Kinser Heads North in Bass Pro Shops Sprinter For the World of Outlaws Annual Duel in the Dakotas

INDIANAPOLIS, June 16, 2009: When World of Outlaws star Kraig Kinser last raced on North Dakota soil, he ended his night on the podium at Nodak Speedway in Minot last August. This weekend, Kinser and the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team return for the annual Duel in the Dakotas, which includes three nights of action in North Dakota at three distinctively different facilities concluding with Sunday’s race at Nodak.

Kinser will pilot TSR’s No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim in the Roughrider State beginning Friday at River Cities Speedway in Grand Forks. The duel continues Saturday night at Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo before coming to a close at Nodak on Sunday.

Friday’s race will be Kinser’s sixth time competing at River Cities, a 3/10-mile dirt oval. The 24-year-old finished in the top-five four times in those starts. Last year, he finished 21st in the feature event. Saturday’s return to Red River Valley will mark the 12th time Kinser races on the half-mile track. His best finish came in July 2005, when he finished third. Sunday’s race at Nodak will be only his second start at the 3/8-mile dirt oval. Last August, he raced to a third-place finish, which at the time was his best of the season.

Kinser enters this weekend’s Duel in the Dakotas with five top-nine finishes in his last seven starts. He finished ninth on Saturday night at Dodge City (Kan.) Raceway after posting the third-best qualifying lap.

After the first 27 WoO races of 2009, Kinser has five top-five finishes and 12 top-10s. He currently ranks ninth in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings with 3,400 points.

On Friday at River Cities Speedway, the pit gates open at 2 p.m. CDT., and the grandstands will open at 4 p.m. CDT. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. For more details, contact River Cities Speedway at (218) 773-3002, or visit the track’s official Web site, rivercitiesspeedway.com.

On Saturday at Red River Valley Speedway, the pit gates open at 2 p.m. CDT., and the grandstands will open at 5 p.m. CDT. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. For more details, contact Red River Valley Speedway at (701) 282-2200, or visit the track’s official Web site, redrivervalleyfair.com.

On Sunday at Nodak Speedway, the pit gates open at 2 p.m. CDT., and the grandstands will open at 5 p.m. CDT. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. For more details, contact Nodak Speedway at (701) 839-7483, or visit the track’s official Web site, racenodak.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:

Three races in three nights is always a challenge, but when you are racing at three different places is it particularly tough?

“Definitely. It goes back to having a good team. This Bass Pro Shops team has done a great job all season and this is the type of weekend where that work pays off. The guys (Mike Cool, Steve Swenson and Bob Curtis) keep working hard every week and we’re making progress. No matter the track size or shape, you have to make good laps. Those laps come when you’ve got a good car underneath you.

“It’s actually pretty fun to go from a short track to a half-mile and then back to another short track. It keeps you on your toes and focused at all times. On the short tracks, you have to deal with traffic quickly. And on the big tracks, you have to use all that Chevy horsepower to get you out front. We’re looking forward to having a great weekend.”

Last year’s race at Nodak Speedway started a pretty good late-season run for you. What do you remember about that race?

“Well, it was just one of those nights where things started clicking for us. We qualified in a spot to be on the front row of our heat race and drew a good spot for the dash. From there, we just ran a clean race and ended up with a third. That gave us all a little confidence and, a few weeks later, we won our first race, had a few more top-fives and, ultimately, won another race in Brainerd (Minn.). Finishing up front keeps everyone excited. Hopefully, we can get back to the podium this weekend and build some momentum.”