BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Sept. 15, 2013— The pace of the racing programs this past weekend for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series were complete opposites. On Saturday, Sept. 14 at Deer Creek Speedway in Spring Valley, Minn., the event was run in hurry-up mode with rain surrounding the area, with the checkered flag ultimately flying at 8:38 p.m. Central. On Friday, Sept. 13 at Clay County Fair Speedway in Spencer, Iowa, a couple hours delay early in the night to get the track service in racing shape, paired with a number of cautions in the main event, along with a fuel stop, pushed the completion of the program to well past midnight. The results were the same each night for Kraig Kinser though, as he crossed the line eighth aboard the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim.
Kinser took the green flag for the 35-lap main event that capped the Asgrow/DeKalb Clash at the Creek at Deer Creek Speedway from the 14th spot. He lost a position on the opening lap and was running 15th when the first caution flag of the night flew on the third circuit. On the ensuing double file restart, he was able to gain a couple of spots and had worked his way up to the eighth spot by just the sixth lap.
The race was slowed twice more for caution flag periods, with single file restarts being used from this point on due to track conditions. Kinser fell back to ninth on the 10th go-around, but would gain the eighth spot back on lap-14 and would remain there for the duration of the 35-lapper, which was run with light rain falling the entire time, to earn his 32nd top-10 finish of the season.
“We were definitely glad to get the race in,” said Kinser. “It’s always tough when you know rain is coming and when it starts falling a bit that makes it even tougher. Everyone did a great job to speed the program through and get all 35 laps in for the fans, which is the main thing. We were able to move forward in the feature on a very tricky surface, so all in all, it was a decent night for us.”
The native of Bloomington, Ind., was 14th-quickest in qualifying at Deer Creek Speedway. He lined up fifth in the second heat race and wound up sixth to earn a spot in the main event. When the field assembled for the 35-lap A-Feature, the third-generation driver found himself on the outside of the seventh row in the 14th starting spot.
The 30-lap Arnold Motor Supply Shootout at Clay County Speedway on Friday night began with a yellow flag on the initial start for an accident, with a complete restart in order. On the second start, the caution came back out and led to a third start. On the third start, Kinser started to work his way forward and was up to eighth by the third lap. He found himself sixth just before the halfway point of the 30-lap contest. Kinser then was engaged in a spirited battled with Kerry Madsen for the fifth position, taking that spot for a few laps. Late in the going, Kinser raced Cody Darrah for seventh, and wound up finishing eighth to earn his 31st top-10 finish of the season.
The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals opened the night at Clay County by timing in 13th-fastest, missing the heat race inversion by just one spot, which equated to two-thousandths-of-a-second. He charged from the fifth starting spot in the first heat race to finish second, which put him in the dash. The dash saw Kinser line up 10th and he was able to gain one position in that six-lap contest, and earn a starting spot the inside of the fifth row for the 30-lap Arnold Motor Supply Shootout.
“I’ve always run well at Spencer (Clay County Fair Speedway),” he noted. “We had a good heat race and were able to get in the dash and that’s always important. We just missed the heat race inversion in time trials by a hair, so to be able to come from fifth to second in the heat was great. The track was challenging in the feature, but we were able to maintain and come away with a solid finish.”
Kinser will return to the track next weekend at the famed Eldora Speedway for the running of the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series portion of the 4-Crown Nationals, followed by a trip to Lernerville (Pa.) Speedway for the Commonwealth Clash. The third-generation driver is currently 11th in the series standings. He has one win this season, along with 32 top-10 finishes.
“We are excited to get back to the shop and spend the week catching up on things and working on some things,” said Kinser. “It’s always nice to sleep in your own bed as well and for all the crews, this week will provide a well-deserved break, after all the long hours they have put in the last few weeks and all of the miles driven as well.”
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.
- Admin Account on Sep 16, 2013
- Article Date: 9/15/2013 by Kraig Kinser Racing PR