There’s no tougher driver in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series than Steve Kinser . Five days after surgery to fix a wrist injury, Kinser surged to victory on Saturday night at Lakeside Speedway, winning for the fifth time this season and the 566th time in his legendary career.
Kinser had been trying to track down Brian Brown for much of the 30-lap main event. Brown weaved through traffic to lead the first 21 laps before a caution with nine to go gave Kinser his shot to win at Lakeside for the second consecutive season. Brown chose the bottom line on the double-file restart, giving Kinser the top groove to power past Brown, then hold him off to the checkered flag. Cody Darrah was third with Sammy Swindell and Jason Meyers rounding out the Top Five.
“Tonight was a really demanding night inside the car but a great night for our team,” said Kinser, of Bloomington, Ind. “The top line really had a lot of grip tonight and I don’t think I could have caught Brian Brown had that yellow not come out. Brian was driving a great race and I kind of took advantage of his lack of experience with the double file restarts and just held on. I’m a little sore and exhausted but really happy to get this team back to victory lane.”
Kinser had surgery Tuesday to fix injuries sustained in a violent crash on Monday at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich. With his left arm and wrist wrapped tightly, Kinser gritted his teeth and drove through the pain this weekend in his Tony Stewart Racing #11 Bass Pro Shops/J.D. Byrider/Chevrolet.
On Saturday night, after Kinser raced past Brown on the restart with nine laps to go and took control, Brown then had to fight off Kasey Kahne Racing’s Cody Darrah and his Great Clips Maxim. Brown managed to hold off Darrah for the second spot in a night he described as “awesome.”
“It’s truly an honor just to be standing on the same front stretch as that man over there,” said Brown as he motioned to where Kinser was posing for Victory Lane photographs. “He got me on that restart because I just am not used to them. We ran a great race. The car was very strong and the bottom of (turns) three and four seemed to have some grip in addition to the top.”
Darrah started on the outside pole and gave Brown everything he had. When Brown charged out to a quick lead, Darrah battled Kinser over the first 21 laps while they both chased Brown, then he battled Brown to the checkered flag after Kinser charged to the point.
“Our car was fantastic tonight,” said Darrah, a Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year contender from Red Lion, Pa. “Like everyone else, the top worked really well for us and my guys put a great car underneath me. It was fun battling Steve and getting to learn from him a bit since he’s won here before.”
Swindell flirted with the top three throughout the final 10 laps before settling for a fourth-place finish with 2010 Champion Meyers in fifth. World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series championship points leader Joey Saldana earned a ninth-place finish in the Kasey Kahne Racing Red Bull Maxim. His series lead is 13 points over Donny Schatz and 27 points over Steve Kinser, in fact the top six in the standings are separated by only 90 points.
Paul McMahan, who on Friday dominated the Belleville High Banks for his second win in a week, continued his incredible qualifying efforts by being the quickest car for the seventh time this season with a track record 13.646 seconds at 131.907 mph around the racy half-mile track. McMahan went on to finish seventh.
On Friday the Outlaws invade historic Knoxville (Iowa) Raceway for the 2011 Mediacom Shootout. The two-day event will be the only tune-up for The Greatest Show on Dirt before returning in August for the 51st Goodyear Knoxville Nationals.
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