Mark Kinser Claims Inaugural Iowa Ethanol Classic
                            By Richard Day
    KNOXVILLE, IA (June 22) - Although he has suffered some heart-
breaking losses at the legendary semi-banked, 1/2-mile oval, Mark
Kinser is quickly becoming a dominating force at Knoxville Raceway.
    He extended his Skoal Outlaw Series winning streak at "The Home of
the Nationals" to three Saturday night with a victory in the Iowa
Ethanol Classic. Mark has won six main events at Knoxville in his
World of Outlaws career.
    The $9,000 victory, Kinser's 10th of the year, increased his lead
in the Skoal Outlaw Series point standings to a season-high to 114
points over defending champion Dave Blaney.
    Mark and Preliminary Feature winner Stevie Smith finished 1-2 in
Saturday's Vivarin Dash, and started the main event on the front row.
They raced wheel-to-wheel down the front straightaway immediately
after the green flag fell, and Mark surged ahead in the first corner.
Smith kept the #71M EcoWater Systems Maxim in the high groove and took
the lead in turn four, however.
    Blaney, who started outside the third row, was on the move as
well, passing Jac Haudenschild, Sammy Swindell and Steve Kinser to
take over third place during the opening lap.
    Steve and Sammy, who have combined to win 42 "A" Features at
Knoxville since the World of Outlaws first visited the track in 1978,
started side-by-side on the second row. They raced wheel-to-wheel
until Steve slid out of the low groove in turn four, which allowed
Sammy to pass him for fourth place. Two laps later, Andy Hillenburg
drove his #2 STP J&J past Steve to take over fifth.
    Blaney was right behind Mark when he caught Smith late in lap
four. Sammy made it a four-car battle for the lead the next time
around, and passed "The Buckeye Bullet" for third place late in the
sixth lap.
    Mark steered the #5M Wirtgen Maxim deep into the fourth corner and
was just inches ahead when they crossed the finish line the next time
around. The leaders were approaching lapped traffic when Smith
returned the favor in turn one, only to have flagman Doug Clark throw
the caution flag when Larry Pinegar stopped in the second corner with
a flat left rear tire.
    The race resumed with Kinser ahead of the 24-car field. He quickly
opened a comfortable advantage as Blaney passed Swindell for third and
defending Knoxville Raceway champion Johnny Herrera took fifth place
from Hillenburg.
    Mark caught the backmarkers with a half-straightaway lead midway
through the race. Stevie quickly narrowed the gap in lapped traffic,
however, and was within five car-lengths by lap 13. Smith was only
three car-lengths behind when he slid out of the low groove in turn
four, which allowed Sammy to race past.
    The red flag was flying seconds later when the front suspension on
the #1B Jordan Brothers Trostle driven by Brent Antill broke and sent
him flipping into turn one. Although no lapped cars restarted between
the leaders, Mark raced away from the field as the race resumed. He
caught the backmarkers again with eight laps remaining.
    "The Buckeye Bullet" tried to pass Swindell in the high groove
late in the 20th lap, only to have Smith pass him deep in turn four.
Blaney returned the favor two laps later when Stevie attempted a
similar move in the fourth corner. With the inside line taking rubber,
it was definitely the fast lane late in the race. Smith used it to
pass Blaney for third place with two laps remaining.
    Kinser stayed in the low groove and won the feature with 15 car-
lengths to spare. Sammy, Smith and Blaney finished second, third and
fourth, respectively, ahead of Herrera, Hillenburg, Knoxville point
standings leader Danny Lasoski, Steve Kinser, 20th-starting Greg
Hodnett and Terry McCarl.
    The June stop at Knoxville is one of the unique events the World
of Outlaws sanctions each year. It features a second 25-lap race with
the field completely inverted from the first.
    While Travis Cram led the first five laps, Jeff Swindell made his
way to the front. Swindell steered the #7TW Gold Eagle Maxim deep into
the second corner to take the lead early in the sixth lap. He caught
the backmarkers with an eight-car-length advantage two laps later.
    After Cram brought out the caution flag with a blown engine during
the 11th lap, Steve Kinser executed a move reminiscent of last year's
Nationals when he took the high groove around six cars in the fourth
corner to take over seventh place.
