BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — June 3, 2014— Variety is often said to be the “spice of life.” There will be plenty of variety this week for Kraig Kinser and his fellow World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series competitors as they compete at three vastly different tracks in three states. A quarter-mile bullring will open the festivities, followed by a four-tenths-mile and finally a flat, sprawling half-mile.
The trio of races this week opens for Kinser, who pilots the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/Maxim, on Wednesday, June 4 at Kokomo Speedway in Indiana. He then heads to I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska, Friday, June 6. The weekend concludes on Saturday, June 7, with the running of the FVP Outlaws at Lakeside at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas.
Kinser has won twice in his career with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at Kokomo Speedway in his home state. Last season, the third-generation driver came home eighth at the always racy oval in North Central Indiana. Kinser was victorious at Kokomo with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series for the first time in 2005 and followed that up with another victory in 2012. He has three overall winged sprint car wins in his career at the track.
“Kokomo (Speedway) is a track that I always look forward to going to, for a variety of reasons,” said Kinser. “A lot of my family has raced and won there over the years. Kokomo has so much tradition and having family ties there makes it even more special. Short tracks like that always put on a good show.”
The event at I-80 Speedway last season was rained out and not re-scheduled. Kinser last competed at the four-tenths-mile in 2004, during the Great Plains Shootout. He made his debut at I-80 Speedway, then known as Nebraska Raceway Park, in 2000.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been to I-80 (Speedway),” he noted. “From the sounds of it, the track has been changed a little bit in the 10 or so years since we’ve been out there. It will kind of be like last weekend at I-96 (Speedway), where we look at our past notes, but also take into account how the track is now, versus last time we were there.”
Kinser finished 17th last season at Lakeside Speedway. He opened the night as the 19th-fastest driver in time trials and followed that up with a seventh-place finish in the first heat race. In five career starts at the half-mile on the Kansas side of Kansas City, the 2005 Knoxville Nationals winner has three top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish in 2012, leading six laps of that race.
“Lakeside (Speedway) is a place where track position always seems to be important,” said Kinser. “We’ve been able to work out way forward in several features over the last couple of weeks, but you don’t want to have to keep doing that each night. Qualifying in the right spot and getting in the dash is what we need to do and we’re continuing to work on our qualifying package to hopefully get to that point. It definitely makes the night a whole lot easier starting in the first three rows, versus the last three rows.”
Last weekend, Kinser finished 12th at both Attica Raceway Park in Ohio, and I-96 Speedway in Michigan. He enters competition this week ninth in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series standings, with 11 top-10 finishes.
Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Kokomo Speedway, I-80 Speedway & Lakeside Speedway
0.25- Miles around Kokomo Speedway
0.4- Distance around I-80 Speedway in miles
0.5- Miles around Lakeside Speedway
1- Night of racing in Nebraska in 2014 for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
2- World of Outlaws wins at Kokomo Speedway
3- Overall wins in a winged sprint car at Kokomo; Race nights in the state of Kansas this season for the series
5- Career main event starts at Lakeside Speedway; Races in Indiana this season for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
6- Laps led at Lakeside Speedway in 2012
11- Top-10 finishes this season
33- Races completed this year through May 31
39- Laps led en route to winning at Kokomo Speedway in 2012
200- Miles from I-80 Speedway in Nebraska, where the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series races on June 6 to Lakeside Speedway in Kansas
215- Distance in miles from I-96 Speedway in Michigan, where the series competed on May 31 to Kokomo Speedway in Indiana
646- Miles from Kokomo Speedway, where the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series races on June 4, to I-80 Speedway in Nebraska
2000- Year of debut at I-80 Speedway, then Nebraska Raceway Park
2003- Debut at Lakeside Speedway
2005- Year of first World of Outlaws win at Kokomo
4119- Points earned through May 31
Kraig Kinser Racing would like to thank Casey’s General Stores, Mesilla Valley Transportation, King Racing Products, Maxim, Aerodine Composites, Sander Engineering, Integra Shocks, All Star Performance, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bell, KSE Racing Products, ButlerBuilt, Schoenfeld Headers, Donovan Engineering, Fel-Pro, Brodix, Wilwood, Dyer’s, Barnes Systems, Ringer Gloves, Jakes Custom Golf Carts, and Ben Cook Racing Limited for their continued support.
Keep up with all the action
For the latest news on Kraig Kinser, visit http://www.kraigkinser.com, and follow Kraig on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kraigkinser11k and receive live updates from the track each and every race night.
Tune in
Listen live to each and every World of Outlaws event on DIRTVision.com with “The Voice of the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series” Johnny Gibson on the call. Visit www.DIRTVision.com for live audio of each and every World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event.
