Steve Kinser

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Kinser in a 2006 IROC race at Texas

Steve Kinser (born June 3, 1954, Bloomington, Indiana), is a professional sprint car racer. He has won 20 championships in the World of Outlaws (WoO) series, and currently drives the #11 Quaker State car. Kinser left the World of Outlaws in 2006 to compete with the new National Sprint Tour series.

1 Background
2 World of Outlaws career
3 Other racing accomplishments
4 Family
5 External links

[edit] Background

Kinser was a high school wrestler. He finished second in state as a Junior, and won state as a senior.

[edit] World of Outlaws career

He became a World of Outlaws driver in 1978. In 1987 he won 46 features, including 12 in a row, and 24 of the last 26 events. He is widely considered the best World of Outlaws driver ever. He has won the Knoxville Nationals a record 12 times. He had won twenty WoO championships and 513 "A" features by 2005.

He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2005.

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[edit] Other racing accomplishments

Steve failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 as a 28 year old rookie in 1981 when his month was ended by a practice crash. He returned 16 years later in 1997 and qualified 20th and finished 14th as a 42 year old rookie in a Dallara-Oldsmobile. It was his only Indy Racing League start. He made 3 starts on dirt ovals during the final years of the USAC Champ Car series in 1982 and 1983.

Kinser has been selected several times to compete in the International Race of Champions, winning a race at Talladega Superspeedway in 1994. He also finished a career best 6th in IROC points in 1994.

He began the 1995 season as a full-time NASCAR Winston Cup driver for Kenny Bernstein, but he was released after only five starts after a best finish of 27th and average finish of 35th.

[edit] Family

His family is also involved in racing, as his cousin Mark Kinser, is one of his competitors on the World of Outlaws circuit, and his son Kraig Kinser is a member of Ginn Racing's driver development program. Kraig has also won the 2005 Knoxville Nationals. His uncle Sheldon Kinser competed in the CART series and raced in the Indianapolis 500 6 times. Steve is the son of Bob Kinser.

Steve's uncle Karl Kinser was Steve's car owner 1978 to 1994. Karl has been the winning car owner and mechanic for 16 World of Outlaws championships and 12 Knoxville Nationals wins. Karl was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame.