‘The King’ Earns New Crown at Round 3 of the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown
Inside Line Promotions – SOMERTON, Ariz. (Jan. 6, 2015) – The King reigns!
Fresh off his final full-time season with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series, Steve Kinser led the first two and the last 16 laps of the 30-lap feature on Tuesday night at Cocopah Speedway during CARQUEST Auto Parts and Bingham Truck & Auto Night 3 at the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown.
The win was Kinser’s first at the track since the 3/8-mile oval hosted its lone World of Outlaws event in February 1991.
“I’d still like to be a little younger, I can tell you that, but I’m not,” he joked. “But I’m not going to complain about my career. It’s nice to get a win here.”
Paul McMahan finished second, which propelled him into the lead of the event standings heading into the final weekend, with 12th-starting Brian Brown rounding out the podium to earn the $2,000 Hard Charger Award bonus thanks to Kim and Glen Hanson of Here 2 Wire Inc. in Lake Stevens, Wash.
“Hopefully the casino doesn’t get it back,” Brown said with a big grin. “I don’t know who the Here 2 Wire people are, but I’m definitely going to shake their hands and thank them. That’s what makes the event an event.”
Kinser, who is affectionately known as ‘The King’ of sprint car racing and who drives for NASCAR veteran Tony Stewart, shared the front row of the main event with NASCAR sensation Kyle Larson – the most recent Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown feature last Saturday. The duo traded the lead each of the first three laps with Larson sliding Kinser in turns one and two before Kinser powered to the top spot prior to the flag stand on Laps 1 and 2.
Larson’s slide job on Lap 3 gave him the lead for approximately a dozen laps before his right rear tire went flat on Lap 15. Larson slowed to bring out a caution and was forced to the work area, where his team replaced the tire.
That gave Kinser the lead back for good. He went to the top groove as traffic entered the picture with approximately eight laps remaining, which allowed McMahan to close the deficit. However, Craig Dollansky, who was running in third place, flipped out of the track in turn one on Lap 24 to cause the final caution of the race.
Kinser took a commanding lead on the restart and sailed to the victory one race after violently flipping out of the track himself.
“From being in between the walls upside down to winning tonight I’ve got no complains whatsoever,” he said.
McMahan’s second-place result marked his second podium finish in three Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown races.
“We definitely wanted to win tonight, but Steve had a good race car,” he said. “It’s good to see Steve back in Victory Lane. We had a good race car. We got by him one time and the yellow came out and he got his spot back. You can’t show ‘The King’ the way around and not have him give it to you the second time.”
Brown, who had nose wing damage from the opening lap, earned his first podium of the event following his wild crash last Saturday.
“The goal is not usually to run third, but the goal isn’t to almost flip out of the ball park in the heat race either,” he said. “From where we were the other night to where we are right now just speaks volumes about our team.”
Logan Schuchart placed fourth and Kraig Kinser was fifth, marking the first top-five result for either driver during the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown.
Henry Van Dam scored a sixth-place finish with Larson rebounding from last on the Lap 15 restart to end seventh. Christopher Bell advanced from 15 th to eighth, Joey Saldana was ninth and Dusty Zomer maneuvered from 18th to 10th.
Steve Kinser, Van Dam, Dollansky and Kraig Kinser claimed heat races with Schuchart, Logan Forler, Roger Crockett and David Gravel scoring wins in qualifiers. Gravel also won the B Main.
The Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown continues on Friday with Opening Ceremonies at 7 p.m. Fans can order live Pay-Per-View video by visiting http://www.SPEEDSPORT.tv/live.
JAN. 6 RESULTS –
Heat Race 1 (8 laps): 1. 11-Steve Kinser (2); 2. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3); 3. 51s-Stevie Smith (5); 4. 77x-Wayne Johnson (6); 5. 21-Brian Brown (7); 6. 2l-Logan Forler (8); 7. 57-Dale Blaney (1); 8. 3c-Willie Croft (4).
Heat Race 2 (8 laps): 1. 33v-Henry Van Dam (2); 2. 31b-Christopher Bell (4); 3. 42-Kyle Larson (8); 4. 9r-Reece Goetz (1); 5. 94-Ryan Smith (3); 6. 11c-Roger Crockett (6); 7. 33-Danny Lasoski (7); 8. 51r-Freddie Rahmer (5).
