4/22/2012
Sprint Source
Two Races: Two More Top-10 Finishes for Kraig Kinser
Bloomington, Ind.—April 22, 2012—After having four weekends interrupted by rain on the second scheduled night of racing, Kraig Kinser wanted nothing more than to get both nights of competition in this past weekend with the World of Outlaws. That goal was accomplished, as Mother Nature stayed away both Friday and Saturday night, and the third-generation driver was able to earn two more Top-10 as he continues a strong start to the 2012 campaign.
Kinser finished seventh aboard the Hendrickcars.com Maxim on Friday, April 20 at Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia in the opening round of the Kasey Kahne Challenge Presented by Sage Fruit and ran eighth on Saturday, April 21 at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind., and remains fourth in the World of Outlaws championship standings after 11 main events.
“It felt great to race two night in-a-row, without weather interrupting,” said Kinser. “It’s been tough to get into a real rhythm this season. We opened the year with four straight nights at Volusia, and only had one time in the next month and a half where we raced two straight nights. The schedule begins to pick up more now, so this is a good time to hit your stride and hopefully we can do that in our Hendrickcars.com Maxim.”
The weekend began at Missouri State Fair Speedway on Friday, with Kinser starting the 25-lap A-Feature in the eighth position. He gained a spot on the seventh lap, getting by Danny Lasoski, before working his way around Brady Bacon for sixth on lap-9, though the latter would take the spot back. Kinser would run as high as sixth in the late going, and ended up eighth.
“We had a decent night at Sedalia,” said Kinser. “Like I’ve said before, we want to turn these Top-10 finishes into Top-Fives, which then puts you in contention for wins. We learned a few things that should hopefully help us at bigger tracks this season, including Knoxville next weekend.”
The 2005 Knoxville Nationals winner opened the night at Sedalia as the fourth-fastest qualifier, to earn two bonus points in the World of Outlaws championship standings. He has been among the Top-Five in time trials in seven of the first 11 races this season. Kinser finished fourth in the first heat race to earn a spot in the dash, where he ran eighth.
In the main event at Tri-State Speedway on Saturday night, Kinser lined up eighth and gained two spot on the start, getting by his father Steve as well as Donny Schatz to move into sixth. Following a red flag on lap-15, the 2004 Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award winner found himself fifth. He got around Sammy Swindell on the 16th lap to move into fourth.
Kinser was battling Stevie Smith for third, when heavy contact allowed several drivers to get by the pair, with Kraig slipping back to ninth. He would get by Lucas Wolfe on the 21st circuit and would go on to finish in that position, to earn his third consecutive Top-10 finish with the World of Outlaws at the quarter-mile bullring.
“Haubstadt is Haubstadt,” noted Kinser. “Things happen in a hurry and you always have to be on your toes. We had a really good car and were working our way up front. That’s a track where you have to be both aggressive and patient at the same time and kind of hope that luck is on your side. We finished the race with the car in one piece and that’s always a good thing at Haubstadt.”
Kinser opened the night at Tri-State Speedway by turning the seventh-fastest lap in time trials, which put him on the front row of the first heat race, which he won to earn a spot in the dash. He would finish seventh in the dash, and lined up on the inside of the fourth row for the 40-lap main event.
Kinser, who returns to action on Wednesday, April 25 at Farmer City Raceway in Illinois, is currently fourth in the World of Outlaws championship standings on the strength of nine Top-10 finishes, of which three have been Top-Five performances. He is one of just three drivers, along with point leader Sammy Swindell and four-time series champion Donny Schatz, who has nine Top-10 finishes. Kinser is just four points behind Joey Saldana in the battle for the third position and 57 markers out of the lead.
“It’s still early in the season, and we have plenty of room to improve, but for the most part, it’s been a steady start to the year,” shared Kinser. “It will be good to race three times this week on three pretty different tracks, so we can gauge where our short track program is and where our big track program is.”
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