Kraig Kinser raced on a lot of bullrings in the early days of his career, especially in his home state of Indiana. One of the first tracks further away that he ventured to that was a long way from home was River Cities Speedway in North Dakota, and his experience from the tight Indiana tracks instantly paid off when he hit the high banks in Grand Forks. Over the years he has turned in several strong runs in World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series action at the high-banked three-tenths-mile, including a win in 2012. Kinser looks to add to his impressive resume at the track this week as the First Leg of the Northern Tour Presented by Gerdau is up next for the World of Outlaws on Friday, June 19 at River Cities Speedway.
Kinser raced with the World of Outlaws for the first time at River Cities Speedway in 2008 and hasn’t missed a race for the series at the track since. He has made a total of 14 Outlaws starts at the venue. Prior to that, he made four starts with the Gumout Series at the track between 2000 and 2002, finishing among the top-five in each of those races. In his World of Outlaws victory in 2012 at the River Cities, Kinser was victorious over his father, Steve, the 20-time series champion.
“River Cities (Speedway) is a little quarter-mile, but a very racy quarter-mile,” said Kinser. “It can get multiple grooves. It can get slick it, and it can event get rough. The surface can do a lot of different things and usually does. That puts on a good race and always keeps us kind of guessing and on our toes. The drivers all enjoy going there and I know I do. Any place that you’ve had some success at, you look forward to going back to.”
As a driver, Kinser enjoys the challenge of a 40-lap A-Feature at a track like River Cities Speedway, where it’s more about the driver and set-up, rather than just brute horsepower. Lapped traffic always comes into play for the leaders at River Cities, especially during long green flag runs.
“We are used to racing in lapped traffic and you don’t get away from each other too much,” he explained. “The way the track races up there, you are always around someone, more so in the feature when all of the cars are out there. If you are out front leading, it seems like you only have a couple of laps and you are back in traffic again. Your car not only has to be good out front, but you also have to be able to maneuver around cars. You really have to have a good car there.”
Earlier this week, Kinser finished fifth at Huset’s Speedway in South Dakota, which is another high-banked, close-quarters race track. That night, he timed in eighth-fastest and won the second heat race to earn a spot in the dash, where he finished seventh. In the 35-lap main event, he moved forward a couple of spots. Kinser will have five more laps of main event racing at River Cities Speedway, as the series runs 40-lappers at the track.
“The set-sup are a bit different from a place like Huset’s to Grand Forks, but both tracks are all about keeping momentum with the banking those tracks have,” noted Kinser. “If you have a car that runs fairly decent at Huset’s, you’ll probably have a car that is good at Grand Forks. You need the right set ups, then a good draw and a good time in qualifying.”
On a personal level, Kinser looks forward to racing at River Cities Speedway even more due to the fact that his family has been longtime friends with Don Mack (the Promoter at River Cities) and his family. Being from a racing family, Kinser appreciates everything that Mack and his staff do to provide the best show possible when the World of Outlaws come to town.
“I’ve been quite fortunate to be around Don (Mack) quite a bit during my racing days,” Kinser said. “He reached out to me early in my career and I got to go up there quite a bit before they had Outlaws shows up there. He’s a great promoter and takes care of the track really good. He’s a guy that has been around racing a long time and he understands what it takes to keep drivers happy, to keep car owners happy and to keep the fans happy.”
Tickets for the First Leg of the Northern Tour Presented by Gerdau on Friday, June 19 at River Cities Speedway can be purchased online at: http://slspromotions.ticketforce.com or at the track. Tickets are also available for the Second Leg of the Northern Tour Presented by Gerdau in August as well as packages for both races in June and August.
For more information on tickets visit slspromotions.ticketforce.com.
Twitter: @SLS_Promotions
Facebook: SLS Promotions LLC
- administrator on Jun 22, 2015
- Article Date: 6/18/2015 by Tony Veneziano