Bloomington, Ind.—August 28, 2012— Traveling from coast-to-coast and “North of the Border” with the World of Outlaws, Kraig Kinser has gotten to see some pretty scenic places over the years, but few are quite as picturesque as the Pacific Northwest. He’ll have a chance to spend a few days in that area this week, as the World of Outlaws make their lone visit of the season to Washington and Oregon.
Kinser kicks a stretch of four races in six days in the Northwest aboard the Hendrickcars.com Maxim on Wednesday, Aug. 29, at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. He then heads back north to Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., for a two-night event on Friday, Aug. 31, and Saturday, Sept. 1. The third-generation driver will then travel south to Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore., on Monday, Sept. 3.
“It’s great when we have a week like this with a bunch of races in a short amount of time,” said Kinser. “We’ve had a few days off, so I’m ready to get back in the Hendrickcars.com car. As drivers, we always say that we’d race everyday if we could, and this is one of the weeks we kind of get to do that.”
Kinser made his debut at Grays Harbor Raceway in 2004, finishing fifth in the finale of that two-day event. The native of Bloomington, Ind., picked up his first win at the track in 2008, which marked the last time the World of Outlaws have raced at the three-eighths-mile. In that 30-lapper, he took the lead from Jayme Barnes on the 25th circuit and paced the final six laps to take home the checkered flag. Kinser has finished sixth or better in each of his last four starts at Grays Harbor. The series has been rained out in each of their last two visits to the facility.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a good car every time I’ve been there,” he shared. “You have to qualify well and make it through your heat race, just like every other night. We were in the right place at the right time in our last race there and were able to pick up a win. We have some pretty good notes to go off this week when we get there.”
The 27-year-old raced for the first time at Skagit Speedway in 2008, finishing 10th in that event. He has competed eight times in his career at the high-banked three-tenths-mile bullring, picking up five Top-10 finishes in the process. Last season, Kinser finished 17th in the opener at Skagit and was 10th in the finale. He had a career-best fourth-place showing in the opener of the two-day event in 2009.
“Skagit can be a pretty challenging track,” explained Kinser. “That’s a track I am still learning. We’ve raced there the last few years and had a couple of good runs, but haven’t quite gotten a handle on that place yet. We’ve been running good on the smaller tracks this year, so hopefully some of that carries over to this weekend at Skagit.”
Kinser along with the rest of the World of Outlaws will be making their first-ever appearance at Willamette Speedway, a high-banked one-third-mile, which will mark the series only visit of the season to Oregon. Kinser has a pair of victories in his career with the World of Outlaws in the series debut at tracks, with the first of those coming at Batesville Speedway in Arkansas in 2005 and North Central Speedway in Minnesota in 2008.
“When you go to a place like that for the first time, you have to be able to adapt and adjust pretty quick,” he shared. “We’ll take a good look at the track when we get there, and see if it reminds us of anywhere else we’ve been before. When you go to a track you’ve never been to, you always want to be quick right off the bat, so you don’t have to make too many changes.”
The 2005 Knoxville Nationals winner is currently sixth in the World of Outlaws point standings, on the strength of four wins, 35 Top-10 finishes and 18 Top-Fives.
Kraig Kinser By the Numbers: Grays Harbor Raceway, Skagit Speedway and Willamette Speedway
0.30- Miles around Skagit Speedway
0.333- Distance around Willamette Speedway in miles
0.375- Miles around Grays Harbor Raceway Park
1- Night of racing in Oregon this season for the World of Outlaws
2– Wins in World of Outlaws debuts at tracks
3- Main events in Washington for the series in 2012
4- Top-10 finishes at Grays Harbor Raceway
5- Career main events starts at Grays Harbor; Top-10 finishes at Skagit Speedway
6- Laps led en route to winning at Grays Harbor in 2008
6.2- Average finish in five starts at Grays Harbor Raceway
8- Career main event starts at Skagit Speedway
10.4- Average finish in eight starts at Skagit
10.872- Track record at Skagit Speedway
11.915- Qualifying record at Grays Harbor Raceway
192- Miles from Grays Harbor Raceway where the World of Outlaws race on Aug. 29 to Skagit Speedway
331- Distance in miles from Skagit Speedway in Alger, Wash., where the World of Outlaws are in action Aug. 31-Sept.1, to Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Ore.
908- Miles from Castrol Raceway in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where the World of Outlaws competed on Aug. 24-25 to Grays Harbor Raceway in Washington
2004- Year of first start at Grays Harbor
2008- First start at Skagit Speedway
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