    Swindell was a full straightaway ahead of his closest pursuers
when he entered lapped traffic again during the 14th lap. He took the
checkered flag with Jerry Richert, Jr., racing through turn four.
    "We put on too soft a tire in the first feature," Swindell
admitted. "We put on a harder one under the red. When we still
couldn't pass anybody, I held back to jockey for position for the
second race."
    Although Jeff received just as much money for winning the second
feature as Mark did for winning the first, he didn't score any points
with the World of Outlaws. His 23rd-place finish in the first feature
allowed Smith and brother Sammy to push him back into seventh place.
WoO
              1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
                         Iowa Ethanol Classic
                   Knoxville Raceway, Knoxville, IA
                Saturday, June 22, Feature Program #28
    Qualifications:  1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 16.785; 2. Sammy
Swindell, Swindell 1, 17.067; 3. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 17.288; 4.
Brent Antill, Jordan 1B, 17.307; 5. Danny Lasoski, Forbrook 5, 17.378;
6. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 17.418; 7. Jaymie Moyle, Moyle 4,
17.462; 8. Aaron Berryhill, Berryhill 97, 17.479; 9. Terry McCarl,
Gray 51, 17.483; 10. Lance Blevins, Blevins 21, 17.549; 11. Jeff
Swindell, Two Winners 7TW, 17.551; 12. Joey Saldana, Stanton 75,
17.554; 13. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 17.596; 14. Skip Jackson,
VanderEcken 10V, 17.655; 15. Dennis Moore, Jr., Cahill 7, 17.675; 16.
Greg Hodnett, Helm 11H, 17.758; 17. Pat Moore, Moore 2x, 17.800; 18.
Jerry Richert, Jr., Johnson 81, 17.864; 19. Larry Pinegar, J&J Racing
55, 17.868; 20. Mike Reinke, Cowman 02, 18.053; 21. Rich Bubak, Bubak
9, 18.121; 22. Bob White, RCSN Racing 12, 18.185; 23. Wayne Redmond,
Redmond 2H, 18.286; 24. Manny Rockhold, Rockhold 71, 18.293; 25. Chad
Mellenberndt, Mellenberndt 97M, 18.301; 26. Jim Carr, McCarr 7M,
18.320; 27. Steve Beitler, Beitler 21, 18.336; 28. Travis Cram, Cram
92, 18.406; 29. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11A, 18.428; 30. Jeff Mitrisin,
Sereg 5J, 18.458; 31. Scott Whitworth, Whitworth 96, 18.462; 32. Chris
Walraven, Beahlers 56, 18.544; 33. Peter Murphy, Kain 1K, 18.588; 34.
Ryan Jamison, Jamison 51J, 18.671; 35. John Kearney, Kearney 86,
18.800; 36. Marlon Jones, Oswalt 1J, 18.912; 37. Tony Moro, Moro 2M,
18.983; 38. Leonard Lee, Lee 16L, 19.096; 39. Doran Doty, Doty 14,
19.154; 40. Tim Baker, Baker 2TZ, 19.157; 41. Robert Jackson, Lewis
2AU, 19.161; 42. Troy Parsons, Parsons 57C, 19.204; 43. Bob Weuve,
McCroskey 19, 19.277; 44. Mark Smyser, Smyser 69, 20.305.
    First Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Steve Kinser, 2. Terry McCarl,
3. Danny Lasoski, 4. Joe Gaerte, 5. Rich Bubak, 6. Chad Mellenberndt,
7. Tony Moro, 8. Peter Murphy, 9. Pat Moore, 10. Dion Hindi, 11.
Robert Jackson. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Second Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Sammy Swindell, 2. Andy
Hillenburg, 3. Lance Blevins, 4. Skip Jackson, 5. Jerry Richert, Jr.,
6. Bob White, 7. Ryan Jamison, 8. Jim Carr, 9. Troy Parsons, 10.
Leonard Lee, 11. Jeff Mitrisin. (first four qualified for the "A"
Feature)
    Third Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Johnny Herrera, 2. Jeff
Swindell, 3. Jaymie Moyle, 4. Dennis Moore, Jr., 5. Larry Pinegar, 6.
