BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—May 20, 2013— It’s often said that good things come to those who wait. Kraig Kinser had to wait an extra day to race at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York, after rain on Sunday, May 19 pushed the event back to Monday night, but he made the most of it, using a front row starting spot in the 25-lap main event at the sprawling 5/8-mile to lead the entire distance to record his first World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win of the 2013 season aboard the Casey’s General Store/Mesilla Valley Transportation Maxim.
Kinser lined up on the outside of the front row next to Chad Kemenah and won the drag race down the front straightaway at the drop of the green flag. He quickly opened a sizeable advantage in open track. Kinser first encountered lapped traffic on the eighth circuit, allowing Kemenah to close back in. After clearing the first couple of lapped cars, Kinser built his advantage back up near the midpoint of the race, which went non-stop green-to-checkers.
With six laps to go, the third-generation driver got hung up behind a lapped car, but was able to get around that machine while a torrid three-way battle for second ensued. Kinser would pull away again over the final three laps to score his first-career win at Orange County Fair Speedway. Last season at Orange County, he was running second on the last lap when he had a flat tire.
“It definitely feels great to win,” said Kinser. “We’ve had a tough start to the season so hopefully this turns things around and we can get rolling and string together a few more good finishes. Last year we had a heartbreaker here, so to pull off a win tonight kind of makes up for that.”
Kinser opened the night at Orange County Fair Speedway by turning the sixth-fastest lap in time trials of the 23 entries. He finished fourth in the third eight-lap heat race, which was good enough to earn him a spot in the dash. A dash inversion of six put the native of Bloomington, Ind., on the pole for the six-lapper, where he finished second to Kemenah.
“We started on the front row next to Chad (Kemenah) and he is one of my good friends, so I was glad to see him finish up here as well,” Kinser noted. “With the traveling and schedule that we have, we are all buddies out here, but we have to put that aside when it comes time to go racing and run as hard as we can. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into tomorrow night’s race at New Egypt.”
Prior to the event at Orange County Fair Speedway, Kinser competed at the famed Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., on Friday, May 17. He finished a solid seventh with a stout field of 46-cars in attendance. He opened that night by recording the 14th-fastest lap in time trials, which put him on the pole of the second eight-lap heat race. Kinser would win the heat to earn a spot in the dash, where he would finish seventh. Starting on the inside of the fourth row for the 25-lap A-Feature, the third-generation driver ran among the top-10 for the duration of the contest and crossed the line seventh to earn the ninth top-10 finish of his career at the historic half-mile. The finale at Williams Grove on Saturday, May 18 was rained out and will not be rescheduled.
The first East Coast Swing of the season, which began last week at Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania, wraps up for Kinser tomorrow night (Tuesday, May 21) at New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey.
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.
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- Admin Account on May 20, 2013
- Article Date: 5/20/2013 by Kraig Kinser Racing PR