WOO: Granite City report 96-07-13

• Richard Day
• MNI - Motorsport News International
• Sun Jul 14 23:21:48 EDT 1996

         'King of the Outlaws' Comes Through at Tri-City
                         By Richard Day
    GRANITE CITY, IL (July 13) - Although Steve Kinser is somehow
enduring the most difficult year of his career, his persistent
problems and bad luck haven't affected his ability to win at Tri-
City Speedway.
    "The King of the Outlaws" won the 19th "A" Feature of his
career at Bob Wente's high-speed facility when a record crowd
welcomed the Skoal Outlaw Series to Granite City's semi-banked,
1/2-mile oval Saturday.
    He was also the World of Outlaws' fifth different winner in
the first five races of a six-races-in-six-nights tour of the
Midwest.
    "It's a good thing it gets slick here, because my engines
sure aren't running," said Kinser who, after pacing time trials,
had a power plant explode during his second qualifying lap.
    Steve's 17.727-second lap was .022 seconds faster than cousin
Mark Kinser's, earning him his seventh EcoWater Quick-Time Award
of the season. He drew the #6 inversion pill for the Vivarin
Dash, giving Stevie Smith the luxury of starting the seven-lap
race on the pole. Smith earned the right to start the main event
on the pole by winning his fourth Vivarin Dash of the year.
    Stevie, who opened the six-race tour with a victory at Cedar
Lake Speedway Tuesday, burst into the lead as the green flag fell
in the "A" Feature. He kept the #71M EcoWater Systems Maxim ahead
of the 24-car field while Mark Kinser passed outside polesitter
Jeff Swindell for the runner-up spot and Steve and Sammy Swindell
exchanged fourth place.
    Mark, the leader in the Skoal Outlaw Series point standings,
took the lead with a high move in turn four late in the sixth
lap. Smith was right behind Mark as the leaders entered lapped
traffic the next time around.
    Dave Blaney, a two-time winner at Tri-City, made a run toward
the front during the eighth and ninth laps, passing Steve for
fifth and Jeff for fourth place. Mark was a half-straightaway
ahead of his closest pursuers when Steve steered his #11 Quaker
State Maxim deep in the second corner to pass Jeff and regain
fifth place early in lap 11.
    A 12th-lap caution tightened the field, and allowed Smith to
line up right behind Mark as the race resumed. Stevie used a low
move into the second corner to regain first place, then opened a
10-car-length advantage within three laps.
    Sammy pressured Mark for the runner-up spot while Steve
passed Blaney for fourth place the next time around. Smith was
approaching the backmarkers with a half-straightaway lead when
Steve made it a three-car battle for second place during lap 18.
    Mark caught Smith in lapped traffic two laps later, and
pressured him for two laps before driving the #5M Wirtgen Maxim
back into the lead on the back straightaway.
    Steve passed Sammy for third place late in the 22nd lap, and
took the high road around Smith in turn two for the runner-up spot 
the next time around. Although Mark was 10 car-lengths ahead with
eight laps remaining, Steve reeled him in by lap 25 as they raced
through dense lapped traffic.
    Steve caught Mark on the back straightaway with five laps
remaining, then took the lead with a low move through turn four
as Mark tried to pass Joey Saldana two laps later. "The King of
the Outlaws" quickly built a comfortable advantage, and took the
checkered flag with 15 car-lengths to spare.
    Smith passed Mark with two laps remaining to claim second
place. Sammy, winner of seven World of Outlaws main events in his
career at Tri-City, finished fourth. Completing the top 10 in the
series' 38th event of the year were "The Buckeye Bullet," Jeff
Swindell, Andy Hillenburg, 14th-starting Johnny Herrera, Joe
Gaerte and First Quaker State Heat Race winner Jac Haudenschild.
WoO
            1996 World of Outlaws/Skoal Outlaw Series
               Tri-City Speedway, Granite City, IL
             Saturday, July 13, Feature Program #38
    Qualifications:  1. Steve Kinser, Kinser 11, 17.727; 2. Mark
Kinser, Kinser 5M, 17.749; 3. Tim Engler, Engler 73, 17.841; 4.
Sammy Swindell, Swindell 1, 17.855; 5. Jeff Swindell, Two Winners
7TW, 17.926; 6. Stevie Smith, Motter 71M, 17.978; 7. Dave Blaney,
Luna 10, 18.055; 8. Joe Gaerte, Gaerte 3G, 18.061; 9. Joey
Saldana, Stanton 75, 18.145; 10. Jac Haudenschild, Elden 22,
18.185; 11. Andy Hillenburg, Hillenburg 2, 18.199; 12. Lance
Blevins, Blevins 21, 18.210; 13. Donny Schatz, Schatz 15, 18.212;
14. Johnny Herrera, Sonner 47, 18.242; 15. Jim Carr, McCarr 7M,
18.379; 16. Bobby Hawks, Hawks 5H, 18.522; 17. Greg Hodnett, Helm
11H, 18.564; 18. Brian Paulus, P&P Motorsports 28, 18.693; 19.
J.C. Sulawske, Hobgood 12, 18.852; 20. Dion Hindi, Hindi 11A,
18.965; 21. Tommy Scott, Scott 4S, 19.286; 22. George Schell,
Schell 17, 20.932.
    First Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Jac
Haudenschild, 2. Dave Blaney, 3. Sammy Swindell, 4. Donny Schatz,
5. Steve Kinser, 6. Bobby Hawks, 7. J.C. Sulawske, 8. George
Schell. (first eight qualified for the "A" Feature)
    Second Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Greg Hodnett,
2. Johnny Herrera, 3. Joe Gaerte, 4. Andy Hillenburg, 5. Mark
Kinser, 6. Jeff Swindell, 7. Dion Hindi. (first seven qualified
for the "A" Feature)
    Third Quaker State Heat Race (eight laps):  1. Lance Blevins,
2. Joey Saldana, 3. Stevie Smith, 4. Brian Paulus, 5. Tim Engler,
6. Tommy Scott, 7. Jim Carr. (first seven qualified for the "A"
Feature)
    Vivarin Dash (five laps):  1. Stevie Smith, 2. Jeff Swindell,
3. Sammy Swindell, 4. Mark Kinser, 5. Steve Kinser, 6. Dave
Blaney, 7. Tim Engler, 8. Joe Gaerte. (finish determined the
first eight starting positions in the "A" Feature)
    A Feature (30 laps):  1. Steve Kinser ($6,010); 2. Stevie
Smith ($3,510); 3. Mark Kinser ($2,510); 4. Sammy Swindell
($2,210); 5. Dave Blaney ($2,110); 6. Jeff Swindell ($2,010); 7.
Andy Hillenburg ($1,610); 8. Johnny Herrera ($1,510); 9. Joe
Gaerte ($1,410); 10. Jac Haudenschild ($1,310); 11. Tim Engler
($1,160); 12. Lance Blevins ($1,110); 13. Joey Saldana ($1,060);
14. Jim Carr ($1,010); 15. Donny Schatz ($710); 16. Brian Paulus
($510); 17. Tommy Scott ($410); 18. Greg Hodnett ($410); 19. J.C.
Sulawske ($410); 20. Dion Hindi ($410); 21. Bobby Hawks ($410);
22. George Schell ($410).
             Lap leaders:  Stevie Smith 1-5, 14-21;
           Mark Kinser 6-13; 22-26; Steve Kinser 27-30
         EcoWater Quick-Time Award winner:  Steve Kinser
                               WoO