BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — March 26, 2014— The majority of dirt tracks in California are of the short track persuasion. Those that are a quarter- or third-mile, which are known for being tight, bullrings that really make a driver really sit up in the seat and get their “elbows up.” That description perfectly defines the two tracks that await Kraig Kinser and his fellow World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series competitors this weekend at Merced Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway.
Kinser will be in action in the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim at Merced Speedway on Friday, March 28, followed by the Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway on Saturday, March 29.
“Merced (Speedway) and Chico (Silver Dollar Speedway) are definitely two of the smallest tracks we race on all year,” said Kinser. “I cut my teeth on small tracks back home when I was younger, so a lot of the tracks in California remind me of those places. I’ve had good luck at both places in the past and had some tough nights at each, also. We have a good baseline for both places and will adapt and adjust as the night goes on.”
Kinser has made three starts at the one-third-mile Merced Speedway in his career. He finished fourth at the track in 2012, in the second-ever World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series event at the venue. The third-generation driver opened that event by turning the fastest lap in time trials, which at the time was a new track record. His mark of 10.878-seconds was broken last year by Joey Saldana, who circled Merced in 10.823-seconds
The native of Bloomington, Ind., came home eighth in last year’s edition of the Mini Gold Cup at Silver Dollar Speedway. Kinser has six career top-10 finishes at the quarter-mile located in Chico, Calif., with two of those being top-five performances. He finished a career-best third in the finale of the 2009 Mini Gold Cup and was fourth on a preliminary night of the Gold Cup Race of Champions in 2008.
“Qualifying is where it’s at right now with the Outlaws format,” he noted. “We’ve had a handful of strong runs in time trials this year, which put us in a good position and a handful that were just a tick or two off, which put us in a hole for the rest of the night. A lot of times it comes down to what number you draw in the qualifying order and when you go out. We’ll give it everything we got in time trials as we always do and hopefully the chips fall our way.”
In his most recent start at Stockton 99 Dirt Track on Friday, March 21, Kinser finished 17th after starting 24th. He finished seventh in the first heat race and then raced his way into the 30-lap main event with a fourth-place show in the Last Chance Showdown.
Kinser is currently ninth in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series 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: Merced Speedway & Silver Dollar Speedway
0.25- Miles around both Merced Speedway and Silver Dollar Speedway
2– Tracks in California visited thus far in 2014
3– Career appearances at Merced Speedway; Starts in the state of California this season
6- Top-10 finishes at Silver Dollar Speedway
9– Main event starts in 2014 with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
10.823– Track record established in time trials at Merced Speedway last year
10.918– Track record at Silver Dollar Speedway set in 2013
12.6- Average finishing position in 19 main event starts at Silver Dollar Speedway, including preliminary features
19- Career main event starts at Silver Dollar Speedway
71- Miles from Stockton 99 Dirt Track in Stockton, Calif. where the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series raced on March 22 to Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif.
206– Miles from Merced Speedway in Merced, Calif., where the series competes on March 28 to Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, Calif.
1123– Points earned through March 23
2004- Year of first start at Silver Dollar Speedway
2011– Debut at Merced Speedway
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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