By Parsons Motorsports PR
Granger, IA—August 14, 2011—Kraig Kinser made history in 2005 winning the Knoxville Nationals, as he and his father Steve became the first father/son duo to win sprint car racing’s event and the third generation driver was part of history again this season, as a new event dotted the always busy schedule during the 51st Goodyear Knoxville Nationals. The inaugural Q20 Race of Champions took to the track on Friday, August 12. Kinser qualified for the Race of Champion by way of his 2005 triumph in the Nationals. The Race of Champions was comprised of former Knoxville Nationals winners, along with 2010 track and series champions.
Kinser found his way onto the podium in 25-lap Race of Champions. He started ninth and quickly marched to the front, gaining three spots on the opening lap. Kraig was in the Top-Five on the second lap and just four laps later was running third. He passed Lynton Jeffrey for second on the 10th lap and ran in that position for the next eight circuits. Shane Stewart slipped by him following a late restart on the 18th go-around, with Kinser finishing third in the 25-lap contest.
Kinser took to the track for the first time during the 51st Goodyear Knoxville Nationals on Thursday, August 11 for the second of two qualifying nights. Being one of the first cars out for time trials he recorded the 28th fastest lap of the 54 drivers that were signed in. The third generation driver started third in the third heat race and picked up the win which helped him gain valuable event points. He lined up 12th for the 25-lap main event on the qualifying night, where he consistently worked his way forward in that race and ended up finishing a solid eighth, which earned him enough points to start on the outside of the front row in the Last Chance Showdown in Saturday night.
Kinser finished second in the Last Chance Showdown on Saturday to race his way into the 50-lap finale. Following the B-Main, Kraig’s crew worked feverously to swap engines in the Casey’s General Store Maxim. They got the powerplant changed with Kinser lining up 22nd on the grid. He would finish 19th when the checkered flag flew after 50 laps.
Kinser is currently 11th in the World of Outlaws championship standings with 13 Top-10 finishes as he heads into a pair of event’s this coming weekend at River Cities Speedway and Huset’s Speedway.
Knoxville Nationals Results
Date
Time
Trials
Heat
Start
Heat Finish
Dash Start
Dash Finish
Feature Start
Feature Finish
Aug. 11
28th
3rd
1st
N/A
N/A
12th
8th
Aug. 12
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
9th
3rd
Aug. 13
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
22nd
19th
Kraig on the weekend:
“It felt great to finish on the podium in the Race of Champions. It’s pretty neat that they have a race like that and it was a tough field for sure. We started ninth and were able to work our way up front pretty quick and the car felt really good. We had an ok qualifying night. We went out early to time in and that hurt us a bit. We had a solid run in the preliminary feature and just missed getting locked into the main on Saturday. We were able to finish up front in the B-Main on Saturday and then had to swap engines, which put us a behind for the main event. The weekend didn’t quite end how we were hoping, but we made the main event and had some good runs over the course of the week. We’ll head to Grand Forks and Huset’s and hopefully have two good runs up there.”
Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Knoxville Nationals:
0.5- Miles around the famed Knoxville Raceway
2- Visits this season for the World of Outlaws to Knoxville
3- Finishing position the Race of Champions on Friday, August 12
4- Nights of racing that comprised the Knoxville Nationals
9- Top-10 finishes in feature events with the World of Outlaws at Knoxville
11- Position in the World of Outlaws championship standings
13- Top-10 finishes this season
15.698- Lap in time trials on Thursday, August 11
24- Career main events starts with the World of Outlaws at Knoxville Raceway
42- Events completed this season through August 13
51- Times the Knoxville Nationals have been contested
59- Miles from the Parsons Motorsports shop in Granger, Iowa to Knoxville Raceway
432- Event points earned in preliminary action during the Knoxville Nationals
2001- Year of first World of Outlaws start at Knoxville Raceway
2003- Year of first start in the Knoxville Nationals
2005- Year of win in the Knoxville Nationals
4872- Points earned this season through August 13
Up Next: August 19, River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, ND
August 20, Huset’s Speedway, Brandon, SD
Keep up with all the action: Follow Kraig Kinser on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kraigkinser6 and receive live updates from the track each and every race night. Also keep up with Kraig online at the recently redesigned www.KraigKinser.com.
Tune in: Listen live to each and every World of Outlaws event on DIRTVision.com with “The Voice of the Outlaws” Johnny Gibson on the call. Visit www.DIRTVision.com for live audio of each and every World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event.