By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
Bloomington, Ind.—July 25, 2012— For the last half dozen years, the World of Outlaws have continually expanded their presence north of the border in Canada. What began as four races at two tracks in 2007 has blossomed into six nights of racing at five facilities in the Great White North, with the first of those four races taking place over a five-day span over the next week. Kraig Kinser made his first appearance in Canada in 2008, adding to his resume, which included previous international starts in Australia.
Kinser will open the World of Outlaws first Canadian visit of 2012 aboard the Hendrickcars.com Maxim at Autodrome Granby in Quebec, on Friday, July 27. He’ll then head to Autodrome Drummond, also in Quebec on Saturday, July 28. Action will shift to Cornwall Motor Speedway in Ontario on Sunday, July 29, with the four-race stretch wrapping up at Ohsweken Speedway on Tuesday, July 31.
“The fans in Canada are amazing, and they always turn out in large numbers,” said Kinser. “To have four races up there during this stretch is great for us. We’ve had a few good runs in Canada before and the tracks we’ll be racing at really fit my style and the set-up that we’ve had working for us this year. I can’t wait to get up there and climb in the Hendrickcars.com car.”
Kinser and his fellow World of Outlaws competitors will be making their debut at Autodrome Granby, which is a semi-banked half-mile. The series will also compete for the first time at Cornwall Motor Speedway, which is a high-banked quarter-mile bullring and will mark the smallest track in Canada the series has ever raced at. Dating back to 1979, the World of Outlaws have visited five tracks north of the border, with Granby and Cornwall marking the sixth and seventh venues the series will have visited.
“Granby and Cornwall will both be new tracks for us, and we always enjoy going to places we’ve never been and putting on a good show for the fans,” he noted. “We’ll try to compare them both to tracks that we have been to and go from there. Nobody has ever been to them, so we’ll all be on equal playing ground. Our car has been pretty quick, so hopefully we’ll be right there with everyone.”
Kinser made his first start at the four-tenths-mile Autodrome Drummond in 2010, finishing seventh in the 30-lap main event. He opened that night as the seventh-fastest driver in time trials, which helped him make his way into the dash, following a third-place finish in the first heat race. He started and finished seventh in the dash, which lined him up on the inside of the fourth row for the main event. Last season, the third-generation driver finished 13th at Drummond.
“Drummond is a unique track for sure,” said Kinser. “We’ve been pretty quick there, so hopefully we can qualify up front and put ourselves in a good position. It gets slick there in a hurry, so we have an idea of what the track will do and how to set our car up.”
The native of Bloomington, Ind., has made five starts at Ohsweken Speedway, picking up two Top-10 finishes along the way. He recorded a career-best sixth-place showing at the semi-banked three-eighths-mile in 2010. Kinser finished ninth in the finale at the venue in 2009, which was the first year he competed there.
“Ohsweken is a pretty neat track,” he said. “Everyone up there does such a great job and the fans really support the event. Last time I was there in the (No.) 11k we set the track record, and we are rolling a lot better now than we were then. I’m definitely looking forward to getting over there.”
Kinser enters this week sixth in the World of Outlaws championship standings on the strength of four wins. He has recorded 29 Top-10 finishes and 15 Top-Fives, which is among the Top-Five in those categories.
Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Autodrome Granby, Autodrome Drummond, Cornwall Motor Speedway & Ohsweken Speedway
0.25- Miles around Cornwall Motor Speedway
0.375- Distance in miles around Ohsweken Speedway
0.4- Miles around Autodrome Drummond
0.5- Distance around Autodrome Granby in miles
2- Career starts at Autodrome Drummond
4- Tracks competed at in Canada dating back to 2008
5- Career starts at Ohsweken Speedway
6- Nights of racing in Canada this season for the World of Outlaws
12.407- Track record at Ohsweken Speedway
13.606- Track record at Autodrome Granby
49- Miles from Autodrome Granby where the World of Outlaws compete on July 27 to Autodrome Drummond
101- Laps led in main events this season
138- Distance in miles from Autodrome Drummond where the World of Outlaws race on July 28 to Cornwall Motor Speedway
332-Miles from Cornwall Motor Speedway where the World of Outlaws race on July 29 to Ohsweken Speedway
2008- Year of first start in Canada at Castrol Raceway in Alberta
2009- Year of first start at Ohsweken Speedway
2010- First start at Autodrome Drummond
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