WoO: Steve Kinser Snaps Winless Streak at Grays Harbor
25 August 1998
By Richard Day ELMA, WA - Steve Kinser snapped the second- longest winless streak of his spectacular Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series career Saturday, winning the "A" Feature at Grays Harbor Raceway Park.
Although he went 17 races between main event victories, Kinser maintained a comfortable advantage over his cousin, Mark, in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series point standings with 13 top-five finishes. The $10,000 victory, Steve's fourth of the season, increased his lead to 59 points with 18 events remaining on the series' 1998 schedule.
"The Quaker State car was good all night long," Steve said. "It's good to pick up another win. I have to thank Guy (Forbrook) and Jimmy McBee and all of the guys.
"We had a new car for the (Amoco Knoxville) Nationals, and we seemed to struggle a bit with it. So we brought out a car we'd run earlier this year, and it felt great.
"The competition with the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series is as close as it's ever been, and as tough as it's ever been, and you've got to be on top every night to stay out front."
"The King of the Outlaws" kept his #11 Quaker State Maxim "out front" for much of the series' 50th event of the season. His 13.249-second, 101.894-m.p.h., lap around the high-banked, 3/8-mile oval was the fastest in the 38-car qualifying session, After receiving his fourth Vivarin Fast-Time Award of the season, Kinser finished second in the First Racing Champions Heat Race, then earned the right to start the main event inside the second row by finishing third in the Channellock Dash.
Tim Shaffer, who won the Channellock Dash for the second straight night at Grays Harbor, drove the #11H Vivarin Eagle into the lead as the green flag fell, only to have Craig Dollansky, Shawna Wilskey and Dale Smith crash in turn one. Lance Blevins spun to avoid the crash and restarted at the rear of the field with Dollansky and Wilskey.
Sammy Swindell, who started a seven-feature winning streak at Grays Harbor on his way to winning the 1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series championship, kept pace with Shaffer as the green flag replaced the red and surged ahead in the second corner to take the lead.
Swindell was racing away from the field when Blevins took the #21 Up Front J&J for a spin in turn two early in the second lap.
Kinser took the low line into the third corner to pass Shaffer for second place late in the lap five, then followed Swindell into lapped traffic the next time around.
Steve caught Sammy during the eighth lap, and they raced bumper-to-bumper through dense lapped traffic. After making several runs at the lead, Kinser fell eight car-lengths behind when Swindell broke out of traffic during the 16th lap.
Swindell lost his comfortable advantage when Blevins spun again - this time in the first corner - midway through the race. Fourth Racing Champions Heat Race winner Paul McMahan and the #75 Mopar Maxim spun in turn two on the ensuing restart.
Kinser put intense pressure on Swindell as the green flag replaced the yellow. After an inside move between the first and second corners failed early in the 22nd lap, Kinser passed Sammy deep in turn one, but slid out of the low groove and allowed Swindell to regain first place.
"The King of the Outlaws" battled Swindell for six laps before taking the lead with a low move between the third and fourth corners late in lap 29. Kinser opened a half-straightaway advantage within six laps and was 12 car-lengths ahead of Sammy when he took the checkered flag.
Shaffer held off Stevie Smith for third place. Mark Kinser passed Andy Hillenburg for fifth with a high move between turns one and two late in lap 36. Jac Haudenschild finished seventh, ahead of Donny Schatz, Jeff Swindell and Danny Lasoski.
A magneto problem in the #47 Casey's General Stores Maxim forced Johnny Herrera to drop out early in the Second Racing Champions Heat Race. He won the "B" Feature, then passed five cars to finish 11th in the main event.
After mechanical malfunctions forced Dollansky to park Rod Fauver's #64 car early in the Third Racing Champions Heat Race, he replaced teammate Rick Fauver in the #64x in the "A" Feature. Craig started outside the 12th row and raced into 16th place.
The Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series is scheduled to run its last two 1998 Wild, Wild Northwest Tour events at Riverside Speedway in Cottage Grove, OR, Monday, and at Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford, OR, Wednesday. WoO
1998 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series
Grays Harbor Raceway Park, Elma, WA
Saturday, August 22, Feature Program #50
Qualifications: 1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 13.249; 2.
Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 13.274; 3. Danny Lasoski, Roth 83,
13.345; 4. Joe Gaerte, Holbrook 8H, 13.556; 9. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 13.610; 6. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 13.620; 7. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 104+, 13.658; 8. Tyler Walker, Walker 35, 13.711; 9. Dale Blaney, Hylton-Blaney 93, 13.718; 10. Kasey Kahne, Kahne 23K, 13.731; 11. Craig Dollansky, Fauver 64, 13.896; 12. Rick Fauver, Fauver 64x, 13.934; 13. Dale Smith, Smith 75S, 13.970; 14. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 13.977; 15. Jim Carter, Rudeen 14, 14.011; 16. Paul McMahan, Stanton 75, 14.114; 17. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 14.147; 18. Jay Cole, Cole 0J, 14.273; 19. Kirk Fellers, Fellers 77F, 14.277; 20. Shawna Wilskey, Wilskey 5, 14.393; 21. John Youngquist, Youngquist 56, 14.508; 22. Randy Ridge, Kennedy-Melnick 39, 14.540; 23. Gary Taylor, Taylor 7, 14.559; 24. Jay Smith, Huson 3D, 14.592; 25. Steve Tupper, D&S Enterprises 48, 14.754; 26. Steve Walker, Walker 7W, 14.856; 27. Jackie McGahan, McGahan 77, 14.871; 28. Jimmy Kirkham, Kirkham 62K, 14.920; 29. Trevon Wilson, Wilson 5W, 14.945; 30. Tony Thomas, Thomas 91, 14.969; 31. Ron Reed, Reed 97C, 15.109; 32. Mike Zvono, Zvono 85, 15.152; 33. Kirk Haefs, Haefs 32K, 15.230; 34. Dan Dunlap, Dunlap 15D, 15.627; 35. Manny Gobel, Gobel 51, 15.639; 36. Morgan Criswell, Glick 34, 15.669; 37. Michael Thompson, Thompson 32, 15.855; 38. Kerry Sample, Glick 20, 16.161.
First Racing Champions Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Dale Blaney, 2. Steve Kinser, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Lance Blevins, 5. Dale Smith, 6. John Youngquist, 7. Steve Tupper, 8. Trevon Wilson, 9. Kirk Haefs, 10. Michael Thompson. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
Second Racing Champions Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Jac Haudenschild, 2. Stevie Smith, 3. Kasey Kahne, 4. Jay Cole, 5. Randy Ridge, 6. Steve Walker, 7. Tony Thomas, 8. Dan Dunlap, 9. Johnny Herrera, 10. Kerry Sample. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
Third Racing Champions Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Danny
Lasoski, 2. Jeff Swindell, 3. Kirk Fellers, 4. Jim Carter, 5. Gary Taylor, 6. Jackie McGahan, 7. Ron Reed, 8. Manny Gobel, 9. Craig Dollansky. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
Fourth Racing Champions Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Paul McMahan, 2. Joe Gaerte, 3. Tyler Walker, 4. Rick Fauver, 5. Jay Smith, 6. Shawna Wilskey, 7. Jimmy Kirkham, 8. Mike Zvono, 9. Morgan Criswell. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically qualified Tim Shaffer, Andy Hillenburg, Mark Kinser and Sammy Swindell for the first four starting positions in the Channellock Dash.
Channellock Dash (seven laps): 1. Tim Shaffer, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Steve Kinser, 4. Andy Hillenburg, 5. Mark Kinser, 6. Stevie Smith. (finish determined the first six starting positions in the "A" Feature)
C Feature (10 laps): 1. Trevon Wilson, 2. Mike Zvono, 3. Kirk Haefs, 4. Ron Reed ($125); 5. Tony Thomas ($100); 6. Kerry Sample ($80); 7. Morgan Criswell ($70); 8. Manny Gobel ($60); 9. Dan Dunlap ($50). (first two qualified for the "B" Feature)
B Feature (12 laps): 1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Shawna Wilskey, 3. Dale Smith, 4. Gary Taylor, 5. Jay Smith ($200); 6. Randy Ridge ($175); 7. John Youngquist ($150); 8. Jimmy Kirkham ($100); 9. Jackie McGahan ($90); 10. Steve Tupper ($80); 11. Mike Zvono ($80); 12. Trevon Wilson ($70); 13. Steve Walker ($50); 14. Kirk Haefs ($70). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
A Feature (40 laps): 1. Steve Kinser ($10,000); 2. Sammy Swindell ($6,000); 3. Tim Shaffer ($3,500); 4. Stevie Smith ($3,200); 5. Mark Kinser ($3,000); 6. Andy Hillenburg ($2,500); 7. Jac Haudenschild ($2,300); 8. Donny Schatz ($2,200); 9. Jeff Swindell ($2,100); 10. Danny Lasoski ($2,000); 11. Johnny Herrera ($1,520); 12. Tyler Walker ($1,400); 13. Dale Blaney ($1,300); 14. Joe Gaerte ($1,200); 15. Kasey Kahne ($1,000); 16. Craig Dollansky ($1,000); 17. Gary Taylor ($820); 18. Paul McMahan ($600); 19. Jim Carter ($600); 20. Kirk Fellers ($600); 21. Jay Cole ($600); 22. Shawna Wilskey ($620); 23. Lance Blevins ($600); 24. Dale Smith ($620).
Lap leaders: Sammy Swindell 1-28, Steve Kinser 29-40
Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner: Steve Kinser
