West Coast Swing Concludes for Kraig Kinser at Hanford & Perris


Bloomington, Ind. -- California has been a home away from home for Kraig Kinser for the last five weeks, racing six times at five different tracks. He’ll make two final starts in the Golden State this weekend as the early season West Coast swing for the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series comes to an end.

Kinser will take to the track in the Casey’s General Store/Mesilla Valley Transportation Maxim on Friday, April 12 at Kings Speedway in Hanford, Calif., followed by a visit to Perris Auto Speedway, just outside of Los Angeles on Saturday, April 13. Each night will culminate with a $10,000-to-win main event.

“This is the kind of stretch we look forward to with all of the races in the next nine or so days,” said Kinser. “We’ll be on just about every size track we’ll race on this year, so it will be a good test to see where we are at. We’ve definitely been working hard all season to get used to the new tires and everything.”

The third-generation driver will be making his first main event start at Kings Speedway, though he did compete at the three-eighths-mile in 2011 with the World of Outlaws, in an event that was rained out just prior to the A-Feature being pushed off. That night he raced his way into the main even via the B-main, after a seventh-place finish in the third eight-lap heat race. He opened the night by timing in 21st-fastest in qualifying.

“Last time we were at Hanford we were just about to push off for the main event when the rain came,” he shared. “It will be nice to go back and get a full night of racing in. Hanford is a little bigger than the tracks we’ve been racing on the last couple of weekends and from what I hear can be a pretty racy place.”

Kinser has raced twice at Perris Auto Speedway in his career. He finished a career-best fourth at the half-mile last season, after opening the night with the second-fastest lap in time trials. He finished fourth in the second eight-lap heat race to earn a spot in the dash where he came home fifth, which put him on the inside of the third row for the 25-lap main event. The native of Bloomington, Ind., made his debut at Perris in 2004, finishing eighth in the main event that night.

“We had a great run at Perris last year,” Kinser stated. “That’s another place where starting toward the front is usually pretty important, so hopefully we qualify well and can get in the dash and put ourselves in a good position for later in the night. They don’t get to see winged sprint car very often in Southern California, so hopefully we can put on a good show for the fans.”

Entering the pair of races this weekend, Kinser is currently ninth in the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has recorded five top-10 finishes, including a season-best third-place performance on the second night of the season at Volusia Speedway Park in Florida.

Photo Courtesy of Jack Hedstrom/JacksRacePhotos.net
West Coast Swing Concludes for Kraig Kinser at Hanford & Perris West Coast Swing Concludes for Kraig Kinser at Hanford & Perris Reviewed by Dirt Racing News on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 Rating: 5