A Western Speedweek: Nine Races in Ten Days for Kraig Kinser in Washington, Oregon & California
By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Aug. 28, 2013— It’s been a long, long time since the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series has raced nine time in a 10-day stretch. In fact, it was before Kraig Kinser was even born, the last time the series had a stretch of races that fit that bill. The third-generation driver will get his chance to try his hand at competing every night sans one, over a 10-day span, as the World of Outlaws begin a swing that will take them from the Pacific Northwest to California.
The massive stretch of races begins at Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., on Friday, Aug. 30 and Saturday, Aug. 31. The series then heads to Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., for a Labor Day event on Monday, Sept. 2. A trio of races in Oregon follows, beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, continuing on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at Cottage Grove Speedway and wrapping up on Thursday, Sept. 5 at Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford. The Gold Cup Race of Champions follows at Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., Friday, Sept. 6 on Saturday, Sept. 7. The grueling stretch concludes on Sunday, Sept. 8 at Antioch Speedway.
“As a driver, racing this many times is definitely something you look forward to,” said Kinser, who pilots the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim. “For the crews though, it is going to be a lot of work and a lot of driving between races. One of the keys will be to try to avoid any trouble and roll the car on the trailer in one piece every night, so that you don’t make any extra work for the crew. It’s going to be a grueling 10 days for sure.”
Kinser has raced at Skagit Speedway each of the last five seasons. He made his debut at the high-banked, three-tenths-mile in 2008, finishing 10th in that contest. Kinser has five top-10 finishes in 10 career starts at the track, including a fourth-place effort in the opener of the two-night event in 2009. Last season he finished 17th in the opener and was 23rd in the finale.
“Skagit (Speedway) is a tricky place,” he shared. “We didn’t have the best of luck there last year, so hopefully we can make up for that. We’ve run pretty well on the smaller tracks this year and we feel like we have a good handle on what it takes to be up front at places like that. Having two nights at a track you usually learn a few things the first night that you can use in the second show.”
The native of Bloomington, Ind., was victorious at Grays Harbor Raceway in 2008, taking the lead late in that contest to score his first win at the three-eighths-mile. Kinser has made six starts at Grays Harbor in his career, including preliminary features, picking up four top-10 finishes along the way. He finished 11th at the track last season in his first start there in four years. In his six starts at Grays Harbor, Kinser has finished 13th or better in all of them.
“I’ve always enjoyed going to Elma (Grays Harbor Raceway),” Kinser said. “Last year we were a little off, and that was the first race we’d had there in a few years. That’s always a big weekend at the track and for a lot of fans, that’s the only time they see us all year, so we certainly look forward to putting on a good show.”
Kinser has won twice in his career at Cottage Grove Speedway, including earning his first-career World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series A-Feature win at the quarter-mile in 2004 over his father Steve. The third-generation driver won the most recent World of Outlaws event at the track in 2011. Kinser made his first start at Willamette Speedway last season, finishing 14th in the main event. He will be making his debut at Southern Oregon Speedway, where the World of Outlaws will be visiting for the first time since 2006.
“Winning my first World of Outlaws race at Cottage Grove (Speedway) is one I’ll always remember,” he noted. “To win over my dad in that one, I definitely had to earn it. Cottage Grove is just one of those places that is very similar to the tracks I grew up on and seem to have a good handle on. It will be good to have three nights of racing in Oregon on three tracks that are usually pretty racy.”
The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals raced at Silver Dollar Speedway earlier this season during the Mini Gold Cup, finishing eighth. Last year in the Gold Cup Race of Champions, he came home ninth in the opener and was 17th in the finale. He finished ninth in the finale of the 2008 Gold Cup. In his career at the quarter-mile, Kinser has six top-10 finishes.
“The Gold Cup has a lot of history to it, that’s for sure,” Kinser said. “Along with the race, there is so much other stuff going on and it’s just an amazing atmosphere. There should be a good car count, so qualifying for the main event each night will be the first goal and then preparing for the main events.”
Kinser has made three starts at Antioch Speedway, including earlier this season when he finished 14th. He made his debut at the three-eighths-mile in 2011, finishing 10th. Kinser finished 10th again the following year.
Kinser enters the massive stretch of races 12th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He was victorious earlier this year at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York, and has 25 top-10 finishes.
Kraig Kinser Racing would like to thank Casey’s General Stores, Mesilla Valley Transportation, King Racing Products, Maxim, Aerodine Composites, Sander Engineering, Integra Shocks, All Star Performance, FK Rod Ends, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Bell, KSE Racing Products, ButlerBuilt, Schoenfeld Headers, Donovan Engineering, Fel-Pro, Brodix, Wilwood, Dyer’s, Barnes Systems, Ringer Gloves, Jakes Custom Golf Carts, and Ben Cook Racing Limited for their continued support.
Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Skagit Speedway, Grays Harbor Raceway, Willamette Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway, Southern Oregon Speedway, Silver Dollar Speedway & Antioch Speedway
0.25- Miles around Cottage Grove Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway
0.3- Miles around Skagit Speedway and Willamette Speedway
0.375- Miles around Grays Harbor Raceway, Southern Oregon Speedway and Antioch Speedway
1- Win at Grays Harbor- 2008
2- Career wins at Cottage Grove Speedway
3- Starts at Antioch Speedway
4- Career top-10 finishes at Grays Harbor Raceway
5- Top-10 finishes at Skagit
6- Main event starts at Cottage Grove Speedway and Grays Harbor Raceway
7- Average finishing position in six starts at Grays Harbor
8.3- Average finish in six career main event starts at Cottage Grove Speedway
10- Career main event starts at Skagit Speedway
12.3- Average finish in 10 main event starts at Skagit
18- Career main event starts at Silver Dollar Speedway, including preliminary features
121- Miles from Willamette Speedway in Oregon, where the World of Outlaws compete on Sept. 3 to Cottage Grove Speedway
138- Distance in miles from Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash., where the World of Outlaws race on Sept. 2 to Willamette Speedway in Oregon
146- Miles from Cottage Grove Speedway in Oregon, where the World of Outlaws are in action on Sept. 4 to Southern Oregon Speedway in Medford
165- Distance in miles from Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., where the World of Outlaws race on Aug. 30–31 to Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash.
169- Miles from Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif., where the World of Outlaws race on Sept. 6–7 to Antioch Speedway in California
219- Distance in miles from Southern Oregon Speedway where the World of Outlaws race on Sept. 5 to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.
717- Miles from Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where the World of Outlaws competed on Aug. 23–24 to Skagit Speedway in Washington
2004- Year of first start at Cottage Grove Speedway and Grays Harbor Raceway
2008- Year of first start at Skagit Speedway
Keep up with all the action
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