Mark Kinser Shines in Knoxville Opener
                            By Richard Day
    KNOXVILLE, IA (April 26) - While Steve Kinser, with his 11
Knoxville Nationals championships, has hogged the spotlight through
the years, Mark Kinser has toiled in the shadows.
    In the last couple of years, however, Steve has been forced to
share some of the Knoxville spotlight with his cousin as Mark has won
four Skoal Outlaw Series "A" Features, including three last season.
    The spotlight was squarely on Mark Friday night when he won the
Preliminary Feature at "the Home of the Nationals." Starting next to
Steve on the front row, he conceded his cousin the front straightaway
before surging ahead in the second corner to take the lead.
    He maintained a comfortable advantage throughout the 20-lap race
to claim the $4,000 first prize and his second victory in a Skoal
Outlaw Series Preliminary Feature this year.
    "That's the nicest car I've ever driven around here (at
Knoxville)," Mark said in victory lane. "It handled great. My dad
(Karl Kinser) and the crew did a great job of setting the car up."
    Steve, winner of 29 World of Outlaws main events at Knoxville,
appeared to be class of the 51-car field before the feature. He earned
his second EcoWater Quick-Time Award of the season by pacing the
qualifying session with a 15.566-second lap around Knoxville's semi-
banked, 1/2-mile oval. Then, after running fourth in the First Quaker
State Heat Race, "The King of the Outlaws" earned the pole position in
the Preliminary Feature by winning the Vivarin Dash from outside the
second row. Mark, who won the Second Quaker State Heat Race, received
the luxury of starting the evening's main event outside the front row
by following Steve across the finish line in Vivarin's five-lap dash.
    Mark, the leader in the World of Outlaws point standings, fell
behind his cousin when the green flag fell in the Preliminary Feature,
but steered the #5M Wirtgen Maxim into the high groove in the second
corner to take over first place seconds later. "B" Feature winner
Johnny Herrera was on the move as well, racing into fifth place from
the ninth starting position before the first lap ended.
    Kinser quickly raced away from the field, opening a 10-car-length
advantage during the second lap, then increasing it to 15 car-lengths
by lap three. He caught the backmarkers as defending World of Outlaws
champion Dave Blaney battled Steve Kinser for second place the next
time around.
    Herrera, the defending Knoxville Raceway champion, was challenging
Joe Gaerte for fourth place as Mark opened a full-straightaway
advantage during the eighth lap. Herrera steered the #47 Casey's
General Stores Maxim around Gaerte midway through the race.
    Danny Lasoski and Sammy Swindell, who started 17th and 20th,
respectively, raced into the top 10 by lap 12. "The Dude," a six-time
Knoxville Raceway champion, passed 11 sprinters to finish in sixth
place, while 1983 Knoxville Nationals titlist Swindell blew by 12 cars
to finish eighth.
    Blaney drove the #10 Vivarin J&J past Steve Kinser to take over
the runner-up spot with six laps remaining. Two laps later, he
restarted the race right behind the leader as Troy Parsons' blown
engine forced him to stop in turn two. Having lapped more than half
the cars in the 24-car field to that point, Mark was gaining on
Swindell, Andy Hillenburg, Jac Haudenschild and Lasoski when the
caution flag was displayed.
    Mark raced away from the field again when the green flag replaced
the yellow. At the same time, Herrera took the high line to pass
several lapped cars and caught Steve Kinser, but was unable to take
over third place. Of the 21 cars finishing the race, only 10 were on
the lead lap.
    Haudenschild, winner of the Fourth Quaker State Heat Race,
finished the Preliminary Feature in fifth place. Rounding out the top
10 were Lasoski, Terry McCarl, Swindell, Gaerte and Hillenburg.
    Stevie Smith drove the #71M EcoWater Systems Maxim into 11th place
from outside the ninth row, while Jeff Swindell passed three cars to
finish 12th. WoO
              1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                   Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA
                Friday, April 26, Preliminary Program
    Qualifications:  1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 15.566; 2. Mark
Kinser, Kinser 5M, 15.779; 3. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 15.857; 4.
Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 15.876; 5. Dave Blaney, Luna 10, 15.889; 6.
Joey Saldana, Saldana 83, 15.946; 7. Chris Walraven, Beahlers 56,
15.958; 8. Terry McCarl, Gray 51, 15.973; 9. Jac Haudenschild, Elden
22, 16.075; 10. Jerry Richert, Jr., Johnson 81, 16.150; 11. Steve
Beitler, J&J Racing 55, 16.172; 12. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2,
16.253; 13. Don Droud, Jr., Kormack 1BK, 15.272; 14. Jaymie Moyle,
Moyle 4, 16.273; 15. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 16.277; 16. Skip
Jackson, Vanderecken 10T, 16.328; 17. Danny Lasoski, Forbrook 5,
16.342; 18. Stevie Smith, Motter 71M, 16.415; 19. Brian Paulus, P&P
Motorsports 28, 16.417; 20. Ryan Jamison, Jamison 51J, 16.428; 21.
Greg Hodnett, Helms 11x, 16.443; 22. Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1,
16.523; 23. Randy Smith, Ball 3B, 16.544; 24. Mike Reinke, Cowman 02,
16.591; 25. Bob Weuve, McCroskey 19, 16.609; 26. Dion Hindi, Hindi
11H, 16.661; 27. Marlon Jones, Oswalt 1J, 16.680; 28. Scott Whitworth,
Whitworth 96, 16.685; 29. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 16.691; 30. Pat
Moore, Stroud 9S, 16.700; 31. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 16.716; 32.