Steve Beitler, 7. John Kearney, 8. Wayne Redmond, 9. Doran Doty, 10.
Scott Whitworth, 11. Bob Weuve. (first four qualified for the "A"
Feature)
    Fourth Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Greg Hodnett, 2. Aaron
Berryhill, 3. Joey Saldana, 4. Travis Cram, 5. Marlon Jones, 6. Manny
Rockhold, 7. Brent Antill, 8. Mike Reinke, 9. Mark Smyser, 10. Tim
Baker, 11. Chris Walraven. (first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Finishing 1-4 in Friday's Preliminary Feature automatically
qualified Stevie Smith, Mark Kinser, Dave Blaney and Jac Haudenschild
for the first four starting positions in the Vivarin Dash.
    Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Mark Kinser, 2. Stevie Smith, 3.
Steve Kinser, 4. Sammy Swindell, 5. Jac Haudenschild, 6. Dave Blaney.
(finish determined the first six starting positions in the "A"
Feature)
    C Feature (eight laps):  1. John Kearney, 2. Marlon Jones, 3.
Leonard Lee, 4. Doran Doty ($135); 5. Robert Jackson ($110); 6. Mark
Smyser ($90); 7. Tony Moro ($80); 8. Troy Parsons ($70); 9. Tim Baker
($60); 10. Bob Weuve ($50). (first three qualified for the "B"
Feature)
    B Feature (12 laps):  1. Larry Pinegar, 2. Brent Antill, 3. Jerry
Richert, Jr., 4. Pat Moore, 5. Rich Bubak ($210); 6. Wayne Redmond
($185); 7. Chad Mellenberndt ($160); 8. Mike Reinke ($110); 9. Steve
Beitler ($100); 10. Jim Carr ($90); 11. Manny Rockhold ($70); 12. Dion
Hindi ($60); 13. Scott Whitworth ($60); 14. Marlon Jones ($80); 15.
Ryan Jamison ($60); 16. Leonard Lee ($80); 17. Peter Murphy ($60); 18.
Jeff Mitrisin ($60); 19. Bob White ($60); 20. John Kearney ($80).
(first four qualified for the "A" Feature)
    First A Feature (25 laps):  1. Mark Kinser, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3.
3. Stevie Smith, 4. Dave Blaney, 5. Johnny Herrera, 6. Andy
Hillenburg, 7. Danny Lasoski, 8. Steve Kinser, 9. Greg Hodnett, 10.
Terry McCarl, 11. Joey Saldana, 12. Lance Blevins, 13. Jac
Haudenschild, 14. Skip Jackson, 15. Aaron Berryhill, 16. Larry
Pinegar, 17. Dennis Moore, Jr., 18. Pat Moore, 19. Joe Gaerte, 20.
Jeff Swindell, 21. Jaymie Moyle, 22. Jerry Richert, Jr., 23. Travis
Cram, 24. Brent Antill ($530).
           Lap leaders: Stevie Smith 1-6, Mark Kinser 7-25
    Second A Feature (25 laps):  1. Jeff Swindell ($9,510); 2. Jerry
Richert, Jr. ($5,530); 3. Jaymie Moyle ($3,810); 4. Larry Pinegar
($3,630); 5. Dennis Moore, Jr. ($2,760); 6. Steve Kinser ($3,785); 7.
Aaron Berryhill ($2,510); 8. Skip Jackson ($2,710); 9. Terry McCarl
($2,910); 10. Danny Lasoski ($3,210); 11. Johnny Herrera ($3,460); 12.
Joey Saldana ($2,310); 13. Sammy Swindell ($6,060); 14. Mark Kinser
($10,000); 15. Stevie Smith ($4,000); 16. Andy Hillenburg ($2,685);
17. Greg Hodnett ($2,010); 18. Rich Bubak ($500); 19. Joe Gaerte
($1,010); 20. Jac Haudenschild ($1,550); 21. Pat Moore ($1,030); 22.
Dave Blaney ($3,500); 23. Travis Cram ($1,010); 24. Lance Blevins
($1,610). DNS - Brent Antill; replaced by Rich Bubak.
          Lap leaders:  Travis Cram 1-4, Jeff Swindell 5-25
                                 WoO