Tony Stewart Racing's Kraig Kinser Sees Outlaws' Eastern Swing As Great Opportunity

INDIANAPOLIS May 12, 2009: Racecar drivers are faced with many challenges week in and week out. The path from the green flag to the checkered flag sometimes can be smooth sailing, and other times it’s full of obstacles. When things come easily, drivers may be wary that something bad is just around the corner. It’s in their genes to mentally fight off any distraction that might get in their way of winning.

For the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Series drivers, the list of challenges is many, including finessing a 1,300-pound, 900-horsepower Winged Sprint car around dirt ovals across the country more than 80 times a season. With all of those opportunities to race come more chances to capture the glory.

For Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Kraig Kinser, this week offers the 24-year-old a chance to make his racing debut in America’s first state, and a return to one of the country’s most historic tracks. Kinser will be in action Tuesday for a single-night program in the TSR No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim at Delaware International Speedway in Delmar, Del., followed by two nights of action on Thursday and Friday at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.

The early part of the 2009 season has been somewhat inconsistent for the Bass Pro Shops team. The chance to race on new soil is one that the Mooresville, N.C., resident welcomes. Putting a complete night together is the immediate goal, something that wasn’t an issue the last time Kinser raced at a track for the first time. Last October, he defeated the Outlaws in his first visit to Central Minnesota Speedway in Brainerd, Minn., and he’d like nothing more than to do the same on Tuesday at Delaware International Speedway.

After consecutive Saturday-night races at two of the top half-mile dirt ovals, Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway and Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway), the series’ return to Williams Grove completes the three-week trifecta. Kinser has made 12 career starts at the central Pennsylvania speed plant with a best finish of sixth, which he accomplished twice, first in July 2004 and then May 2005.

Kinser and the Bass Pro Shops team have completed 16 of the 84 scheduled 2009 WoO race dates. He has three top-five finishes and six top-10s and currently ranks 12th in the WoO Sprint Series championship standings with 2,025 points.

On Tuesday at Delaware International Speedway, the pit gates and grandstands 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. For more information, call Delaware International Speedway at (302) 875-1911.The official Web site of Delaware International Speedway is delawareracing.com.

On Friday and Saturday at Williams Grove Speedway, the pit gates will open at 4 p.m., with the grandstands opening at 5:45 p.m. Qualifying is scheduled to begin at 7:45 p.m. For more details, contact Williams Grove Speedway at (717) 697-5000. The official Web site of Williams Grove Speedway is www.williamsgrove.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:

The World of Outlaws schedule includes a number of regular tracks, and it’s not that often when you get to race at track for the first time. Is there a different approach to competing at a track for the first time?

“Not really. We’ll just take it like any other night. A lot of the guys ran here back in 2003, so they’ll have an idea of what the track is like. It’s fun to go somewhere new. I know we’ve got a great team with the Bass Pro Shops guys (Mike Cool, Steve Swenson, and Bob Curtis) and they’ll have a plan to start the night.

“Last year at Brainerd, we just kind of looked at the track and compared it something we were familiar with. It’s still the same deal, though. You have to be fast every time you hit the track. We’re in a part of the schedule, now, where we’re seeing a lot of half-mile tracks and power is key. Our Chevy motors that Paul Kastler builds are a really big asset. You need all that horsepower to get around these tracks. That’s one thing that is the same no matter where you go.”

The end of the week includes a couple of nights at Williams Grove Speedway. Is there a tougher place you race as far as the local competition?

“The good thing about the Outlaws is we go everywhere and we’re used to seeing the best competition. I will say that, when we go to Pennsylvania, you really have to be on your game. They have some really tough teams that all know how to get around ‘the Grove.’ The track is really unique and, to get better there, you just have to get laps around it. The fans really get into the rivalry and that makes our races there a lot of fun, too. I’m looking forward to it.

“Qualifying is really going to be important. Last year at Williams Grove, we really struggled to qualify and never recovered. It’s not the kind of place where you can race from sixth to second in a heat race. Cracking that top-16 in qualifying is the first goal we have.

“We haven’t been too bad in qualifying this year, so we’re hopeful that will continue. It’s getting faster as the night goes on that’s something we’re still working on. The schedule continues to pick up, and the more we race, the better I think we can be.”