From Bill Klingbeil
Indianapolis, IN — (October 11, 2012) — There couldn’t be a better time for the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) tandem of Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz to return to St. Louis for the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series final Midwest appearance of 2012. The fans in the region are known for their passion and, while many will revel in the St. Louis Cardinals’ bid to repeat as World Series champions, the grassroots Sprint car fans will enjoy one of the most exciting days of the season. Mother Nature may have taken the first two rounds in this battle this year, but all involved with Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 in Pevely, Mo., are hoping this third time will be the charm.
After rain washed out the Outlaws’ scheduled visit in April, and a late-summer thunderstorm in August forced WoO officials to postpone the A-Feature of the annual Ironman 55, Kinser, Schatz and the rest of the competitors are looking forward to a rare opportunity to race twice on the exciting high-banked track owned by longtime NASCAR veteran Ken Schrader. Kinser comes in as the series’ most recent winner. Schatz is the series’ hottest driver who is surging toward a fifth WoO title. They’ll first race in the 55-lap Ironman 55 Saturday afternoon, then compete in a complete program that concludes with a 40-lap A-Feature Saturday night.
In a season that started in February in Florida and has taken them all across the United States and twice into Canada, the TSR drivers are excited about racing somewhat close to home for the final time in 2012. Kinser, driver of the TSR No. 11 Bass Pro Shops/JD Byrider/Chevrolet Maxim, hails from Bloomington, Ind., and Schatz, pilot of the No. 15 TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J, calls Fargo, N.D., home.
Kinser, the 20-time WoO series champion, is coming off last Saturday night’s victory at Rolling Wheels Raceway in Elbridge, N.Y., his fourth WoO A-Feature triumph of 2012. “The King of the Outlaws” pushed his career WoO A-Feature win total to 574, four of which have come at I-55. He won the Outlaws’ second-ever appearance at the one-third mile, dirt oval in the fall of 1987, and then made it two in a row the following April. His third win came in June 1992, and his most recent victory was in the spring of 2003. He’ll have two opportunities Saturday to grab career win number five at the track. Kinser would love to break through and earn his first Ironman 55 triumph to kick off the program.
Winning will be the goal, too, for Schatz, who won nine races since his victory on July 29 at Cornwall (Ontario) Speedway. In his last 27 races, Schatz has finished inside the top-10 26 times, including wins in two of the season’s biggest races – the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals and the Williams Grove National Open. The STP team has also finished second eight times and regularly qualified in the top-five. Those results have allowed him to turn a 40-point deficit into a 167-point advantage in the 2012 championship standings. Schatz, who first circled the Pevely high banks during his WoO rookie season in 1997, has one career triumph at I-55 and that came in April 2006, the season he earned his first WoO title. Despite only having one victory, Schatz has been the model of consistency at the track during the past eight seasons. He has 13 consecutive finishes inside the top-eight and most recently finished fifth in the 2011 Ironman 55.
Saturday’s races will be the final two before the season finale in Charlotte Nov. 2-3. Schatz hopes to head into the Peak Motor Oil World Finals with a comfortable lead in the championship standings. His 11 wins are second to Sammy Swindell’s 12, but he does lead the series with 37 top-fives and 58 top-10s in 70 starts. Kinser ranks fifth in the standings and is 68 behind Joey Saldana for fourth place.
Saturday at I-55, the pit gates and the grandstands will open at 2 p.m. CDT. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. For more details, contact I-55 Raceway by calling (636) 479-3219 or visit the track’s official Web site at www.I55raceway.com.
Race fans unable to attend this weekend’s races can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen live as Johnny Gibson, “Voice of the Outlaws,” calls the action as he does at all WoO Sprint Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the site features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other race fans.
Steve Kinser, Driver of the No. 11 TSR/Bass Pro Shops /J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Maxim:
Last week’s victory at Rolling Wheels Raceway seemed to give everyone on the Bass Pro Shops team something to feel good about. How much did it mean for you guys to win that race?
“It was an unbelievable feeling. We have been struggling so badly since the middle of the season and, to finally get back to where you could challenge for a win, was just what we all needed. I’m not sure how we got so far off base. We were right up there challenging for the championship until the end of July and then we just couldn’t get anything to go our way. I have to give credit to this Bass Pro Shops team (crew chief Scott Gerkin, crewmen Gary DuBois and Mark Angeret Jr.), because they never gave up. I’ve always been pretty good up at Rolling Wheels Raceway, so I’m sure that helped us a little bit, too. The ride home was sure a lot better and this week at the shop has been good. We’ve got something to build on and hopefully it helps us with our direction for next year.”
You mentioned next year – is that how you’ll approach these last two events, working toward 2013?
“We are going out there to win races but, since we are out of the championship chase, we can really try anything we want. The good thing is that we’ve got both the Bass Pro Shops car that I drive and the Hendrickcars.com machine that Kraig (Kinser) drives to try some things out. We aren’t going to get really radical but, if we can find some things to build on, that would really help us with our direction for next year. Believe me, it’s still about winning. Only one driver is going to win the last race of the year and we want to be that guy.”
Donny Schatz, Driver of the No. 15 TSR/STP/Armor All/Chevrolet J&J:
After a long season, what are your thoughts going into the second-to-last event of the year?
“Honestly, I wish we could keep racing because we’ve been racing so well. When you are in a groove like we are, you don’t want it to end. We struggled earlier this season and through June and July, but we got ourselves reorganized and are having a lot of fun. That’s the thing… we’re having so much fun. We know there are only four more races left so you just try to do the best you can. There are still a few things we feel like we need to accomplish. We always start the year with a goal of winning the most races. We’re one back of Sammy (Swindell) right now, so that’s our immediate goal. If we can have a good couple of races at Pevely this weekend, the other stuff will take care of itself.”
Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 annually offers the fans some of the best races of the season. What’s it like for a driver to compete there?
“It’s a challenging track where anything can and usually does happen. Ken (Schrader) and Ray Marler do a great job giving us a good racetrack. I know the fans usually see a great show. It’s not very often you have two races, let alone a 55-lap race and a 40-lap race, at the same track on the same day. Like I said, it’s always exciting at Pevely because guys can come from the back to the front. And, you can go the other way pretty quickly, too, from the front to the back. Things happen really fast. It’s one of those places where you have to keep up with the track in order to make passes. You have to use traffic to your advantage. Finding a different line can be the key, sometimes. You’ve got to have your car just right every time you hit the track, which will be often Saturday. Qualifying is important and the heat races there are usually pretty exciting. I’d say it’s pretty exciting from my seat, too. I’m really looking forward to Saturday.”