Buescher/Prosper TX
100
Running
5
4
15
Ryan Reed/Bakersfield CA
100
Running
6
5
58
Chad Hackenbracht/New Philadelphia OH
100
Running
7
3
35
Nelson Canache/Caracas Venezuela
100
Running
8
7
22
Alex Bowman/Tucson AZ
100
Running
9
11
53
Tim Andrews/Maiden NC
100
Running
10
9
68
Will Kimmel/Sellersburg IN
99
Running
11
17
99
Brandon Davis/Huntington Beach CA
99
Running
12
13
45
David Levine/Highland Park IL
99
Running
13
12
12
Jared Marks/Napoleon OH
99
Running
14
15
95
Michael Leavine/Bullard TX
99
Running
15
14
09
Robert Bujdoso/Girard OH
99
Running
16
2
16
Matt Lofton/Roxboro NC
98
Running
17
20
5
Bobby Gerhart/Lebanon PA
96
Running
18
18
94
Milka Duno/Caracas Venezuela
96
Running
19
19
88
Buster Graham/Lafayette LA
95
Running
20
16
02
Josh Williams/Port Charlotte FL
95
Running
21
22
04
Larry Barford Jr./Denton MD
93
Running
22
26
48
James Hylton/Inman SC
91
Running
23
25
83
Mike Affarano/Shorewood IL
90
Running
24
32
66
Mark Thompson/Cartersville GA
66
Suspnsn
25
24
06
Tommy O'Leary/Cygnet OH
51
Running
26
6
23
Spencer Gallagher/Las Vegas NV
44
Engine
27
28
0
Brad Smith/Shelby Township MI
18
Handling
28
27
34
Darrell Basham/Henryville IN
14
Transmssn
29
23
10
Richard Harriman/Snohomish WA
10
Brakes
30
30
3
Tim Turner/Lynnville TN
5
Handling
31
29
79
Mike Koch/Mountain Home AR
5
Suspnsn
32
21
69
Korbin Forrister/Cedartown GA
4
Vibration
33
34
40
Roger Carter/Sunfield MI
2
Handling
34
33
32
Brad Riethmeyer/Hutto TX
2
Vibration
Menards Pole Award Presented by Ansell: Kevin Swindell 30.640 (176.240 mph)
Margin of Victory: 1.238 seconds
Time of Race: 1:03:47
Lap Leaders: Swindell 1-100 (100)

Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis is the next stop for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards. All on-track activity for the Messina Wildlife Animal Stopper 200 will take place Friday, July 27. Two practices are scheduled, from 1:35-2:30 and 3-3:45. Menards Pole Qualifying will start at 5:30, setting the field for the 200-lap race at 9 p.m. ARCARacing.com will feature live timing and scoring of all of the day's action, and SPEED will televise the 9 p.m. race live. The ARCA CRA Super Series will join the ARCA Racing Series at the track, giving fans in Indianapolis a double feature of ARCA divisions.

The ARCA Racing Series event will be the 13th of 20 this season.

2012 is the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards' 60th Anniversary Season, featuring 20 races at 18 tracks. The complete 2012 event schedule is available at ARCARacing.com.

The ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards has crowned an ARCA national champion each year since its inaugural season in 1953, and has toured over 200 race tracks in 26 states since its inception. The series has tested the abilities of drivers and race teams over the most diverse schedule of stock car racing events in the world, visiting tracks ranging from 0.375 mile to 2.66 miles in length, on both paved and dirt surfaces as well as a left- and right-turn road course in its most recent season. This year, the series visited Alabama's Mobile International Speedway and Minnesota's Elko Speedway for the first time.

Founded by John and Mildred Marcum in 1953 in Toledo, Ohio, the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) is recognized among the leading sanctioning bodies in the country. Closing in on completing its sixth decade after hundreds of thousands of miles of racing, ARCA administers over 100 race events each season in three professional touring series and local weekly events.