BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — May 21, 2014— Memorial Day weekend and racing. The pair goes hand-in-hand. The unofficial start of summer has long been known as the most historic racing weekend of the year. For the open wheel types it’s Indianapolis and the state of Indiana, while for the full-fendered stock car crowd it’s the Charlotte area in North Carolina. Kraig Kinser and his fellow World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series competitors will visit both of those racing-centric states as part of the Memorial Day celebration, contesting a pair of races.
The Circle K NOS Energy Outlaw Showdown for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series is scheduled for Friday, May 23 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. A trip to Indiana follows for an event on Memorial Day evening at Lawrenceburg Speedway on Monday, May 26.
Last season at Charlotte, Kinser finished fourth in the finale of the World Finals at the state-of-the-art four-tenths-mile located just outside of Charlotte in Concord, North Carolina. The third-generation driver was 23rd in the opener of the season-ending extravaganza. He came home 21st in the spring race at Charlotte.
“We finished last year strong at Charlotte, so hopefully we can pick up where we left off,” said Kinser, who drives the Mesilla Valley Transportation/Casey’s General Store/King Racing Products Maxim. “We had a tough East Coast Swing all around and really want to get back on track at Charlotte. It’s always great to race at Charlotte, especially on Memorial Day weekend, when a lot of fans that don’t see us often are in the area.”
In his career, Kinser has made 21 starts at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. He has recorded eight top-10 finishes, with five being top-five showings. Kinser finished a career-best second at Charlotte in the finale of the 2008 World Finals. This week’s event will be the first of two visits to Charlotte this season for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series, as they’ll return in November to wrap up the season in the World Finals.
Kinser finished seventh at Lawrenceburg Speedway last season, which marked his second straight top-10 finish at the high-banked three-eighths-mile. He was fourth-fastest of the 37 entrants that took to the track for time trials, and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the fourth heat race to earn a spot in the 35-lap main event. Kinser started 11th in the A-Feature and steadily worked his way forward.
“There is nothing like getting to race in Indiana, and we are fortunate enough to get to visit a handful of tracks in the state this year,” Kinser said. “We’ve had a good set-up the last few times we’ve been to Lawrenceburg. I always enjoyed racing there when it was a smaller track and since they’ve redone it, the racing continues to be wheel-to-wheel and very exciting for the fans. After the last couple of weeks and all the races and travel, it will be nice to get back to the shop for a few days to get things back in order.”
The native of Bloomington, Indiana, has made six starts with the series at Lawrenceburg, both on the former quarter-mile, and the three-eighths-mile, which has been in place for the last handful of years. Kinser won at the track in 2005 on the old configuration, and has a best showing of second on the redesigned surface in 2012.
Kinser recently wrapped up the first East Coast Swing of the season at New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey, with a 17th-place finish. Prior to that he finished 11th and 19th at Williams Grove Speedway in Pennsylvania, was 26th at Lincoln Speedway, also in Pennsylvania, and took the checkered flag 17th at Orange County Fair Speedway in New York.
Entering the two-races over Memorial Day Weekend, Kinser is ninth in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has nine top-10 finishes on the season with two of those being top-fives, as he chases his first win of the season.
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: The Dirt Track at Charlotte & Lawrenceburg Speedway
0.375– Miles around Lawrenceburg Speedway
0.4- Distance in miles around The Dirt Track at Charlotte
2– Career wins at Lawrenceburg Speedway (One with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series)
3- Main events scheduled this season for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
5– Career top-five finishes at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
6- Main event starts with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series at Lawrenceburg Speedway
7.2- Average finish in six career starts with the series at Lawrenceburg
8– Career top-10 finishes at The Dirt Track at Charlotte
13.3- Average finish in 21 feature event starts at Charlotte
21- Career main event starts at The Dirt Track at Charlotte, including preliminary features
29- Races completed this season by the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series through May 20
483– Miles from The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C., where the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series compete on May 23 to Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana
565– Miles from New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey, where the World of Outlaws raced on May 20 to The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C.
2002– Year of first start at Charlotte
2004- First start at Lawrenceburg with the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
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.