Dennis Moore, Jr., Cahill 7, 16.803; 33. Tony Moro, Moro 2M, 16.863;
34. Mallory Armfield, Armfield 5MA, 16.869; 35. Brent Antill, Jordan
Brothers 38, 16.885; 36. Mark Smyser, Smyser 69, 16.951; 37. Manny
Rockhold, Rockhold 71, 17.023; 38. Doran Doty, Doty 14, 17.053; 39.
John Kearney, Kearney 86, 17.119; 40. Troy Parsons, Parsons 57C,
17.128; 41. Jeff Mitrisin, Sereg 5J, 17.148; 42. Jim Carr, McCarr 7M,
17.179; 43. Bob White, RCSN Racing 12, 17.203; 44. Shawn Moore, Moore
2x, 17.392; 45. Travis Cram, Cram 92, 17.429; 45. Gerald Cressman,
Cressman 56C, 17.537; 47. Rich Bubak, Bubak 9, 17.594; 48. Kenny
McCarl, McCarl 66, 17.714; 49. Steve Breazeale, Sage 57, 17.959; 50.
Eddie Leavitt, Jr., Leavitt 22A, 18.313; 51. Al Hargrave, Hargrave 8,
18.743.
    First Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Greg Hodnett, 2.
Skip Jackson, 3. Joey Saldana, 4. Steve Kinser, 5. Steve Beitler, 6.
Dion Hindi, 7. Mark Smyser, 8. Jeff Mitrisin, 9. Al Hargrave, 10.
Gerald Cressman, 11. Lance Blevins. (first four qualified for the
Preliminary Feature)
    Second Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Mark Kinser, 2.
Sammy Swindell, 3. Andy Hillenburg, 4. Danny Lasoski, 5. Chris
Walraven, 6. Marlon Jones, 7. Rich Bubak, 8. Dennis Moore, Jr., 9. Jim
Carr, 10. Manny Rockhold. (first four qualified for the Preliminary
Feature)
    Third Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Scott Whitworth, 2.
Stevie Smith, 3. Terry McCarl, 4. Don Droud, Jr., 5. Johnny Herrera,
6. Bob White, 7. Randy Smith, 8. Tony Moro, 9. Kenny McCarl, 10. Doran
Doty. (first four qualified for the Preliminary Feature)
    Fourth Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Jac Haudenschild,
2. Joe Gaerte, 3. Donny Schatz, 4. Mike Reinke, 5. Brian Paulus, 6.
Shawn Moore, 7. Jaymie Moyle, 8. Steve Breazeale, 9. Mallory Armfield,
10. John Kearney ($10). (first four qualified for the Preliminary
Feature)
    Fifth Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Dave Blaney, 2.
Jeff Swindell, 3. Jerry Richert, Jr., 4. Troy Parsons, 5. Brent
Antill, 6. Ryan Jamison, 7. Travis Cram, 8. Pat Moore, 9. Bob Weuve,
10. Eddie Leavitt, Jr. ($10). (first four qualified for the
Preliminary Feature)
    Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Steve Kinser, 2. Mark Kinser, 3.
Dave Blaney, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Terry McCarl, 6. Joey Saldana, 7. Jac
Haudenschild, 8. Jerry Richert, Jr. (finish determined the first eight
starting positions in the Preliminary Feature)
    C Feature (eight laps):  1. Doran Doty, 2. Bob White, 3. Shawn
Moore, 4. Jim Carr ($110); 5. Travis Cram ($90); 6. Rich Bubak ($70);
7. Kenny McCarl ($60); 8. Jeff Mitrisin ($50); 9. Al Hargrave ($40);
10. Steve Breazeale ($35); 11. Gerald Cressman ($35). DNS - John
Kearney, Eddie Leavitt, Jr. (first three qualified for the "B"
Feature)
    B Feature (12 laps):  1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Steve Beitler, 3.
Jaymie Moyle, 4. Chris Walraven, 5. Lance Blevins ($160); 6. Dion
Hindi ($135); 7. Shawn Moore ($110); 8. Randy Smith ($85); 9. Dennis
Moore, Jr. ($70); 10. Bob White ($60); 11. Ryan Jamison ($50); 12.
Tony Moro ($50); 13. Doran Doty ($50); 14. Marlon Jones ($50); 15. Bob
Weuve ($50); 16. Mark Smyser ($50); 17. Mallory Armfield ($50); 18.
Brent Antill ($50); 19. Manny Rockhold ($50); 20. Brian Paulus ($50);
21. Pat Moore ($50). (first four qualified for the Preliminary
Feature)
    Preliminary Feature (20 laps):  1. Mark Kinser ($4,010); 2. Dave
Blaney ($2,310); 3. Steve Kinser ($1,610); 4. Johnny Herrera ($1,430);
5. Jac Haudenschild ($1,260); 6. Danny Lasoski ($1,160); 7. Terry
McCarl ($1,110); 8. Sammy Swindell ($1,060); 9. Joe Gaerte ($1,035);
10. Andy Hillenburg ($1,010); 11. Stevie Smith ($910); 12. Jeff
Swindell ($710); 13. Joey Saldana ($610); 14. Skip Jackson ($510); 15.
Steve Beitler ($330); 16. Jerry Richert, Jr. ($310); 17. Donny Schatz
($260); 18. Don Droud, Jr. ($260); 19. Jaymie Moyle ($280); 20. Mike
Reinke ($260); 21. Scott Whitworth ($260); 22. Troy Parsons ($260);
23. Chris Walraven ($280); 24. Greg Hodnett ($260).
                    Lap leader:  Mark Kinser 1-20
           EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner:  Steve Kinser
                                 WoO