Tony Stewart Racing, Kinser Return to Upper Midwest

INDIANAPOLIS (Aug. 13 2008) – With the pressure cooker that is the Knoxville (Iowa) Nationals behind him, Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Kraig Kinser is looking forward to getting back to a regular routine. Kinser returned to action on Tuesday night behind the wheel of the TSR No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/JD Byrider Maxim when the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series kicked off a four-race stretch through North Dakota and Wyoming.

Kinser, who finished 10th Saturday night in the Knoxville Nationals B-Main, is ready to get back into a groove by racing every other night. The 23-year-old from Bloomington, Ind., is looking forward to a busy end of August and September, which includes almost 25 races.

Tuesday night’s race at Red River Valley Speedway was his first visit to the track since he last competed at the facility on Aug. 14, 2005, two nights after he won the Knoxville Nationals. He’s now raced at the high-speed half-mile dirt oval on 11 occasions, with his best finish being third on July 2, 2005.

The remaining three races of the week – Thursday at Gillette (Wyo.) Thunder Speedway, Saturday at Dacotah Speedway in Mandan, N.D., and Sunday at Nodak Speedway in Minot, N.D. – will all be at tracks where Kinser has never competed before.

Kinser enters this weekend’s racing action ranked 14h in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings. He has made 36 series starts thus far in 2008, having earned two top-five finishes and 11 top-10s.

Race fans unable to attend this week’s events can catch all of the action from Red River Valley Speedway, Gillette Thunder Speedway, Dacotah Speedway and Nodak Speedway 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.

Pit gates will open at 2 p.m. MDT at on Thursday at Gillette Thunder Speedway. Grandstands will open at 4 p.m., and racing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The official track Web site is www.gillettespeedway.com. For ticket information, call (815) 344-2023, or visit www.slspromotions.com.

For Saturday’s program at Red River Valley Speedway, 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. The official track Web site is www.dacotahspeedway.net. For ticket information, call (815) 344-2023, or visit www.slspromotions.com.

Pit gates will open at 2 p.m. CDT at on Sunday at Nodak Speedway. Grandstands will open at 4 p.m., and hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. The official track Web site is www.RaceNoDak.com. For ticket information, call (815) 344-2023, or visit www.slspromotions.com.

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

After a long week at Knoxville, your schedule picks up with a busy week of action. What are your goals for this week?

“We just have to keep working on this program and try to get back to where we can qualify well and take advantage of opportunities in the heat races. We’ve got to run up front more often. If we can continue improving, that would help us keep positive going down the road.

“We’re all trying to get the Bass Pro Shops Chevy back into contention. We’ve got a lot of races this week and if we can start well, then maybe we can build some momentum when we head to Montana and Canada.”

Other than Tuesday’s race in Fargo, you’ll be racing at tracks for the first time. Do you like the challenge of going to a new track?

“It’s always fun to go somewhere new. That’s when you can rely on having a good team. We’ve got a veteran crew with Scuba (Steve Swenson) and Coolie (Mike Cool), and even (TSR No. 15 crew chief) Ricky (Warner) offers some advice. Those guys will get the car close and then it’s up to me from there. Maybe going to a new track makes it an even playing field. Like I said, if we have some good things happen early in the week, then maybe we can build on it and get things going the way we want to.”

For complete WoO Sprint Series results from Red River Valley Speedway, Gillette Thunder Speedway, Dacotah Speedway and Nodak Speedway, log on to www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint. For information regarding TSR, Bass Pro Shops, J.D. Byrider, Chevy or Kinser, log on to www.tonystewartracing.com, www.basspro.com, www.byrider.com, www.chevy.com or www.kraigkinser.com.