By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
Bloomington, Ind.—April 18, 2012 — When it comes to dirt track racing in Missouri, there is no other track that has the history and legacy of Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia. When looking at historic venues in the state of Indiana, Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt instantly comes to mind. Kraig Kinser will get a chance to race at both historic tracks this weekend as the World of Outlaws continue a stretch of eight races in the Midwest.
The weekend opens for Kinser aboard the Hendrickcars.com Maxim on Friday, April 20 at Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia for the first round of the Kasey Kahne Challenge Presented by Sage Fruit, a four-race mini-series that will take the series to four different tracks. Kinser will make his first start of the season in his home state of Indiana on Saturday, April 21 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt.
“We definitely want to get both races in this weekend and run good,” said Kinser. “We had a good run last weekend, but we need to step our program up and get into the Top-Five. Having two nights of racing will certainly help and we can build some momentum.”
Kinser raced for the first time at Missouri State Fair Speedway with the World of Outlaws in 2001. He has made 10 starts with the series in his career at the half-mile, picking up four Top-10 finishes, including a pair of fifth-place showings in 2004 and 2008. The third-generation driver made his most recent start at the historic fairgrounds oval in 2010.
“Sedalia is a big, flat half-mile,” noted Kinser. “The track has been pretty kind to me in the past, and I have always enjoyed racing there. We’ll keep an eye on the surface throughout the night and make adjustments as the track changes. We’ve run pretty well on the half-mile tracks this year, so hopefully we can continue that in our Hendrickcars.com Maxim.”
The native of Bloomington, Ind. made his first start with the World of Outlaws at Tri-State Speedway in 2004. Kinser has made six starts with the series at the high-banked quarter-mile bullring, earning a pair of Top-10 finishes. He finished a career-best fourth at Haubstadt last season, after finishing eighth at the track in 2010.
“When we race at Haubstadt, I get to see a lot of the people that I raced against when I was growing up,” shared Kinser. “A lot of my family gets to see me race there as well, so that’s always good. It would mean a lot to win a World of Outlaws race there.”
Kinser enters this pair of events this weekend fourth in the World of Outlaws championship standings on the strength of seven Top-10 finishes in the first nine races of the season. The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals is just 30 markers behind leader Sammy Swindell, and is one of five drivers that has seven Top-10 finishes thus far in 2012. Kinser has been one of the most consistent drivers in time trials, timing in seventh or better in each of the last seven races, including a stretch of five straight qualifying efforts in the Top-Five, and has raced his way into the dash five times to earn a feature starting position among the Top-10.
“One of the most important things right now with the format that we have is to get into the dash,” stated Kinser. “We have had some tracks this year where it’s been tough to pass in the feature and that makes starting position even more important. You definitely want to put yourself in a good position and you do that when you make it into the dash.”
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Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Missouri State Fair Speedway & Tri-State Speedway
0.25- Miles around Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.
0.5- Miles around Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Mo.
2- Top-Five finishes at Sedalia with the World of Outlaws
3- Nights of racing in the state of Missouri this season for the World of Outlaws
4- Top-10 finishes at Missouri State Fair Speedway with the World of Outlaws; Nights of racing for the series in the state of Indiana this season
7- Top-10 finishes this season
8.4- Average finishing position in nine A-Feature events in 2012 with the World of Outlaws
9- Feature events contested by the World of Outlaws through April 13
10- Career feature starts with the World of Outlaws at Missouri State Fair Speedway
11.110- Track record at Tri-State Speedway
12- Average finishing position in six feature events with the World of Outlaws at Tri-State Speedway
13.4- Average finish in 10 main event starts with the series at Sedalia
15.676- Track record at Missouri State Fair Speedway
107- Miles from the Steve Kinser Racing shop in Bloomington, Ind. to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.
350- Miles from Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia, Mo. where the World of Outlaws competed on April 20 to Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind.
1218- Points earned through April 13
2001- Year of first start at Missouri State Fair Speedway with the World of Outlaws
18,450- Dollars earned through April 13
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