TSR's Kraig Kinser Lawrenceburg preview

HOOSIER HOSPITALITY
Tony Stewart Racing's Kinser Eyes Season's First Win in Home-State WoO Doubleheader at Lawrenceburg

INDIANAPOLIS (June 2, 2009) -- The World of Outlaws' (WoO) return to the newly configured Lawrenceburg (Ind.) Speedway couldn't come at a better time for Tony Stewart Racing's (TSR) Kraig Kinser. The Indiana native is coming off his best night of the season and heads to a track where he's been very successful during his young career.

Kinser will pilot TSR's No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim on Friday and Saturday night at Lawrenceburg as the WoO continues its nomad-like schedule. Last Saturday night at I-96 Speedway in Lake Odessa, Mich., Kinser was engaged in a torrid battle during which he made numerous attempts to take the lead while running in the second position. His final move for the lead ultimately cost him the runner-up spot, but he did match his season-best finish of third. The result was also his third consecutive top-10 as the 24-year-old continues to build consistency in his fourth season on the road with the Outlaws.

This weekend's venue has provided memorable moments for Kinser. Friday night will mark the 11th time he hits the southeastern Indiana 3/8-mile dirt oval. In his previous 10 starts, the track's size was closer to a quarter-mile, but the racing surface was reconfigured into a larger track last year. In his previous WoO race at the track, in August 2005, Kinser led the final 35 laps to capture his sixth career WoO triumph. He last raced at the track in the fall of 2007, when he won the prestigious "Hoosier Fall Classic."

This weekend's races are the final Indiana WoO stops of the season. Earlier this season, Kinser finished 11th at Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, Ind. He has two career WoO triumphs in his home state (Kokomo Speedway and Lawrenceburg), both coming in the summer of 2005.

After the first 23 WoO races of 2009, Kinser has four top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He currently ranks ninth in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings with 2,885 points.

On Friday and Saturday at Lawrenceburg Speedway, the pit gates and grandstand will open at 3 p.m. EDT. Hot Laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. For more details, contact Lawrenceburg Speedway at (812) 539-4700, or visit the track's official Web site, www.lawrenceburgspeedway.com.

Race fans unable to attend this weekend's races can catch all of the action on DIRTVision.com. Fans can listen live as Johnny Gibson, "Voice of the Outlaws," calls the action as he does at all WoO Sprint Series events on the DIRTVision.com cybercast, as well as on the DIRT Radio Network. Go to www.DIRTVision.com for more information on all the site features, including updated results from each night of racing, as well as a chat room to interact with other race fans.

Kraig Kinser, Driver of the No. 20 TSR/Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/J.D. Byrider Maxim:

Saturday's race in Michigan was one of those nights you can build on. Is there anything you do this week to make sure you keep the momentum going?

"You can't really do anything out of the ordinary. I told the guys after the race that I should have got that one. They had the Bass Pro Shops car really fast and we just couldn't get in front of Jason (Meyers). I had to run where he wasn't and just about got us a win. It just shows that this car is capable of being up front and it takes all of us to get it there. The guys (Mike Cool, Steve Swenson, and Bob Curtis) will spend this week in the shop, and I know they'll have the car ready to go when we hit the track on Friday night.

"As far as doing anything different, there really isn't anything we can do. With the competition of the Outlaws, you have to be really good every time you hit the track. If nothing else, it gives us a little confidence, and me more experience, racing for wins. The wins don't come easily and you have to earn everything you get. We're getting closer. Hopefully, this weekend we'll get another chance."

Lawrenceburg Speedway has been a good place for you in your career. How much different do you expect it to be now that they've changed the size?

"Lawrenceburg has been pretty good, now that I think about it. Maybe it's because I'm an Indiana kid getting to race close to home. That's kind of how all of us around here get started. You race the short tracks like Bloomington, Haubstadt, Kokomo and so many others. It's where we learned to race. Winning the Outlaws race there back in 2005 was pretty awesome. There's not much better than winning close to home against the best competition. That really gave me a lot of confidence and, the next week, we won the Knoxville Nationals.

"I'm not really sure how the changes will affect us. It's like any other place that we go to for the first time. We'll look at it and try to figure out a starting point and go from there. We have an idea of how the track surface will change throughout the night, but it still comes back to getting qualified well. You can't spot any of these guys track position, so we're going to try and get one of those dash spots and see what we can do."

For complete WoO Sprint Series results from Lawrenceburg Speedway, log on to www.worldofoutlaws.com/sprint. For information regarding TSR, Bass Pro Shops, J.D. Byrider, Chevy or Kinser, log on to www.tonystewartracing.com, www.basspro.com, www.byrider.com, www.chevy.com or www.kraigkinser.com.

-credit: -TSR-