Tri-State report 97-05-11

Kinser Qualifies for Indy 500, Wins at Tri-State By Richard Day HAUBSTADT, IN (May 11) - The man who wrote the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series record book inserted his name into the annals of auto racing in a big way Sunday. Steve Kinser, the series' 14-time champion, qualified for the Indianapolis 500 during the day, then headed over to Tri-State Speedway and won his second "A" Feature of the year. "The King of the Outlaws" ran four laps around Indianapolis Motor Speedway at an average speed of 210.793 m.p.h. to become the 22nd driver to qualify for this year's Indy 500. Winning the Tri-State race made him the second driver in many years to qualify for the world's premier event and win a race on the same day. Tony Stewart qualified for the Indy 500 and won a midget race at Indianapolis Raceway Park Saturday. "It was a pretty good day," Kinser told the capacity crowd at Tri-State. "We've been struggling a little bit in the sprint car, but everybody did a good job today. My Indy car team has been working really hard, too, and I guess it paid off for both of them." Kinser earned his first Channellock Fast-Time Award of the year by pacing the qualifying session at Tri-State. He raced into second place from outside the third row in the Vivarin Dash for the right to start the main event outside the front row. Steve beat polesitter Andy Hillenburg through turn four and raced into the lead as rookie points leader Donny Schatz passed Hillenburg for the runner-up spot with a high move in the second corner. Hillenburg regained second place with a similar move in turn two the next time around. Kinser burst into lapped traffic five laps into the race. Schatz allowed his family's #15 Petro Truck Stores Gambler to turn sideways in the second corner, allowing First Heat Race winner Jac Haudenschild and Sammy Swindell to pass him. Hillenburg caught Kinser during the seventh lap, and "The Wild Child" and Swindell made it a four-car race for the lead two laps later. Swindell was challenging Haudenschild for third place when Lance Blevins took the #21 Citgo J&J for a spin in turn four and brought out the caution flag late in the 12th lap. Andy challenged for the lead for four laps, and followed Kinser into lapped traffic again during lap 16. "The King of the Outlaws" extended his advantage to four car-lengths while racing through lapped traffic for two laps. Hillenburg caught Kinser again midway through the race, and Haudenschild joined them four laps later. Steve steered his #11 Quaker State Maxim around several backmarkers during lap 26 to give himself some breathing room, only to have Hillenburg catch him again two laps later. After two attempts to take the lead failed during the 28th lap, Hillenburg steered his #2 STP J&J deep into turn three to pass Kinser the next time around. He was in the lead for only a split-second, however, as "The King of the Outlaws" surged ahead in the fourth corner. Kinser survived a close call with 10 laps remaining as cousin Kelly Kinser and Paul McMahan collided in front of him in turn two. Both turned sideways, forcing Steve to take the high groove around them. While Kinser narrowly missed the spinning cars, Haudenschild wasn't as fortunate. The #22 Pennzoil Maxim slammed into Kelly and McMahan, bringing out the caution flag. The crash ended a miserable evening for the Wirtgen America team. Karl Kinser changed the engine in the #5M after hot laps and the qualifying session only to watch Kelly crash with Blevins during the Second Heat Race. The #5M suffered front end damage when Kelly bicycled in the "B" Feature. He finished 15th, forcing Karl to use a provisional to get his car in the main event. "It was really close up there," Steve explained later. "A foot either way and we'd have been in trouble. I thought Paul was going to punch it to keep the engine fired and pinch me into the wall, but luckily he stopped and we made it around them." "The King of the Outlaws" was six car-lengths ahead of his closest pursuers with four laps remaining, only to have a crash involving McMahan and Blevins bring out the red flag. Kinser raced away from the field as the race resumed, and was six car-lengths ahead of Andy when he took the checkered flag. "We had been running well in traffic, but I didn't mind seeing the open track with those late cautions," Steve said. Kinser's second "A" Feature victory this year put him only nine points behind Swindell in their battle for first place in the Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series point standings. Swindell finished third, ahead of Second Heat Race winner Dave Blaney, Joe Gaerte, Schatz, Stevie Smith, "B" Feature winner Joey Saldana, Lee Dunn and McMahan. Schatz' sixth-place finish is the best in his World of Outlaws career. Greg Hodnett, the 25th-fastest qualifier in the 40-car field, drove the #11H Selma Shell Maxim past 11 sprints to finish 11th. The World of Outlaws' fire-breathing, mud-slinging sprint car racing teams' next event is scheduled for May 18th at I-55 Raceway. WoO 1997 Pennzoil World of Outlaws Series Tri-State Speedway, Haubstadt, IN Sunday, May 11, Feature Program #17 Qualifications: 1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 12.011; 2. