TSR's Kraig Kinser World Finals preview

FINAL STATEMENT
TSR, Kinser Look to Close 2008 Outlaws Campaign With Strong Outing at VAULT World Finals

INDIANAPOLIS (Oct. 29, 2008) -- The calendar says it's been a year since Kraig Kinser made his return to the Advance Auto Parts World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series at the inaugural World Finals last October. For the past 12 months, the 24 year-old driver of the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) No. 20 Bass Pro Shops/Chevy/JD Byrider Maxim has regained his spot among Sprint car racing's elite, and his goal for this weekend's VAULT World Finals from The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway is to continue his late-season surge during the final two nights of racing for 2008.

Kinser, who grew up in Bloomington, Ind., now calls the Charlotte area home after spending the 2006 and 2007 seasons competing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (NCTS) and Nationwide Series (NNS), as well as the Auto Racing Club of America (ARCA) RE/MAX Series with the Ginn Racing team. He made his first return to the area in May, competing on the 4/10-mile dirt oval and posting a ninth-place finish. He has five other career starts at the track, including last fall when he qualified 13th and fifth, respectively, in the two-night program.

This weekend, the finals will include qualifying sessions on Thursday night for both Friday and Saturday night's events. Thursday will also include the "Breaking the VAULT" dash, a 10-car invitational which Kinser is hoping to qualify for. Friday and Saturday night, complete race programs, including heat races, the Crane Cams Dash and Feature events, will be contested.

The 2004 WoO Rookie of the Year enters this weekend coming off a third-place finish in last Saturday night's "Thunder at the Heartland" event at Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.). The finish was his third podium and fifth top-five effort in his last 10 starts, including his most recent victory on Oct. 3 at North Central Speedway in Brainerd, Minn.

Kinser has qualified for 56 WoO races this season and currently ranks 12th in the WoO Sprint Series Championship standings with 7,276 points. He has earned a pair of victories, nine top-five finishes and 18 top-10s.

Both nights of the VAULT World Finals will be broadcast on SPEED-TV. Race fans can watch all of Saturday's action unfold live on SPEED beginning at 8 p.m. EDT. Friday's program will be taped for broadcast and will air on SPEED on Saturday, November 8 at 9 p.m.

For all three days of the VAULT World Finals, the pit gates will open at noon EDT with the grandstands opening at 4 p.m. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday and 5:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For race tickets and other event information, contact Lowe's Motor Speedway at (800) 455-3267. The official Web site of Lowe's Motor Speedway is www.lowesmotorspeedway.com

Race fans unable to attend this weekend's VAULT World Finals can follow all of the action from The Dirt Track @ Lowe's Motor Speedway 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/Maxim:

Since Sept. 1, your team has been consistently running in the top-five. What are your goals for the World Finals?

"Well, we definitely would like to win one of these races in Charlotte. This is a big event and there are only two more races. We'd sure like to be one of the last, or the last, to win an Outlaws race this year. The Bass Pro Shops guys (Steve Sweneson, Mike Cool and Bob Curtis) have been doing a really good job, so I like our chances.

"Last weekend, we made some strides and were right there at Topeka. (TSR teammate) Donny (Schatz) got to racing with Kerry (Madsen) and I thought maybe we could get up there and battle for the win. Donny ended up getting it, and we were really trying to get by Kerry to give TSR a one-two finish, but we just didn't quite get there.

"I'm really looking forward to going back to Charlotte. We ran ninth there in the spring and I really feel, with the Chevy horsepower we've got, that we will have a great chance. Of course, there will be a lot of people down there, too, so we'd like to finish this season on a really good note."

Saturday's finale will include live coverage by SPEED, and it will be your final race of the season. Will your routine change for this race?

"You can't change too much. It's still a race and the guy with the best car will have the best chance to win. It's fun to come to a place where there is a buzz in the air. Charlotte will definitely have that. You don't think too much about the TV stuff until someone comes up to ask you a question, but it's great for our sponsors, like Bass Pro Shops, Chevy and JD Byrider. They've been with TSR for quite some time and we've had a great time working with them all season. It'd be great to give them another win and get everyone really excited about 2009."

For complete WoO Sprint Series results from the VAULT World Finals, 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-