BLOOMINGTON, Ind.—June 23, 2013 — A total of 19 drivers competed in both main events with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series over the weekend at River Cities Speedway in North Dakota, and I-94 Speedway in Minnesota. Just one of those competitors finished in the top-five both nights — Kraig Kinser. The native of Bloomington, Ind., was fifth at River Cities and finished in that same spot in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series inaugural event at I-94.
“It was a very good weekend,” said Kinser. “I’ve said it before that we always want to finish a few spots higher, especially when we are up front, but to come away with two top-five finishes against the competition that we did, I’ll take that any day of the week. We’ve been pretty good on the short tracks this year and seem to be gaining some ground on the three-eighths-mile as well, which is very encouraging.”
On Saturday, June 22 at I-94 Speedway, a high-banked, three-eighths-mile, Kinser started sixth in the Casey’s General Store/Mesilla Valley Transportation Maxim. He gained a spot on the opening lap and ran fourth for the fifth eight laps of the 30-lap contest. The only caution flag of the night flew at the halfway point, with Kinser restarting fifth on the low side of the track. He got around Craig Dollansky on the restart to move into fourth before the latter got by him on the next lap. The pair would trade the fourth spot twice more over the next four laps, with Dollansky ultimately taking the position. Kinser would run fifth for the remainder of the race to earn his sixth top-five finish of the season.
For Kinser, the night began at I-94 Speedway by timing in 11th and earning the pole position for the second heat race. He would finish second in that eight-lapper to earn a spot in the dash. Kinser would line up ninth in the dash and worked his way up to sixth, which put him on the outside of the third row for the A-Feature.
“I-94 (Speedway) is a very nice track,” he shared. “They had a great crowd and I think the fans saw a pretty good show. We had a lot of green flag racing that kept us in lapped traffic. This was another night where we qualified in the right spot and were able to take advantage of that and get into the dash. We haven’t gotten in the dash as much as we would have liked so far this year, but it seems like every time we do make it in, we end up with a solid finish.”
At River Cities Speedway on Friday, June 21, Kinser ran as high as second over the course of the 40-lap main event, which was slowed by four red flags and three yellow flag periods, before coming home fifth. The initial start took four attempts and Kinser found himself in fifth once a lap was finally completed. He was all the way up to fourth in the early going, before falling back to ninth. He worked his way back into the top-five by the 10th circuit and would run among the lead pack for the remainder of the distance. He battled eventual winner Cody Darrah for several laps for the second spot. The fifth-place showing was the sixth top-10 finish of his career at the ultra-racy bullring with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series.
In qualifying at River Cities, Kinser was third-quickest of the 36 entrants. He started fourth in the third heat race and finished third to earn a spot in the dash. A dash inversion of eight put the 28-year-old on the outside of the fifth row. He would finish fifth in the dash.
“River Cities is definitely one of my favorite tracks,” Kinser said. “The Mack family are good friends of ours and they do a great job up there. I’ve always run pretty well up there and that track really reminds me a lot of Bloomington Speedway back home. River Cities is a place where you can fall back a few spots like we did and then make it all back up and then some in a lap or two. I can’t wait to go back up there in August.”
Kinser and his fellow World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series competitors return to the track next weekend with a trio of races at LaSalle (Ill.) Speedway, Beaver Dam (Wis.) Raceway and Cedar Lake (Wis.) Speedway. The third-generation driver is currently 11th in points on the strength of 16 top-10 finishes, with six of those being top-five showings, including a win at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York last month.
“We have a few days this week to get prepared for the three races coming up, and the busy stretch that is coming up in July,” he noted. “The main thing right now is to qualify well and not put yourself in a hole at the beginning of the night. We qualified well both nights over the weekend and the results speak for themselves. We have to keep after it and keep qualifying up toward the top.”
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.
River Cities Speedway & I-94 Speedway Results
| Date | Time Trials |
Heat Start |
Heat Finish | Dash Start | Dash Finish | Feature Start | Feature Finish | Points |
| June 21 | 3rd | 4th | 3rd | 6th | 5th | 5th | 5th | 11th |
| June 22 | 11th | 1st | 2nd | 9th | 6th | 6th | 5th | 11th |
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
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