Tony Stewart Racing's Kraig Kinser Eyes Return To Outlaws

INDIANAPOLIS May 5, 2009: In today’s sporting world landscape, the month of May is synonymous with speed. Whether it’s kicking off the month with thoroughbreds charging down the stretch at Churchill Downs, the fast pace of the Stanley Cup Playoffs or concluding the month with “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing®” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, speed is a vital element across the board. In Sprint car racing, there is no track where Winged Sprint cars go faster than at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. This weekend, the World of Outlaws (WoO) kick the month of May into high gear by making their first of five stops at the high-banked, half-mile dirt oval.

For Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Kraig Kinser, this weekend’s doubleheader offers the 24-year-old a chance at becoming the 31st different driver to win a WoO feature event at the historic track. Kinser will be behind the wheel of the TSR No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim for a pair of complete programs that will include qualifying, heat races, a dash event and 30-lap feature races.

Friday night’s program will mark the 27th time the Bloomington, Ind., native will take on the intimidating track that includes turns with 24-degrees of banking and regularly sees Winged Sprint cars reaching speeds in excess of 140 mph. Kinser’s best finish at the track came in April 2005, when he was the program’s fastest qualifier with a lap of 13.095 seconds (137.457 mph) and third-place finisher in the feature race. Last September, Kinser picked up his third career top-five finish at Eldora by racing to a fifth-place finish.

Following last weekend’s return to Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, 15 of the 84 scheduled 2009 WoO race dates have been completed. Kinser has three top-five finishes and six top-10s and currently ranks 12th in the WoO Sprint Series championship standings with 1,984 points.

On Friday at Eldora Speedway, the pit gates and grandstands will open at 3 p.m. EDT. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. On Saturday, the pit gates will open at 2 p.m. with the grandstands opening at 3 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. For more details, contact Eldora Speedway at (937) 338-3815. The official Web site of the track is www.eldoraspeedway.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.

Kraig Kinser, Driver of the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim:

Being able to adapt from one track to another is a must for any World of Outlaws driver. This week, it’s off to one of the fastest tracks that you race on, Eldora Speedway. What are your thoughts about returning to “the Big E” for a weekend doubleheader?

“It’s always fun heading to Eldora. The track is fast and you have to be able to get up on the hill and pound the cushion. We had some things go against us there early last year but, in September, we were really competitive. The Bass Pro Shops car was really fast all night and we ended up with a top-five finish. Those are the kind of nights we’d like to have this weekend.

“I wish we would have a little more momentum coming into this weekend, but the Bass Pro Shops team (Mike Cool, Steve Swenson, and Bob Curtis) is good at rebounding. We’ll spend the week preparing in Indy and look at what we did there last fall so that we can come up with a plan of attack.”

This weekend kicks off a busy, eight-day stretch that includes five races. How important would it be to have five consistent finishes before heading to Charlotte in two weeks?

“It’s always important in this series to build momentum. We’ve struggled with that this year and we’re hoping that’s something we can get figured out. This week does give us a chance to put something together and head back to Charlotte on a roll. It starts with a good night at Eldora on Friday and, hopefully, we can continue on from there. We’ve got two big shows at Eldora to concentrate on, but we also know we’ve got three shows next week in the East, too.

“I’ve said it all year – and it’s going to be true again in these next few races – you have to qualify well to have a chance with these Outlaw guys. These tracks we’re heading to are big and fast. You have to be up front in the heats to have a chance for those dash spots. It’s tough coming from deep in the field to win these races, so we’re going to do everything we can to earn a starting spot up front. If we can do that, we’ll be heading in the right direction.”