Sprint car races are often described as being fast and furious. The feature events rarely are longer than 15 miles in distance and sometimes can be completed in less than eight minutes. This weekend, that will change as Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Kraig Kinser and the rest of the World of Outlaws (WoO) competitors will battle for supremacy in the inaugural Iron Man 55 at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Mo.
Instead of an all-out assault on getting to the front as fast as they can, Kinser and the WoO drivers will encounter some of the challenges other motorsports competitors face Saturday night by racing in a 55-lap feature race, making it the longest “A” feature event in the modern era of the World of Outlaws.
For Kinser, the weekend is a chance for the 24-year-old, third-generation Sprint car racer to shine in the “Show Me State,” which is home base for the team’s title sponsor, Bass Pro Shops. It’s also a venue where he already has scored a WoO “A” feature victory. Kinser will drive TSR’s No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim in two complete nights of racing at the high-banked, 1/3-mile track located just south of St. Louis.
The Bass Pro Shops team enters the weekend coming off consecutive top-10 finishes in Outlaws action, scoring a ninth-place finish at Ohsweken (Ontario) Speedway on Wednesday night and an eighth-place run at K-C Raceway in Waverly, Ohio, on Saturday night. In the team’s last eight starts, it has scored five top-10s, with a fourth-place run at the Brad Doty Classic being the high-water mark.
This weekend’s event at I-55 will be the Outlaws’ first visit to one of the series’ most exciting tracks since April 2008. Mother Nature forced the cancellation of scheduled events in July 2008 and April 2009. Kinser has 11 starts at the track since he made his debut in September 2000. In August 2004, the Outlaws staged a race at I-55 the week before the Knoxville Nationals, and Kinser raced to a second-place finish. His next race at the track was in April 2005. On that night, he raced from the seventh starting spot and passed both the second-place racer and the leader to seize control on the sixth lap. Kinser went on to lead the remaining 33 laps to score his fourth career WoO feature victory.
Kinser and the Bass Pro Shops team have completed 46 of the 84 schedule nights of WoO racing in 2009. The Mooresville, N.C., resident has scored nine top-five finishes and 22 top-10s. He currently ranks ninth in the WoO Sprint Series championship standings with 5,654 points.
Kraig Kinser, Driver of the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim:
Q: Sprint car racing’s richest month includes a variety of races, but they all have a big payday attached to them. This year’s Iron Man 55 is the newest event to offer $20,000 to the winner. How important is it for I-55 to host a big show like this one?
Kraig Kinser: “St. Louis has a great racing tradition with guys like Kenny Schrader and the Wallace brothers all pretty much getting their careers started in the area, and I-55 has always been one of my favorite places to race. The event provides us a good weekend to do well for the people who are behind this team. Bass Pro Shops is headquartered in Missouri, and they always have a lot of people out to support us. So, any time we can race at place like that, it’s a great chance for us to give them some extra exposure. We’re really shooting for a good weekend and one that will give us some momentum heading into the Knoxville Nationals. Winning a race and taking home $20,000 wouldn’t be bad, either.”
Q: On Saturday, the feature race will be 15 laps longer than you typically run. What are your thoughts on extending the race to 55 laps?
Kraig Kinser: “Personally, I always like the longer races. You have to really have your car balanced throughout the race so you are not too good at the beginning that you are not going to be as good at the end. You have to find a good balance all the way through that race. Hopefully, we can do that. I like running around I-55 with the wall right there. It’s a lot of fun and it’s always tight racing and good racing. I’m really looking forward to it.”
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