Heat Race 3 (8 laps): 1. 7-Craig Dollansky (1); 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel (4); 3. 1a-Jacob Allen (2); 4. 82-Dusty Zomer (5); 5. 1s-Logan Schuchart (7); 6. 83-David Gravel (6); 7. 99-Skylar Gee (3); 8. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson (8).
Heat Race 4 (8 laps): 1. 11k-Kraig Kinser (2); 2. 51-Paul McMahan (3); 3. 9-Kasey Kahne (1); 4. 26-Joey Saldana (6); 5. 22-Mason Moore (4); 6. 88n-D.J. Netto (7); 7. 23-Seth Bergman (5).
Qualifier 1 (10 laps): 1. 1s-Logan Schuchart (2); 2. 51-Paul McMahan (4); 3. 42-Kyle Larson (6); 4. 33-Danny Lasoski (7); 5. 88n-D.J. Netto (1); 6. 31b-Christopher Bell (5); 7. 57-Dale Blaney (8); 8. 1a-Jacob Allen (3).
Qualifier 2 (10 laps): 1. 2l-Logan Forler (2); 2. 11-Steve Kinser (6); 3. 51s-Stevie Smith (4); 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel (5); 5. 82-Dusty Zomer (3); 6. 51r-Freddie Rahmer (8); 7. 94-Ryan Smith (1); 8. 23-Seth Bergman (DNS).
Qualifier 3 (10 laps): 1. 11c-Roger Crockett (1); 2. 9r-Reece Goetz (2); 3. 77x-Wayne Johnson (4); 4. 7-Craig Dollansky (5); 5. 33v-Henry Van Dam (6); 6. 9-Kasey Kahne (3); 7. 3c-Willie Croft (8); 8. 99-Skylar Gee (7).
Qualifier 4 (10 laps): 1. 83-David Gravel (1); 2. 22-Mason Moore (2); 3. 21-Brian Brown (3); 4. 26-Joey Saldana (4); 5. 11k-Kraig Kinser (6); 6. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5); 7. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson (7).
B Main (15 laps/8 transfer): 1. 83-David Gravel (1); 2. 82-Dusty Zomer (4); 3. 33-Danny Lasoski (5); 4. 22-Mason Moore (2); 5. 9-Kasey Kahne (6); 6. 1a-Jacob Allen (8); 7. 3c-Willie Croft (13); 8. 88n-D.J. Netto (7); 9. 99-Skylar Gee (15); 10. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson (12); 11. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3); 12. 57-Dale Blaney (11); 13. 51r-Freddie Rahmer (10); 14. 94-Ryan Smith (DNS); 15. 23-Seth Bergman (DNS).
A Main (30 laps): 1. 11-Steve Kinser (1); 2. 51-Paul McMahan (3); 3. 21-Brian Brown (12); 4. 1s-Logan Schuchart (4); 5. 11k-Kraig Kinser (9); 6. 33v-Henry Van Dam (8); 7. 42-Kyle Larson (2); 8. 31b-Christopher Bell (15); 9. 26-Joey Saldana (13); 10. 82-Dusty Zomer (18); 11. 51s-Stevie Smith (5); 12. 22-Mason Moore (20); 13. 77x-Wayne Johnson (11); 14. 11c-Roger Crockett (16); 15. 2l-Logan Forler (10); 16. 9r-Reece Goetz (14); 17. 88n-D.J. Netto (24); 18. 9-Kasey Kahne (21); 19. 7-Craig Dollansky (7); 20. 83-David Gravel (17); 21. 87-Aaron Reutzel (6); 22. 3c-Willie Croft (23); 23. 1a-Jacob Allen (22); 24. 33-Danny Lasoski (DNS).
(Top 24 in passing and finishing points in the heat races were inverted in the qualifiers. The top 16 in passing and finishing points following the qualifiers locked into the A Main.)
