It was announced before this year that 2014 is the final season of World of Outlaw Sprint Car competition for Steve ‘The King’ Kinser. The 20 time champion of the series has decided to hang up the helmet after running the series since its inaugural season in 1978. Kinser is the winningest driver in the history of the series and has been the face of the sport, along with Sammy Swindell and Doug Wolfgang.
Kinser came into the sport after growing up racing at Bloomington Speedway and had not been back to the track in a winged sprint car in the last two years. Knowing that this was going to be the last season of his career the sanctioning body and the track managed to get Bloomington back onto the docket for one last appearance by the King at home.
Bloomington truly is home for Kinser. He currently makes his home just a few miles from the track and has been going to the speedway since he was a child. His first sprint car race was at the track in 1976 and, when he won the inaugural championship for the World of Outlaws he clinched it at his home track. Kinser took the checkered flag at Bloomington in an WoO car eight times in his career. The last of them was in 1998. The Tony Stewart racing shop where his cars are constructed is next to his home and employs six people from the Bloomington area.
This will be Kinser’s last race in the state of Indiana in his WoO career as the tour makes its way through the final six weeks of the season before wrapping up at the World Finals in Charlotte at the beginning of November. As mentioned earlier, Kinser is the winningest driver in the history of the series.
He’s won 577 A-mains, almost double the 294 of Swindell, his closest competitor on the list. There are only three other drivers in the history of the sport with more than 100 wins. Wolfgang has 107, Kinser’s cousin Mark has 153 and the current top dog in the series Donny Schatz has 170. In 1987 Kinser won 46 races during the season, including 12 straight. He’s won the Super Bowl of Sprint Car racing, the Knoxville Nationals, a record 12 times. He’s won feature races in the WoO at 142 different race tracks.
Kinser also ran the Indianapolis 500 and had a brief career in NASCAR, but the World of Outlaws was always where his heart belonged. After qualifying for the 500 he went to Tri-State Speedway to win his 415th career race. He did finish 14th in that 500.
There are only three or four drivers in the history of American motorsports that are the face of their series. Richard Petty is The King of NASCAR. John Force is The Man in drag racing. AJ Foyt is the greatest driver of all-time. The fourth face on the Mt. Rushmore of American race car drivers is Steve Kinser, the King of the Outlaws.
If you are in the Bloomington area on Friday night, make the trip over to the speedway. You can get in for $35 and be a part of one of the biggest dates on the Salute to the King tour. The gates open at 3:00 and racing starts at 7:30. It isn’t often you get to say farewell to a king at his home.
NASCAR Whelen All-American National Championship
It is over. After the season long battle, debates, disputes, name calling and finger pointing, the title has been bestowed on Anthony Anders. Lee Pulliam came up one spot short of being the first driver in history to win three championships in a row. Keith Rocco, the constant in the top 3 over most of the last decade notches another third place finish. Dillon Bassett raced at more tracks than anyone and came home in fourth with Chad Finchum rounding out the top 5.
Ryan Preece managed to hold off Kres Vandyke and stay in the sixth spot. Peyton Sellers comes home in eighth, tied with Vandyke for seventh but lost on the tie breaker of wins. Randy Porter makes a move back into the top 10 to score the ninth spot and Tommy Lemons Jr. wraps up the top 10.
| Pos. | Name | Track | Races | Wins | Top 5s | Top 10s | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthony Anders | Anderson, Greenville, Hickory, Myrtle | 51 | 30 | 44 | 48 | 720 |
| 2 | Lee Pulliam | Caraway, Southern Natl, S Boston, Greenville, Motor Mile | 46 | 25 | 41 | 42 | 708 |
| 3 | Keith Rocco | Stafford, Waterford, Thompson | 46 | 16 | 35 | 40 | 698 |
| 4 | Dillon Bassett | Motor Mile, Anderson, Southern Natl, Hickory, Caraway, East Carolina, Langley | 37 | 13 | 31 | 35 | 649 |
| 5 | Chad Finchum | Kingsport, L Pine | 37 | 19 | 33 | 34 | 647 |
| 6 | Ryan Preece | Thompson, Riverhead, Waterford, Stafford | 46 | 12 | 37 | 42 | 643 |
| 7 | Kres Vandyke | L Pine, Kingsport, Motor Mile | 39 | 10 | 35 | 37 | 629 |
| 8 | Peyton Sellers | Motor Mile, S Boston, Caraway, Langley | 37 | 5 | 30 | 36 | 629 |
| 9 | Randy Porter | Greenville, Anderson | 25 | 6 | 19 | 21 | 615 |
| 10 | Tommy Lemons, Jr | Motor Mile, S Boston, Southern Natl, Caraway | 45 | 7 | 31 | 38 | 614 |
What is it that Mike Neff doesn’t do? Mike announces several shows each year for the Good Guys Rod and Custom Association. He also pops up everywhere from PRN Pit Reporters and the Press Box with Alan Smothers to SIRIUS XM Radio. He has announced at tracks all over the Southeast, starting at Millbridge Speedway. He's also announced at East Lincoln Speedway, Concord Speedway, Tri-County Speedway, Caraway Speedway, and Charlotte Motor Speedway.