That Time of the Year: Kraig Kinser Embarks on East Coast Swing
By Kraig Kinser Racing PR
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — May 13, 2014— Five races in seven nights — a stretch like that will test every fiber of a World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series team — and that’s exactly the way the way Kraig Kinser and his fellow competitors like it. That is what awaits over the course of the next week, along with level of intensity will being ratcheted up, as the first East Coast Swing of the season hits the track with three of the races during this span on the hostile territory of the famed Pennsylvania Posse.
The first East Coast Swing of the season begins for Kinser, who pilots the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim, on Wednesday, May 14 at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania, for the running of the Gettysburg Clash. The series then heads to the historic Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, Friday, May 16 and Saturday, May 17, with the Morgan Cup highlighting the finale of the two-night event. A visit to Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York, is in store on Sunday, May 18. The handful of races concludes at New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey, on Tuesday, May 20.
Kinser has made three starts in his career at Lincoln Speedway with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. He made his debut at the three-eighths-mile in 2012, finishing 24th, after having trouble in the main event. Last season Kinser didn’t qualify for the feature at the track in the Pigeon Hills area of Pennsylvania.
“We haven’t had the best of luck at Lincoln the last two years,” he shared. “That’s a unique track for that area, in that it’s more of the size of places we typically run in the Midwest. We’ve kind of learned what doesn’t work there, so we’ll do the opposite of some of the things we’ve tried in the past and see if we can gain a little there.”
Last season at Williams Grove Speedway, Kinser made a pair of main event starts, finishing seventh in the spring and 15th in the Summer Nationals. Kinser has made a total of 30 main event starts at Williams Grove dating back to 2003. He finished a career-best four at the half-mile in 2012.
“Williams Grove (Speedway) is always tough,” said Kinser. “You have to have everything just right when you go in there. There will be a lot of cars and qualifying in that right spot will be pretty important. With just the heat race winners making the dash and along with quickest few from time trials, that definitely puts a premium on those couple laps at the beginning of the night.”
Kinser was victorious at Orange County Fair Speedway in 2013. He took the lead at the start and paced all 25 circuits on the sprawling five-eighths-mile in New York State. In his career, the third-generation driver has made four starts at Orange County, picking up a pair of top-10 finishes, including last year’s win.
“Track position is the name of the game at a place like Orange County (Fair Speedway),” said Kinser. “We were fortunate enough to start on the front row last year and take the lead at the start and never looked back. You have to always be careful with your tires at Orange County, because of how abrasive the surface gets. It’s a challenging place for sure.”
In his first appearance at New Egypt Speedway last season, the native of Bloomington, Indiana, finished 10th. He opened the night as the second-fastest in time trials of the 32 drivers in attendance. Trouble in the second heat race forced him to the B-main, which he won to earn a spot in the 25-lap main event, where he lined up 11th.
“We were decent at New Egypt (Speedway) last year and that gives us a good baseline for this year,” Kinser stated. “We ran just about the whole show in the daylight there, which is a bit different than we are used to. That’s another good sized track where you really can see the speed of these cars.”
Following a trio of short track races last week, which saw him pick up three top-10 finishes, Kinser is ninth in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He was eight top-10 finishes this season, with two of those top-five showings.
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: Lincoln Speedway, Williams Grove Speedway, Orange County Fair Speedway & New Egypt Speedway
0.375- Miles around Lincoln Speedway
0.4375- Distance around New Egypt Speedway in miles
0.5- Miles around Williams Grove Speedway
0.675- Distance around Orange County Fair Speedway in miles
1- Race in New Jersey for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series in 2013
4- Nights of racing in New York this season for the series
8- Top-10 finishes this season in feature events
9- Current position in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series standings
11- Nights of racing in Pennsylvania this year for the series
13.089- Track record at Lincoln Speedway
14.8- Average finish in 30 main event starts at Williams Grove Speedway
16.140- Track record at Williams Grove Speedway
25- Miles from Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., where the World of Outlaws compete on May 14 to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
30- Career main event starts at Williams Grove, including preliminary features
126- Miles from Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y., where the World of Outlaws race on May 18 to New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey
208- Miles from Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., where the World of Outlaws compete on May 16–17 to Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y.
692- Miles from Tri-State Speedway in Indiana, where the World of Outlaws raced on May 10 to Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa.
2003- Year of first start at Williams Grove Speedway
2004- First start at Orange County Fair Speedway
2012- Year of first start at Lincoln Speedway
2013- First start New Egypt Speedway
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