By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
Bloomington, Ind.—July 1, 2012— Not much has been able to slow down Kraig Kinser over the last month on the World of Outlaws circuit. Mother Nature tried her best this past weekend, in the form of triple digit temperatures and a fast-approaching storm on Saturday night, but Kinser and his team stayed focused and turned in two more strong runs, highlighted by a runner-up performance at Lakeside Speedway in Kansas on Saturday night, which saw the third-generation driver lead the opening six laps. He began the weekend with a seventh-place showing at the Belleville High Banks on Friday night.
“We had a really good car tonight,” said Kinser following the main event at Lakeside Speedway. “We were fast in the dash and very strong in the feature. You hate to finish second, but we led some laps and showed again that we are a contender, and that’s all you can ask for. We’ll just keep at it and we have three more chances this week to pick up another win.”
Kinser handily won the dash on Saturday night aboard his Hendrickcars.com Maxim to earn his third pole position of the season. The 30-lap main event began with a three-wide battle for the lead between Kinser, Brian Brown and Cody Darrah. Brown took the lead, though he got into the wall in turn three, bringing out the first caution of the night, which set up a complete restart.
On the second start, Kinser charged into the lead in turns one and two and quickly began to pull away, opening a lead of nearly three seconds in just four laps. The native of Bloomington, Ind., would be out front when a red flag flew on the seventh circuit. Kinser chose the high side of the half-mile for the ensuing double file restart, with three-time series champion Sammy Swindell lining up to his inside. Swindell would take the lead on the front straightaway on the restart.
Kinser would stay right with Swindell over the final two-thirds of the race, ducking below him several times in turns one and two, as well as three and four, but could not quite make a pass stick. Traffic in the late going kept Kinser and Swindell nose-to-tail, with the former diving low coming off turn four, to make it close at the line. The second-place finish for Kinser was his 12th Top-Five performance of the season.
“I was on the top and got on the gas and spun the tires,” said Kinser of the lap-7 restart. “It was just enough for Sammy (Swindell) to pull ahead of me. I pushed him hard at the end of the race, but he never slipped up. I got underneath him a couple of times, but had to give him room to race. He was hooked up and he’s difficult to pass when he’s out front.”
Kinser opened the night at Lakeside by turning the ninth-fastest lap in time trials, which put him on the outside of the front row for the third eight-lap heat race. He would finish second in that contest to earn a spot in the dash, where he would start on the pole and win to earn the pole for the A-Feature.
“Everyone in the pits did a great job as always,” said Kinser. “The Hendrickcars.com car is fast every night right off the trailer. We have a few things we are working on and fine-tuning right now and I can’t wait for all the races we have coming up here in July.”
At the Belleville High Banks on Friday night, Kinser finished seventh to earn his second straight Top-10 finish at the ultra-high-banked and blazing fast half-mile. He opened the night as the second-fastest driver in qualifying, which marked the 12th time this season he has been among the Top-Five in time trials to earn bonus points in the World of Outlaws championship standings.
Kinser is currently sixth in the World of Outlaws championship standings on the strength of 23 Top-10 finishes, which is second-most in the series, along with 12 Top-Five performances. He is just 29 points out of the Top-Five and less than 100 markers out of the lead. Kinser returns to action this week on Tuesday, July 3, at Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota.
Belleville High Banks & Lakeside Speedway Results
Date Time
Trials Heat
Start Heat Finish Dash Start Dash Finish Feature Start Feature Finish Points
June 29 2nd 4th 2nd 5th 3rd 3rd 7th 6th
June 30 9th 2nd 2nd 1st 1st 1st 2nd 6th
Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Belleville High Banks & Lakeside Speedway
0.5- Miles around the Belleville High Banks and Lakeside Speedway
4- Races this season for the World of Outlaws in the state of Kansas
6- Laps led at Lakeside Speedway
8.4- Average finishing position in A-Feature events with the World of Outlaws this season
8.7- Average starting position in main events
12- Top-Five finishes this season
14.421- Lap in time trials at Lakeside Speedway
14.573- Lap in time trials at the Belleville High Banks
20- Appearances in the dash this season
23- Top-10 finishes this season
33- Main events contested by the World of Outlaws this season
39- Bonus points earned this season for being among the Top-Five in time trials
84- Laps led in main events this season
4403- Points earned through June 30
84660- Dollars earned through June 30
Up Next
July 3: Huset’s Speedway, Brandon, S.D.
July 6: Cedar Lake Speedway, New Richmond, Wis.
July 7: Beaver Dam Raceway, Beaver Dam, Wis.
On the air
Kraig Kinser recently joined Joe Chisholm on Race Time Radio to talk about his win at Dodge City Raceway Park, as well as his strong 2012 season. To listen to archived Race Time Radio shows, visit http://www.racetimeradio.com. Kinser also was a guest on Doug’s Dirt Diary. To hear that interview, visit http://www.dougsdirtdiary.com/audioplayer.php?id=15356.
Keep up with all the action
Follow Kraig Kinser on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kraigkinser11k and receive live updates from the track each and every race night.
Tune in
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