Canadian Blues

Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Kraig Kinser and the No. 20 Bass Pro Shops team were ready to make their first Canadian invasion of the 2008 racing season Wednesday as they were to kick off this week’s World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series action at Ohsweken (Ontario, Canada) Speedway. Heavy rain Tuesday postponed the first night of racing at the 3/8-mile dirt oval, and WoO Sprint Series officials made the call to thrill Canadian fans with two full racing programs on today.

The skies opened up once again today, however, prompting WoO Sprint Series and track officials to cancel the doubleheader planned for tonight. The event would have marked Kinser’s first career appearance at the track. Without a make-up date in place, Kinser will have to wait until the series’ second Canadian swing in late August.

While Kinser would have made his first appearance at Ohsweken Speedway tonight, TSR team manager Jimmy Carr is no stranger to Canadian soil. Born and raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Carr made his first trip back over the border since 1990, when the WoO Sprint Series debuted at Ohsweken Speedway last season. The Maple Ridge native began his career as a driver in the WoO and earned the 1991 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award. His final race in the driver’s seat came in 2000.

On Friday, Kinser and company will roll back into the U.S. for a one-day show at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. In Kinser’s last appearance at the track on Sept. 27, 2004, he finished 19th. The half-mile dirt oval will host the only Michigan appearance of the season for the WoO Sprint Series.

The week’s racing action will wrap up with Kinser and the No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/J.D.Byrider/Maxim team taking aim at K-C Raceway in Chillicothe, Ohio, on Saturday night. Kinser’s last race at the 3/8-mile dirt facility ended with a 14th-place finish on Sept. 27, 2005.

Kinser enters this week’s four-race stretch ranked 13th in the WoO Sprint Series standings. In 29 starts, he has earned two top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

Race fans unable to attend this week’s events can catch all of the action from I-96 and K-C Raceway 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.

Friday, the pit gates at I-96 Speedway will open at 2 p.m. EDT with the grandstands opening at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. The official track Web site is i96speedway.com. For ticket information, call (815) 344-2023, or visit www.slspromotions.com.

On Saturday at K-C Raceway, the pit gates will open at 3:30 p.m. EDT, with the grandstands opening at 4:30 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. For tickets or more information regarding the race, fans can visit www.kc-raceway.com, or call (740) 289-4114.

Kraig Kinser, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/Maxim:

This would have been your first appearance with the World of Outlaws Sprint Series at Ohsweken Speedway. Were you looking forward to racing in Canada?

“Any time we have an opportunity to race in front of a new group of race fans, it’s exciting. I enjoy getting to meet people across the country and from other parts of the world. I’ve always enjoyed racing in other countries and it would have been fun to get to talk with race fans from Canada this week. Unfortunately, the rain won this one.”

Following the aborted events in Canada, the World of Outlaws Sprint Series teams will make their only appearance of the season in Michigan on Friday night. What are the No. 20 Bass Pro Shops team’s goals for the events at I-96 Speedway and K-C Raceway this weekend?

“It’s been almost three years since I’ve raced at I-96 or K-C Raceway. It’s been a lot of fun to revisit some of the tracks that I competed at the last time I was on the Outlaw tour full-time. You always remember a little bit about each track but, for the most part, you have to work with the track as it is while you’re there for this year’s race. Things tend to change over the course of the race and you have to stay on top of the car and the track. Our goals for this week are pretty simple. We’re still working to find the handling we need and to find consistency each night. The guys on the TSR team have been working really hard and we’re doing everything we can to get the No. 20 Bass Pro Shops car to the front.”

For complete WoO Sprint Series results from I-96 and K-C Raceway, log on to www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint. For information regarding TSR, Bass Pro Shops, Chevy or Kinser, log on to www.tonystewartracing.com, www.basspro.com, www.chevy.com or www.kraigkinser.com.