BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—June 12, 2013— When it comes to historic half-mile dirt tracks in the Upper Midwest, two venues quickly come to mind — Knoxville Raceway in Iowa and Jackson Speedway in Minnesota. Kraig Kinser knows both tracks very well and has had success at each during his career with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. He’ll return to the pair of tradition-laden venues this weekend as series opens a four-race stretch in the Upper Midwest.
Kinser will take to the track at Jackson Speedway on Friday, June 14, for the Eyecon Trail Cameras Presents the Big Game Shootout, followed by his second visit of the season to Knoxville Raceway on Saturday, June 15 for the Mediacom Shootout. Each event will encompass a full racing program, capped with $10,000-to-win features.
The native of Bloomington, Ind., has made three starts in his career Jackson Speedway. He made his debut at the half-mile in 2004, finishing second, after starting on the pole. He most recently raced at the track in 2010, finishing 11th. Kinser, who has made one start in the state of Minnesota already this year, finishing 15th at Elko Speedway, has one career win in the “Land of 10,000 Lakes,” with that coming in 2008 in his first-ever start at North Central Speedway in Brainerd.
“A lot has changed since the last time we raced at Jackson, so that should put everyone on a pretty equal playing field,” said Kinser. “That’s one of those places where track position is pretty important, especially being in clean air with the speeds you reach there. We’ve been working hard on our qualifying package this week and hopefully we can time in near the front and start up front in a heat and work our way into the dash.”
Last month at Knoxville, Kinser finished 13th, after lining up 21st. He was 26th-fastest in time trials with a season-high 51 cars in attendance. He finished fourth in the first heat race to transfer to the main event. The third-generation driver has two career wins at Knoxville, with both of those coming in 2005, including claiming the Knoxville Nationals that year.
“Knoxville was very racy last time we were there,” he noted. “We made up quite a few spots in the feature and so did a few other guys. We had the car working pretty good in the feature and we able to move around. There will probably be quite a few cars there again this time, so that will put a premium on qualifying, and that really seems to be the case just about every race nowadays.”
In his career with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at Knoxville, Kinser has made a total of 29 main event starts, including preliminary features. He has a pair of wins to go along with 11 top-10 finishes, of which six are top-five showings. Kinser made his debut at the half-mile with the World of Outlaws in 2001.
With 31 races in the books this season, Kinser is currently 11th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has one win, along with 14 top-10 finishes, with four of those being top-five performances.
“It was good to get three races in last week and to have a little extra time to work on stuff this week doesn’t hurt either,” Kinser stated. “The next couple weeks we’ll just have weekend races and as a driver those are the week’s that can be the toughest, as you want to be out there racing every night. We’ll make the most of the time between the races and keep tweaking things.”
Kraig Kinser Racing would like to thank Casey’s General Stores, Mesilla Valley Transportation, 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: Jackson Speedway & Knoxville Raceway
0.5- Miles around both Jackson Speedway and Knoxville Raceway
1- Win in the state of Minnesota in his career- North Central Speedway in 2008
2- Career main event wins at Knoxville
3- Career main events starts at Jackson Speedway
4- Nights of racing in Minnesota this season for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
6- Total nights of racing for the series at Knoxville this season, including the Knoxville Nationals
9.7- Average finish in three career main event starts at Jackson Speedway
14- Top-10 finishes earned this season through June 8
29- Career feature events starts at Knoxville with the series, including preliminary features
275- Miles from Jackson Speedway where the World of Outlaws race on June 14 to Knoxville Raceway
402- Miles from Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., where the World of Outlaws raced on June 8 to Jackson Speedway in Minnesota
2001- Year of first start at Knoxville Raceway with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
2004- Year of debut at Jackson Speedway
2005- Year of win in the Knoxville Nationals
2010- Year of most recent start at Jackson Speedway
3733- Points earned through June 8
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- Admin Account on Jun 13, 2013
- Article Date: 6/12/2013 by Kraig Kinser Racing PR