World of Outlaws Star Kraig Kinser Looks To Keep His Sprinter in Contention

INDIANAPOLIS, June 23, 2009: The variety of venues Sprint car racing’s elite drivers compete at with the World of Outlaws (WoO) each week is what makes the series like no other. Following last weekend’s Duel in the Dakotas, which included three nights of racing at three distinctly different tracks, Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Kraig Kinser is ready to tackle U.S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Mo., a high-banked short track, and Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway, a high-speed half-mile, on back-to-back nights this weekend.

Kinser raced TSR’s No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim to consecutive top-seven finishes last weekend. The goal for the 24-year-old is to build on that consistency as the WoO schedule intensifies. The Bass Pro Shops team has seven races over the next three weeks leading up to the sport’s “Month of Money,” which begins with the Kings Royal at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

One challenge for this weekend is that Kinser has never competed at U.S. 36 Raceway. The rest of the Outlaws may have the advantage of two previous stops at the 3/8-mile facility, but winning in his debut at a track isn’t out of the question for Kinser. His most recent WoO feature triumph came last October in his first visit to North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minn. The 2004 WoO Rookie of the Year also can rely on his Bass Pro Shops crew that helped establish the track record, 9.846 seconds (135.36 mph), at the facility.

Saturday’s stop at Knoxville not only will be a chance to capture a WoO feature win, it will also serve as a final learning opportunity for the Knoxville Nationals. Kinser maximized the opportunity back in June 2005 by winning his first career race at the track. Two months later, he won the biggest race in Sprint car racing, the Knoxville Nationals. Kinser has made 19 previous starts at the famed half-mile oval.

With 30 of the scheduled 84 nights of WoO races completed, Kinser has six top-five finishes and 14 top-10s. He currently ranks ninth in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings with 3,809 points.

On Friday at U.S. 36 Raceway, the pit gates open at 2 p.m. CDT., and the grandstands open at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled for 6 p.m. For more details, contact SLS Promotions at (815) 344-2023, or visit the track’s official Web site, www.us36raceway.com.

On Saturday at Knoxville Raceway, the pit gates open at 4 p.m. CDT., and the grandstands will open at 6 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6:45 p.m. For more details, contact Knoxville Raceway at (641) 842-5431, or visit the track’s official Web site, knoxvilleraceway.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:

Friday night will be your first time racing at U.S. 36 Raceway. Is there anything you change in your nightly approach when racing somewhere new?

“Not really. You just have to take a look at how the track is coming in and make some laps. I’m sure the Bass Pro Shops guys (Mike Cool, Steve Swenson and Bob Curtis) will give me a good starting point and we’ll just go from there. When you go to a new place, the learning curve is pretty quick. We’ll watch how the other guys are getting around and talk with (TSR teammate) Donny (Schatz), too.

“Again, it goes back to what we have to do every night – make a good lap in qualifying and work our way into the Dash. We race at a lot of places around the country, and I’m sure we’ll stay on top of what the track is doing. I’m looking forward to it.”

Saturday’s race will be your final chance to run at Knoxville before the Nationals. How important is it to find a good combination that you can use when you come back in August?

“It’s really important. This is our last chance to come up with a game plan for the Nationals. You try and get everything figured out so that when we come back in August we can hit the track running.

“We had a part failure in May at Knoxville and didn’t get to run the whole race, but we learned a few things. There have been some rule changes to the wings, so we’ve had to change some of the things we do. We’re still learning things and everything we do this weekend will be noted and can help us when we come back.”