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 12.026; 3. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 12.031; 4. Lee Dunn, Dunn 81, 12.151; 5. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 12.163; 6. Kelly Kinser, Kinser 5M, 12.171; 7. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 12.189; 8. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 12.211; 9. Joey Saldana, Gray 51, 12.225; 10. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 12.250; 12. Tim Montgomery, Montgomery 32, 12.253; 13. Paul McMahan, Stanton 75, 12.255; 14. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 12.328; 15. Mark Cummins, Bradham Bros. 3C, 12.342; 16. Kevin Stepter, Stepter 28S, 12.359; 17. Gary Hayhurst, Jr., Hayhurst 56x, 12.367; 18. Stevie Smith, Smith 19, 12.438; 19. Randy Hannagan, Roth 83, 12.438; 20. Danny Lasoski, Wahlie 1W, 12.466; 21. Ike Worthington, Worthington 88, 12.496; 22. Danny Smith, Smith 4, 12.547; 23. Tim Engler, Gates 6, 12.590; 24. Joey Nash, Nash 8S, 12.598; 25. Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 12.611; 26. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 12.669; 27. Kevin Briscoe, Briscoe 5, 12.680; 28. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11D, 12.698; 29. Raymond Shank, Shank 7x, 12.761; 30. Bryan Ruble, Ruble 38R, 12.782; 31. Brad Rehlmeyer, Rehlmeyer 19R, 12.802; 32. Jerrod Hull, Hull 11J, 12.830; 33. Rick King, King 88K, 12.880; 34. J.C. Sulawske, Hobgood 12, 12.905; 35. Victor Hensley, Hensley 51P, 13.094; 36. Brenda Buster, Buster 31, 13.155; 37. Gary Blum, Blum 8, 13.195; 38. Larry Trunnell, Trunnell 18, 13.278; 39. Rod Cowell, Cowell 49, 13.290; 40. Scott Campbell, Campbell 82, 13.626. First Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Jac Haudenschild, 2. Gary Hayhurst, Jr., 3. Paul McMahan, 4. Greg Hodnett, 5. Steve Kinser, 6. Joey Saldana, 7. Ike Worthington, 8. Raymond Shank, 9. Gary Blum, 10. Rick King. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Second Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Dave Blaney, 2. Stevie Smith, 3. Danny Smith, 4. Sammy Swindell, 5. Johnny Herrera, 6. J.C. Sulawske, 7. Bryan Ruble, 8. Larry Trunnell, 9. Lance Blevins, 10. Kelly Kinser. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Third Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Randy Hannagan, 2. Tim Engler, 3. Mark Cummins, 4. Jeff Swindell, 5. Andy Hillenburg, 6. Kevin Briscoe, 7. Joe Gaerte, 8. Victor Hensley, 9. Rod Cowell, 10. Brad Rehlmeyer. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Fourth Heat Race (10 laps): 1. Danny Lasoski, 2. Joey Nash, 3. Tim Montgomery, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. Lee Dunn, 6. Jerrod Hull, 7. Kevin Stepter, 8. Dion Hindi, 9. Scott Campbell, 10. Brenda Buster. (first five qualified for the "A" Feature) Vivarin Dash (seven laps): 1. Andy Hillenburg, 2. Steve Kinser, 3. Jac Haudenschild, 4. Donny Schatz, 5. Sammy Swindell, 6. Lee Dunn, 7. Jeff Swindell, 8. Dave Blaney. (finish determined the first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature) B Feature (12 laps): 1. Joey Saldana, 2. Lance Blevins, 3. Joe Gaerte, 4. Raymond Shank, 5. Ike Worthington ($200); 6. J.C. Sulawske ($180); 7. Rick King ($150); 8. Victor Hensley ($110); 9. Bryan Ruble ($90); 10. Scott Campbell ($80); 11. Larry Trunnell ($60); 12. Rod Cowell ($50); 13. Gary Blum ($50); 14. Brenda Buster ($50); 15. Kelly Kinser, 16. Kevin Stepter ($50); 17. Brad Rehlmeyer ($50); 18. Kevin Briscoe ($50); 19. Dion Hindi ($50); 20. Jerrod Hull ($50). (first four qualified for the "A" Feature) A Feature (40 laps): 1. Steve Kinser ($7,000); 2. Andy Hillenburg ($4,000); 3. Sammy Swindell ($3,000); 4. Dave Blaney ($2,500); 5. Joe Gaerte ($2,320); 6. Donny Schatz ($2,200); 7. Stevie Smith ($2,100); 8. Joey Saldana ($2,020); 9. Lee Dunn ($1,700); 10. Paul McMahan ($1,600); 11. Greg Hodnett ($1,200); 12. Randy Hannagan ($1,150); 13. Danny Smith ($1,100); 14. Danny Lasoski ($1,050); 15. Gary Hayhurst, Jr. ($1,000); 16. Tim Engler ($700); 17. Raymond Shank ($620); 18. Lance Blevins ($520); 19. Jeff Swindell ($500); 20. Jac Haudenschild ($500); 21. Kelly Kinser ($520); 22. Tim Montgomery ($500); 23. Johnny Herrera ($500); 24. Joey Nash ($500); 25. Mark Cummins ($500). Provisional starter - Kelly Kinser Lap leader: Steve Kinser 1-40 Channellock Fast-Time Award winner: Steve Kinser WoO