BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — April 14, 2014— The saying “everything is bigger in Texas” will certainly hold true this week for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series. A trio of races are on-tap, including the series return to Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas, where it all began for the series in 1978. The event will mark the series first visit to the historic half-mile since 2003, an event that Kraig Kinser competed in.
The week opens on Tuesday, April 15 at El Paso Speedway Park for the second-ever World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at the three-eighths-mile. The Texas Outlaw Nationals presented by American Racing Custom Wheels at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas, is scheduled for Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19, with a $20,000 payday awaiting the winner of the finale, which marks the largest winner’s share ever for a sprint car race in the state of Texas.
The Texas Outlaw Nationals will feature a reunion of racers who were at the first World of Outlaws event at Devils Bowl in 1978. The reunion is being organized by Hall of Famer Shane Carson, one of the original “Outlaws.”
Last season at El Paso Speedway Park, Kinser fifth in the 30-lap main event, after lining up seventh on the grid in the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim. In time trials at the semi-banked oval, Kinser stopped the clocks 11th-fastest, which put him on the pole of the second eight-lap heat race. He took the lead at the start of the heat and paced all eight circuits to earn a spot in the dash. Kinser started ninth in the dash and gained two positions, which put him on the inside of the fourth row at the drop of the green flag in the A-Feature. Kinser made his first-career start at El Paso Speedway Park in the fall of 2012 in a 360-sprint car event.
“We had a good car at El Paso last year and with my dad winning that race, we both have some good notes to go off,” said Kinser. “We didn’t quite wrap up the West Coast races up how we were hoping last weekend, so hopefully heading back to the Midwest we can pick up some steam and string together a few good runs to build on.”
Kinser has raced in two feature events in his career at Devil’s Bowl Speedway. He finished 13th at the half-mile in 2002, after starting 13th. Kinser was eighth-fastest in time trials that night of the 32 entries. He returned to the historic track the following season and was seventh-quickest in time trials. Kinser raced his way into the dash, starting 10th in the main event, before mechanical problems ended his night early in the A-Feature.
“It sounds like it is going to be a huge event at Devil’s Bowl,” said Kinser. “There are a ton of the racers from the first Outlaws race there coming back, so it’s going to be pretty cool. There will definitely be a lot of bench racing all weekend and for those of us that weren’t around yet when that race was run it will be pretty neat to hear some of the stories. As for the racing, we’ll treat the track like a place we are going to for the first time, since it’s been such a long time since we’ve been there and a lot has changed on the cars since then.”
Kinser wrapped up the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series “Spring Break Tour” in California, last weekend. He finished 13th at Perris Auto Speedway on Saturday, April 12, battling driveline problems early in the night. At Kings Speedway on Friday, April 11, Kinser was 14th, working his way back through the field after an early race spin in the 35-lap feature.
Kinser heads to Texas 10th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has a trio of top-10 finishes thus far in 2014.
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.
Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: El Paso Speedway Park & Devil’s Bowl Speedway
0.375- Miles around El Paso Speedway Park
0.5- Distance around Devil’s Bowl Speedway in miles
1- Start with the World of Outlaws at El Paso
2 Career main event starts at Devil’s Bowl
3- Nights of racing in the state of Texas in 2014 for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
10- Current position in points
13.453- Track record at El Speedway Park
647- Miles from El Paso Speedway Park in Texas, where the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series races on April 15 to Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas
755- Miles from Perris Auto Speedway in California where the World of Outlaws raced on April 12 to El Paso Speedway Park in Texas
1734- Points earned this season through April 12
1978- Year of first World of Outlaws event at Devil’s Bowl Speedway
2013- Year of World of Outlaws debut at El Paso Speedway Park
20,000- Dollars the winner receive at Devil’s Bowl Speedway on April 19, the largest payout for a sprint car race ever in Texas
Keep up with all the action
For the latest news on Kraig Kinser, visit http://www.kraigkinser.com, and follow Kraig on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kraigkinser11k and receive live updates from the track each and every race night.
Tune in
Listen live to each and every World of Outlaws event on DIRTVision.com with “The Voice of the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series” Johnny Gibson on the call. Visit www.DIRTVision.com for live audio of each and every World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event.
