Mark Kinser Hogs TNN TV Cameras in Spring Classic Finale
                            By Richard Day
    MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 25) - Karl Kinser gave Mark Kinser
something he never gave his former driver, Steve Kinser, Saturday.
Mark had just won the Spring Classic - televised live by The Nashville
Network at Williams Grove Speedway - when Karl greeted his son with a
hug and a kiss.
    Interviewed during a 22nd-lap caution period, Karl said, "These
final nine laps are going to be a real shootout."
    That prediction was the only thing the 14-time Skoal Outlaw Series
champion car owner did wrong all day. Although defending World of
Outlaws champion Dave Blaney crowded him at times, Mark was six car-
lengths ahead when he took the checkered flag.
    "The Wirtgen car worked real good tonight," Mark told TNN's Steve
Evans. "I'm just happy to be here on the front chute right now."
    The front straightaway was where the night ended for Steve Kinser
28 laps earlier, however. Two laps after Johnny Herrera raced into the
lead from the outside pole as the green flag fell in the main event, a
radius rod on the #11 Quaker State Maxim broke as Steve headed out of
turn four, causing him to hit the outside retaining wall, spin in the
air and stop in front of the flagstand. Kinser, winner of 20 World of
Outlaws "A" Features at Williams Grove, was unable to restart the race
and was credited with a 27th-place finish.
    The red flag was thrown, allowing Lance Blevins, whose high school
career gave way to his sprint car racing career only the day before,
an opportunity to start the race. Blevins had won the "B" Feature only
minutes before, but was forced to watch the start of the main event
from the pits as crew chief Brian Sperry replaced the electrical
system in the #21 Citgo J&J. The 1996 World of Outlaws Rookie of the
Year candidate started the race at the back of the pack and finished
24th.
    The high groove on Williams Grove's semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval was
the line of choice early, but it was the drivers whose cars were set
up to run the track's inside groove who made the most headway as the
top went away later in the race.
    Herrera, winner of Friday's Preliminary Feature, raced away from
the field as the green flag replaced the red, and entered lapped
traffic eight laps into the 30-lap race. Mark was right behind Herrera
when the #47 Casey's General Stores Maxim bounced off the retaining
wall in turn four late in the 10th lap. The impact cracked the car's
birdcage, spelling doom for the defending Knoxville Raceway champion.
    After exchanging the runner-up spot with Blaney during the ninth
and 10th laps, Kinser passed Herrera for the lead with a high move
into the second corner three laps later as handling problems plagued
the #47. "The Buckeye Bullet" passed Herrera the next time around as
polesitter Sammy Swindell battled Andy Hillenburg for fourth place.
    Although he started outside the ninth row, Jeff Swindell had the
#7TW Gold Eagle Maxim flying. He passed 13 sprinters during the first
13 laps, then replaced Sammy in fifth place midway through the race.
    Kinser was a half-straightaway ahead of Blaney when Keith Kauffman
stopped the #12 Apple Chevrolet Gambler in turn three late in the 22nd
lap. When TNN's Bobby Gerould asked Kauffman why he stopped, the
Pennsylvania Posse veteran replied, "The car lost its brakes, so I
thought I'd get out of there before I hurt somebody."
    Although no backmarkers restarted between Kinser and Blaney, Mark
quickly opened a comfortable lead when the race resumed. "The Buckeye
Bullet" caught him early in the final lap, but nothing could stop Mark
from claiming the $9,000 first prize.
    "In the middle of the race, I thought we had a good chance,"
Blaney told Gerould. "But when Mark got by himself, he found a
comfortable line to run. If I could have gotten up there and taken him
out of it, we could have raced with him. I just never could get to
him."
    Hillenburg and Stevie Smith were battling for third place when
Jeff Swindell split them entering the third corner late in the 28th
lap. Hillenburg and Smith finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 in TNN's first of three live telecasts of 1996
World of Outlaws races were Steve Smith, Donnie Kreitz, Jr., Sammy 
Swindell and heat race winners Billy Pauch and Danny Lasoski. WoO
              1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                       Inaugural Spring Classic
              Williams Grove Speedway, Mechanicsburg, PA
                Saturday, May 25, Feature Program #17
    Qualifications:  1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 18.387; 2. Donnie
Kreitz, Jr., Kreitz 69K, 18.571; 3. Steve Smith, Smith 19, 18.593; 4.
Stevie Smith, Motter 71M, 18.669; 5. Lance DeWease, Dyer 461, 18.757;
6. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 18.766; 7. Todd Shaffer, Beam 88,
18.782; 8. Cris Eash, E&G Classics 17E, 18.795; 9. Danny Lasoski,
Forbrook 5, 18.828; 10. Fred Rahmer, Hamilton 77, 18.965; 11. Joe
Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 18.991; 12. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22, 19.169; 13.
Ed Lynch, Jr., Lynch 2L, 19.171; 14. Billy Pauch, Zemaitis 1Z, 19.186;
15. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 19.296; 16. Jim Carr, McCarr 7M,
19.484; 17. Jesse Wentz, Wentz 2W, 19.545; 18. Lance Blevins, Blevins
21, 19.595; 19. Steve Siegel, Walker 1J, 19.626; 20. Kevin Gobrecht,
Gobrecht 92, 19.715; 21. Bobby Davis, Jr., Stanton 75, 19.797; 22.
Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 19.830; 23. Trevor Utt, Bomberger U5, 19.972;
24. Jeff Thompson, Neiderer 10N, 19.981; 25. Joey Saldana, Roth 83,
20.023; 26. Len Thompson, Thompson 10T, 20.072; 27. Keith Kauffman,
Apple Motorsports 12, 20.073; 28. Bobby Allen, Allen 1a, 20.130; 29.
Jeff Shepard, Wahlie 1W, 20.144; 30. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28,
20.273; 31. Bill Brian, Jr., Scarpitta 59, 20.405; 32. Jeff Rohrbaugh,
Swope 45, 20.472; 33. Brian Kaltreider, Kaltreider 22K, 20.937; 34.
Mike Erdley, Kirchner 117, 21.472; 35. Mike Dillman, Dillman 81,
21.668; 36. Larry Miller, Miller 15L, no time.
    First Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Danny Lasoski, 2. Steve Kinser,
3. Lance DeWease, 4. Ed Lynch, Jr., 5. Bobby Davis, Jr., 6. Joey
Saldana, 7. Jeff Shepard, 8. Jesse Wentz, 9. Brian Kaltreider. (first
four qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Second Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Billy Pauch, 2. Donnie Kreitz,
Jr., 3. Andy Hillenburg, 4. Fred Rahmer, 5. Greg Hodnett, 6. Lance
Blevins, 7. Len Thompson, 8. Brian Paulus, 9. Mike Erdley. (first four
qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Third Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Jeff Swindell, 2. Joe Gaerte, 3.
Steve Smith, 4. Todd Shaffer, 5. Steve Siegel, 6. Bill Brian, Jr., 7.
Keith Kauffman, 8. Trevor Utt, 9. Mike Dillman. (first four qualified
for the "A" Feature)
    Fourth Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Stevie Smith, 2. Jim Carr, 3.
Kevin Gobrecht, 4. Jac Haudenschild, 5. Cris Eash, 6. Jeff Rohrbaugh,
7. Bobby Allen, 8. Jeff Thompson, 9. Larry Miller. (first four
qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically
qualified Johnny Herrera, Sammy Swindell, Dave Blaney and Mark Kinser
for the first four starting positions in the Vivarin Dash.
    Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Johnny Herrera,
3. Mark Kinser, 4. Dave Blaney, 5. Stevie Smith, 6. Steve Kinser, 7.
Donnie Kreitz, Jr., 8. Steve Smith. (finish determined the first eight
starting positions in the "A" Feature)
    C Feature (10 laps):  1. Jeff Shepard, 2. Bill Brian, Jr., 3. Jeff
Rohrbaugh, 4. Brian Paulus, 5. Mike Dillman, 6. Mike Kaltreider, 7.
Larry Miller ($135); 8. Mike Erdley ($110). (first six qualified for
the "B" Feature)
    B Feature (12 laps):  1. Lance Blevins, 2. Steve Siegel, 3. Greg
Hodnett, 4. Cris Eash, 5. Jeff Shepard ($230); 6. Bobby Davis, Jr.
($185); 7. Keith Kauffman, 8. Joey Saldana, 9. Bill Brian, Jr., 10.
Bobby Allen ($160); 11. Len Thompson ($110); 12. Brian Paulus ($120);
13. Jeff Rohrbaugh ($110); 14. Jeff Thompson ($70); 15. Trevor Utt
($60); 16. Mike Dillman ($80); 17. Brian Kaltreider ($80). (first four
qualified for the "A" Feature)
    A Feature (30 laps):  1. Mark Kinser ($9,000); 2. Dave Blaney
($5,000); 3. Jeff Swindell ($3,310); 4. Andy Hillenburg ($3,010); 5.
Stevie Smith ($2,250); 6. Steve Smith ($2,085); 7. Donnie Kreitz, Jr.
($1,810); 8. Sammy Swindell ($1,700); 9. Billy Pauch ($1,510); 10.
Danny Lasoski ($1,410); 11. Kevin Gobrecht ($1,210); 12. Jac
Haudenschild ($1,110); 13. Joey Saldana ($1,080); 14. Johnny Herrera
($1,000); 15. Joe Gaerte ($710); 16. Lance DeWease ($630); 17. Fred
Rahmer ($510); 18. Greg Hodnett ($530); 19. Todd Shaffer ($510); 20.
Cris Eash ($530); 21. Ed Lynch, Jr. ($510); 22. Bill Brian, Jr.
($550); 23. Steve Siegel ($530); 24. Lance Blevins ($510); 25. Keith
Kauffman ($530); 26. Jim Carr ($510); 27. Steve Kinser ($510). (Keith 
Kauffman, Bill Brian, Jr., and Joey Saldana were provisional starters)
        Lap leaders:  Johnny Herrera 1-12, Mark Kinser 13-30
                                 WoO