From Tony Stewart Racing
Indianapolis, IN — (June 27, 2013) — There’s no rest for the weary during the 80-race World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series campaign, and that’s just how Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Steve Kinser and Donny Schatz like it. The more they race, the happier they are.
The TSR teammates are coming off back-to-back races last weekend in North Dakota and Minnesota. Kinser earned third- and sixth-place finishes behind the wheel of the TSR No. 11 Bad Boy Buggies/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Performance Maxim, and just one spot back both nights in the TSR No. 15 STP/Armor All/Chevrolet Performance J&J was Schatz, who extended his streak of consecutive top-10s to 10.
For the second time during the month of June, the series will contest a weekend full of races. It’s also the beginning of an eight-week stretch during which there are at least three nights of racing on the schedule each week. The action begins Friday with a return to LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway, which will be the ninth Outlaw event held on the quarter-mile dirt track and first since 2010. Following their only 2013 stop in the “Land of Lincoln”, Schatz and Kinser will head to Wisconsin for a pair of annual events at Beaver Dam Raceway Saturday and Cedar Lake Speedway in New Richmond Sunday.
Kinser returns to LaSalle Speedway as the only driver to score two WoO A-Feature wins at the facility. The 20-time WoO champion won the Outlaws’ debut at the track in July 1994 and came home victorious again in July 1999. The series raced at the track annually for six consecutive seasons between 1994 and 1999, and five different drivers came out on top. Their stops have been less frequent since then with Danny Lasoski winning in 2004 and Joey Saldana taking home the trophy in 2010. In that 2010 event, Kinser charged from 15th to earn a podium finish. He had to outlast Schatz, who started eighth, for the final position on the podium. Schatz, who has six career starts at LaSalle, has finished fourth in his last two starts in 2004 and 2010.
Last year’s Jim “JB” Boyd Memorial at Beaver Dam Raceway ended up being a family battle between Kinser and his son Kraig. Steve led the first 24 laps before Kraig raced by and led the final 11 laps. Late in the race, Steve couldn’t hold off a charging Schatz, who caught Kraig on the final lap, but wasn’t able to get around him on the final circuit. Schatz was looking to score his second win at Beaver Dam. His first came back in 2002 when he led all 40 laps. Kinser has a pair of wins at Beaver Dam, scoring victories in both 2004 and 2008.
The weekend concludes with the Outlaws’ 32nd event at Cedar Lake Speedway. Kinser, winner of the first two WoO races at the track in 1983 and 1984, leads all drivers with five A-Feature wins at the 3/8-mile, semi-banked dirt oval. Schatz, who first raced at Cedar Lake during his WISSOTA 360 Sprint Car Series days in the mid-1990s, has made 16 career WoO starts at the track and earned consecutive wins in 2008 and 2009. Both TSR drivers had their ups and downs in last year’s event. Kinser started on the pole in his heat but was penalized for jumping the start and ended up finishing third and out of the dash. He would race from 13th to ninth in the 35-lap A-Feature. Schatz bounced back from qualifying 18th by finishing second in heat three to grab a spot in the dash. He moved 10th to sixth in the dash and spent most of the A-Feature inside the top-five before fading with tire issues late in the race.
With 35 nights of racing in the books for 2013, Schatz continues to lead the series with seven A-Feature wins. The five-time and reigning WoO STP Sprint Car Series champion has earned 18 top-fives and 28 top-10s. He ranks second in the WoO championship standings and trails leader Daryn Pittman by 134 markers. Kinser ranks ninth and has earned one win, three top-fives and 12 top-10s this season.
Friday at LaSalle Speedway, the pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT with the grandstands opening at 4 p.m. Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. More information and ticket details are available by calling SLS Promotions at (815) 344-2023 or by visiting www.SLSPromotions.com.
For Saturday’s Jim Boyd Memorial at Beaver Dam Raceway, the pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT with the grandstands opening at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. For more details, call Beaver Dam Raceway at (920) 887-1600, or visit www.wismotorsports.net.
Sunday at Cedar Lake Speedway, the pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT with the grandstands opening at 4 p.m. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. For more details and ticket information, call the track at (866) 425-7386, or visit www.cedarlakespeedway.com.
Race fans unable to attend this weekend’s events 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 STP Sprint Car 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 live results from the track.
Steve Kinser, Driver of the No. 11 TSR/Bad Boy Buggies/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet Performance Maxim:
Last weekend’s doubleheader proved to be one of your best weekends of the season. How important is it for you and the Bad Boy Buggies team to continue your progress?
“It’s really important. We had a good night at River Cities Speedway, but we’ve always been pretty good there. We’ve struggled most of the year in qualifying and, last weekend, we timed 11th and fifth. That’s something to build on. We’re hoping to continue being consistent all three nights and just keep improving. I’ve only been through a season like this once before. We were able to work our way out of it back then and we’re trying to do the same now.”
As a former winner at all three venues, is there anything that LaSalle, Beaver Dam and Cedar Lake have in common?
“They all have a tendency to get slick through the middle as the night goes on. This time of the year, the dirt at most of these tracks will have a hard time holding moisture. That makes it harder for the cars to be locked down, which actually makes for better racing. When you see drivers just flat-footing the throttle, that makes passing difficult. A lot of times on these smaller tracks, the tires get to spinning and it’s more in the hands of the driver. You have to figure out how to keep the car under you and control the spinning. That makes it fun. We’ve had some great races at all three before and hope that can continue this weekend.”
Donny Schatz, Driver of the No. 15 TSR/STP/Armor All/Chevrolet Performance J&J:
You came into last weekend with a winning streak of two, but you weren’t able to make it three. How difficult is it to consistently win races when you are competing with the Outlaws?
“It’s really tough. You see teams get on a little bit of roll and they take advantage of the situation. The competition is pretty deep. If you don’t start near the front, it’s going to be tough to win one race, let alone stack wins together. Two weekends back, we had a really good race at Jackson coming from fifth, and then started on the front row at Knoxville and won. Last weekend, the dash draw didn’t go our way and we ended up starting in the fourth row both nights. We had an air-pressure problem during the feature Friday that hindered our chances, and the track Saturday was really fast. It was going to be hard for anyone to come from very far back. We’ve earned seven wins so far and our goal is to win quite a few more. The good news is that we have plenty of races coming up. If we can get one this weekend, then we can start working on getting another streak going.”
The schedule has you in the midst of nine straight races on tracks that are 3/8-mile or smaller. What are some of the biggest challenges you face racing on the tighter tracks?
“Everything happens a lot faster on the smaller tracks. You don’t usually have a long straight to use your top speeds, so building steam coming out of the corners and being able to enter on a line that will allow you to get out faster is key. The smaller tracks change really fast, so you have to gauge your progress on the cars around you. It’s important to keep moving around because traffic is normally a big factor in the outcome. If you are leading, you are trying to maneuver through the lapped cars as smoothly as you can. If you’re not in the lead, you try to stay close enough to the cars in front of you so that you can take advantage of any opportunities. These races are a lot of fun when you have a car that you can drive anywhere on the track. We’re still working on our program for these types of tracks. This weekend is going to be a big challenge and we’re looking forward to it.”