UNOFFICIAL POINTS AFTER ROUND 3 –
.1. 51-Paul McMahan 560; 2. 26-Joey Saldana 544; 3. 51s-Stevie Smith 541; 4. 42-Kyle Larson 523; 5. 33-Danny Lasoski 507; 6. 31b-Christopher Bell 493; 7. 11c-Roger Crockett 492; 8. 1s-Logan Schuchart 485; 9. 11-Steve Kinser 479; T10. 9-Kasey Kahne 477; T10. 11k-Kraig Kinser 477; 12. 21-Brian Brown 473; 13. 7-Craig Dollansky 470; 14. 83-David Gravel 465; 15. 33v-Henry Van Dam 462; 16. 51r-Freddie Rahmer 450; T17. 87-Aaron Reutzel 448; T17. 3c-Willie Croft 448; 19. 82-Dusty Zomer 447; 20. 9r-Reece Goetz 438; 21. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 426; T22. 2l-Logan Forler 432; T22. 22-Mason Moore 432; 24. 57-Dale Blaney 418; T25. 5h-Dakota Hendrickson 401; T25. 94-Ryan Smith 401; 27. 1a-Jacob Allen 387; 28. 88n-D.J. Netto 377; 29. 99-Skylar Gee 359; 30. 77x-Wayne Johnson 305; 31. 23-Seth Bergman 279; 32. 98-Matt Jensen 221; 33. 55-Bud Walberg 107; 34. 74x-Josh Hodges 105.
WINTER HEAT SPRINT CAR SHOWDOWN –
Dates: Jan. 2-3, 6, 9-10, 2015
Track: Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz.
Prize: $12,000-to-win, $1,000-to-start each night (Jan. 2-3, 9-10); $5,000-to-win (Jan. 6); approximately $250,000 total prize money
Type: 410ci sprint cars
Times: Pit gate opens at 11 a.m.; main gates open at 2 p.m.; hot laps at 6:30 p.m.; Opening Ceremonies at 7 p.m.
TICKETS –
Fans can purchase tickets by clicking https://secure.pivotalracing.com/venues/cocopah-speedway.
PAY-PER-VIEW –
SPEED SPORT Productions will be broadcasting live Pay-Per-View video of the Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown for $27.95 per night. Visit http://www.SPEEDSPORT.TV/live for more information. The event will also be taped for a pair of one-hour delayed television broadcasts via MAVTV.
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.CocopahSpeedway.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CocopahShowdown
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WinterHeatSprintCarShowdown
THE EVENT –
The inaugural Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown will showcase the top sprint car drivers in the world in sunny Southwest Arizona during the first two weekends of January in 2015. The four weekend races pay $12,000 to the winner and at least $1,000 to every driver who advances to the main event with the midweek show paying $5,000 to win.
POINTS FUND –
A $10,000 points fund will be split among the top-five finishers. The champion will receive a $4,000 bonus with drivers finishing second through fifth each offered $1,500. A driver will earn points throughout heat races, qualifying races and main events during the five events. A competitor must attempt to race in all five Winter Heat Sprint Car Showdown races to be eligible for the points fund.
COCOPAH SPEEDWAY –
Cocopah Speedway is a semi-banked, 3/8-mile dirt track located in Somerton, Ariz. It has a concrete wall perimeter, television-quality lighting and the pits are located outside turns three and four. There is also dry camping free of charge on the property. For more information, visit http://www.CocopahSpeedway.com.
COMETIC GASKET –
Cometic Gasket, Inc., is a leading worldwide supplier of shelf stock, custom and short-run gaskets for the performance aftermarket, original equipment and motor sports industries. The company, which is located in Concord, Ohio, was created in 1989 and ships out more than 5,000 types of gaskets to customers worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.Cometic.com.
JE PISTONS –
JE Pistons is the leader in high performance forged pistons. Based in Irvine, Calif., the company has more than 60 years of experience and has a history of manufacturing the highest quality pistons and components that professional engine builders, race teams and high-performance enthusiasts trust and rely on. For more information, visit http://www.JEPistons.com.
K1 TECHNOLOGIES –
K1 Technologies , which is located in Mentor, Ohio, has many years in the field of designing, engineering and manufacturing connecting rods and crankshafts. For more information, visit http://www.K1Technologies.com.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.