Kinser Hopes for a Memorable Night in Manzanita Finale Aboard Tony Stewart Racing’s Bass Pro Shops Maxim

INDIANAPOLIS March 24, 2009: World of Outlaws (WoO) star Kraig Kinser has experienced a number of history-making moments in Sprint car racing during his life. This week’s scheduled race at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix may look like just another night of more than 80 that fill the 2009 calendar. Unfortunately, this race is just a little different. Kinser and the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team will make their final laps at the historic half-mile dirt oval on Saturday night.

With only three more weeks of action remaining at the track that has hosted racing for nearly 60 years, Kinser would like nothing more than to add his name to its list of winners. Kinser will be in the familiar TSR No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim along with the rest of the Outlaws as they battle for the $10,000 top prize and the honor of winning the final WoO feature at the track.

Kinser will be making just his sixth start at Manzantia, with best results coming last March when he scored a seventh-place finish. He qualified seventh-fastest in the field and was victorious in the second heat race. A third-place finish in the Crane Cams Dash earned the 2004 Kevin Gobrecht WoO Rookie of the Year a second-row starting position.

This weekend’s race at Manzanita will mark the 17th season the Outlaws have made a stop at the speed plant located on the outskirts of Phoenix. Eleven different drivers have claimed WoO wins at the track, which will close its doors in April.

After eight of 84 scheduled nights of WoO racing complete, Kinser has two top-five finishes and four top-10s. He currently ranks ninth in the WoO Sprint Series championship standings with 1,026 points, trailing leader and TSR teammate Donny Schatz by 93 markers.

On Saturday at Manzanita Speedway, the pit gates will at 2 p.m. MDT, while the grandstand gates will open at 5 p.m. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. For more details, contact Manzanita Speedway at (602) 276-7575, or visit the track’s official Web site, www.manzanitaspeedway.us.

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.

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

The recent California Swing was a roller coaster of highs and lows. How do you become more consistent?

“Consistency is the key to racing and, right now, we’re still working on it. It’s definitely important to find a baseline that works and build momentum from there. We had a really good night at Chico by finishing third and headed into last weekend hoping to use that as a stepping-stone. Unfortunately, things kind of went the other way on us.

“I know these guys on this Bass Pro Shops team (Mike Cool, Steve Swensen, and Bob Curtis) are working hard and I am trying to match their effort. We’ve got to keep digging and see if we can start with a good night at Manzanita.

“It’s a track where horsepower is important. We’ve got some really good Chevy power thanks to Paul Kistler and, hopefully, we can take full advantage of it.”

This Saturday’s race at Manzanita will close the early season Western swing. It’s also your last chance to race at the famous track. Will you do anything different?

“You can’t make it out to be more than just another race. It still comes down to having a fast racecar and being in the right position at the right time. I mean I understand how cool it would be to be able to say I won a race at Manzanita. To be able to be mentioned with some of the best Sprint car drivers ever who have won there would be a big deal. I think the track ranks right up there with Eldora, Knoxville and Williams Grove. I’d be honored to be the guy who won the last World of Outlaws race there.

“Like I said, though, it comes back to basics. We have to qualify in a good position and have some breaks. Last year, we won a heat race, started toward the front in the Dash and had a decent showing in the feature. That’s something to build on. I know we all want to put together a good night for Bass Pro Shops, Chevy, J.D. Byrider and all the people involved with Tony Stewart Racing.”