BLOOMINGTON, Ind.— Oct. 3, 2013— Kraig Kinser has made a pair of trips to Williams Grove Speedway this season to compete with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series and has recorded a couple of solid finishes, including a seventh-place performance at the famed half-mile in the spring. One more trip is on-tap in 2013, as the National Open, one of the crown jewels of sprint car racing and highest paying events in the sport, awaits the third-generation driver this weekend.
The Morgan Hughes National Open at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa., is set for Friday, Oct. 4 and Saturday, Oct. 5. Each night will feature a full racing program with full championship points on the line. The weekend will culminate with the 40-lap, $50,000-to-win National Open.
“The National Open is one of the biggest races in our sport and definitely a race you want to have a good showing at,” said Kinser. “There are always a lot of cars at Williams Grove and probably the deepest field we face all year, other than at the (Knoxville) Nationals. You definitely have to be on your game when you go in there and also have a little luck on your side.”
Kinser has made two starts this season at the historic half-mile, piloting the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/Mesilla Valley Transportation Maxim. During the first East Coast Swing of the season, he finished seventh in the 25-lap main event. The native of Bloomington, Ind., opened that night by timing in 14th-fastest of the 46 entries. Kinser started on the pole of the second heat race, which he won to earn a spot in the dash. He started and finished seventh in the dash. The finale of that event was rained out and not rescheduled. Kinser returned to Williams Grove in July for the Summer Nationals, which also turned into a one-night event, due to rain. He would finish 15th in that main event.
“We’ve been working really hard on our program for Williams Grove the last few years,” he shared. “I think it’s really starting to show as we had a pretty good car there in the spring and came away with a strong finish. We were descent in the summer as well. It would have been nice to have gotten two nights in during each of those stops at Williams Grove, but Mother Nature didn’t cooperate. Hopefully, this weekend we get good weather and get two full shows in.”
Last year in the National Open, Kinser finished seventh in the opener and was 20th in the finale. He recorded the best finish of his career at Williams Grove in finale of the 2012 Summer Nationals, coming home fourth. He has nine top-10 finishes in his career at the unique and always challenging oval, including three in his last five starts at the track.
Kinser has made six starts in the A-Feature of the National Open. He finished ninth in the event in 2004, the same year he claimed the World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award. To date, that is his best finish in the National Open.
Last weekend at Fremont Speedway in Ohio, Kinser came home 15th in a caution-plagued event. He was running eighth on the 22nd circuit when he spun. After restarting at the back of the field, Kinser was able to pass quite a few cars in the remainder of the rough-and-tumble event. He timed in 19th-fastest, which put him on the pole of the fourth heat race, where he ran second to earn a spot in the dash. Kinser charged from the 10th starting spot in the dash to finish seventh, earning a starting spot on the inside of the fourth row for the 40-lap main event.
Kinser is currently 11th in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings, just five markers out of the top-10. He has one victory this season, along with 32 top-10 finishes, of which eight are top-five performances. A total of five nights of racing remain on the 2013 calendar.
“We only have a few more weekends left this year, so we want to make the most of them,” said Kinser. “We’ve been pretty fast and consistent the last few weeks, and just have had some bad luck like at Fremont (Speedway). You always want to finish the year on a good note to go into the off-season with some momentum.”
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: National Open at Williams Grove Speedway
0.5– Distance around Williams Grove Speedway
2- Starts at Williams Grove Speedway this season
4- Nights of racing this season for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at Williams Grove
6- Career starts in the A-Feature of the National Open
7- Finishing position in the spring event at Williams Grove this season
8- Top-five finishes this season
11- Current position in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series standings
16.140- Track record at Williams Grove Speedway
25- Laps led in A-Feature events this season
30– Career main event starts at Williams Grove, including preliminary features
32- Top-10 finishes this season
395- Miles from Fremont Speedway in Ohio where the World of Outlaws raced on Sept. 28 to Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg, Pa.
1963- Year of the first National Open at Williams Grove Speedway
2003– Year of first start at Williams Grove Speedway
8267- Points earned through Sept. 28
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