"They are here to battle every night and it's very exciting," he said. The way that the King and his whole team have prepared themselves and attacked this season shows that it is much more than just a show, Dolack said. "I want to win the championship," he said, "and to do that you have to run pretty good every night." Kinser said in December when the "Salute to the King" tour was announced, that he wanted to compete, and that meant more than just a retirement tour. "I mean, he drives my car so he has to run it good," Kinser said with a laugh. "His retirement hasn't hit me as much yet," Kraig Kinser said, "but I will miss seeing him around the racetrack.Īfter racing his son for multiple years, Kinser said he wouldn't prefer to lose to any other driver on the track. Kraig Kinser grew up around his father's "King of the Outlaws" name, he said, but watching him race gave Kraig a new appreciation for the toughness and competitiveness of the sport. "Once I started racing against him it was a different appreciation." "I didn't know how much it meant until later on," he said. Growing up around the sport was fun as a kid, Kraig Kinser said, but he never knew how prominent his father was on the racetrack until his teenage years. Kinser's cousin Mark was also a championship driver for the World of Outlaws. Kinser's son Kraig now races for Steve Kinser Racing and won the Knoxville Nationals, the circuit's premier event, in 2005. "We've won a lot of races and a lot of championships," Kinser said of his success, "but it's hard to keep the pace up when you are pushing 60 years old."ĭrivers like Tony Stewart - Kinser's car owner - have grown up watching the King and his career that spans three decades, Dolack said. Kinser was named to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2005 and then became the oldest driver to win a World of Outlaws main event with his win at Williams Grove Speedway in 2012, at the age of 57. "I can't think of another guy who has been since day one and still continues to race at a high level," Dolack said. He drew crowds to an Australian racetrack, where he won the 38th Australian Speedcar Grand Prix in 1986, and qualified for the Indianapolis 500 in 1997. The King has been racing since 1978 and has also raced with the National Sprint Tour series. "I still think that the highlight is that we've been so competitive for so long," he said. His trophies and titles have been the goal, but the real celebration is the ability to remain the King on his throne for so long, Kinser said. His career includes 577 wins and 20 championships and has made him the most well known Outlaw on the racetrack. Kinser, an Indiana native who competes for Tony Stewart Racing, is in his 36th and final season of competitive racing - dubbed the "Salute to the King" tour. "He's king of he outlaws for a reason," said Chris Dolack, the vice president of the World of Outlaws. Racing takes place Saturday and Sunday at 7 p.m. Steve Kinser has returned to the half-mile dirt oval in Napa County in a quest of his 21st and final driving title with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series. In the world of fast cars and outlaws, auto racing's answer to Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan will make his final appearance in the Wild West at Calistoga Speedway this weekend.
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