MetraPark Raceway race report

Kinser Keeps Roll Going at MetraPark Raceway
By Richard Day BILLINGS, MT (August 15) -- Mark Kinser always tries to be a good son. He does his best to do what his father, car owner and crew chief, Karl Kinser, tells him. Three days after successfully defending his Amoco Knoxville Nationals championship, Mark recalled what Karl said when the team left Knoxville Raceway ... "you need to get on a roll now." Kinser made Karl proud Tuesday when the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series opened its annual Wild, Wild Northwest Tour at MetraPark Raceway, continuing his hot streak by winning his series-leading 10th "A" Feature of the season. Mark also turned the Knoxville-Billings double play a year ago. "I love Montana," Mark yelled to the capacity crowd. "Our car was pretty good tonight. We got out there at the start and never really looked back. My crew guys (Dennis Kohler, Randy Ward and Jim Case) did a great job of keeping up with the tires and everything tonight. My father's not here tonight. We just got into his little black book and took things from there, so he was with us in spirit, at least." Karl was also in the team's Oolitic, IN, shop preparing for upcoming races when Mark drove the #5M Mopar Maxim to victory July 10th at Cedar Lake Speedway. Kinser, the fifth-fastest qualifier in the 23-car field, won the Second NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race and earned the right to start the "A" Feature outside the front row by following Andy Hillenburg across the finish line in the CHANNELLOCK Dash. Kinser and Hillenburg raced wheel-to-wheel down the front straightaway as the green flag fell in the main event. Mark surged ahead high in the first corner. Dale Blaney spun into sixth-starting Brian Paulus in turn three, however, causing the #28 Verdelli Farms Maxim to flip. The crash forced Paulus, who passed four cars in the CHANNELLOCK Dash, into the pits for the remainder of the race. Kinser burst into the lead when the green flag replaced the red. Hillenburg was battling him for the lead late in the second lap when an electrical problem caused Tim Shaffer to stop the #11H Vivarin Eagle in the fourth corner. Sonny Kratzer and his crew repaired the car quickly, and Shaffer restarted at the rear of the field. Vivarin Fast-Time Award winner Johnny Herrera stopped the #20 Networks Eagle in the first corner with a flat left front tire within seconds after the race resumed. Kinser left the field behind following the caution period, and was 12 car-lengths ahead when he entered lapped traffic five laps later. Sammy Swindell pressured fellow Memphian Greg Hodnett for eighth place for two laps before Blaney steered the #93 Amoco Maxim deep in turn four to pass the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series' three-time champion late in lap 10. Blaney continued his charge toward the front two laps later, taking the high line through the first and second corners to pass Hodnett for eighth place. Third NAPA AUTO PARTS Heat Race winner Joey Saldana exchanged third place with Hillenburg during the race's middle stages. Joey surged ahead in turn three late in lap 14, only to have Andy beat him down the front straightaway the next time around. Saldana drove his #17 HEM Saw Eagle past Hillenburg low in the second corner, then passed Jac Haudenschild for the runner-up spot deep in turn three later in the 15th lap. Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series points leader Steve Kinser steered his #11 Quaker State Maxim into the low groove between the third and fourth corners to pass both Hillenburg and Haudenschild two laps later. Saldana beat "The King of the Outlaws" past Willie Hernandez and Doug Strong late in the 21st lap. Hillenburg and "The Wild Child" passed Kinser as he frantically searched for an opening in lapped traffic, then Hernandez stopped on the back stretch two laps later. Kinser regained third place late in the 25th lap, taking the low line through turn four to pass Hillenburg and Haudenschild. Mark Kinser opened a straightaway advantage on Saldana while Danny Lasoski, Donny Schatz and Blaney passed "The Wild Child" during the final 4 3/4 laps. Saldana, who recorded his only Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series "A" Feature victory at I-96 Speedway on July 24, 1995, enjoyed his best race of the year. Steve Kinser finished third, ahead of Hillenburg, Lasoski, Schatz, Blaney, Haudenschild, Daryn Pittman and Greg Hodnett. Pittman, who passed eight cars in the series' 44th "A" Feature of the season, moved past Tim Shaffer into 12th place in the standings. Herrera received his first Vivarin Fast-Time Award of the season for pacing the qualifying session with a 100.306-m.p.h. lap around the semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval. WoO