Off and Running in Florida with Kraig Kinser in All Star Victory Lane

OCALA, Fla. (February 5, 2016) – Sprint weeks in Florida kicked off Friday night with Kraig Kinser snapping an extended victory drought by dashing to victory lane in the season-opening 30-lap All Star Circuit of Champions feature atop the 3/8-mile Bubba Raceway Park.

Gunning into the lead at the outset aboard the Arctic Cat No. 11k Sprint Car, Kinser fought off challenges from Dale Blaney and Greg Hodnett along the way to post his first win since a WoO score at Spencer, IA, on September 12, 2014.

“It’s always good to end the night in victory lane,” Kinser said afterward. “I was pretty hard on my tires late in the race, so it was tough to get going on those restarts. I definitely had to be on my game with those guys.”

Kinser outgunned pole starter Hodnett for the lead at the outset and cruised out front until sixth-starter and defending All Star champ made his way up to second on the tenth round. Blaney reeled in Kinser and put the pressure on for the lead.

Blaney hounded Kinser through traffic, with Hodnett rejoining the lead mix and slipping back by Blaney for second 23rd lap. Blaney pulled alongside Kinser exiting turn two in the race for the lead the next time around along to see the caution fly.

Kinser took off on the restart and kept his challengers at bay, with Blaney racing back into second on the 26th round. Hodnett filled out the podium in the Lelands.com No. 27 with Chad Kemenah and 14th-starter Caleb Armstrong rounding out the top five.

“We were really good in the middle of the race,” Blaney said afterward. “Kraig plugged all the holes at the right time.”

Hodnett commented that, “We weren’t good on short runs, we needed the longer runs to have a chance.”

The Vitals…                                                           

Series: All Star Circuit of Champions

Track: Bubba Raceway Park (Ocala, FL)

Car Count: 26

Quick Time: The second car out, Danny Holtgraver stopped the clocks at 12.906 seconds.

Heat Winners (starting position in parentheses): Logan Schuchart (1), Chad Kemenah (3), Bryan Clauson (2).

Heat Moments: Logan Schuchart chased down Danny Smith to win heat one, Kemenah checked out in heat two as Tim Shaffer made his way past Bradley Howard on the final lap for runner-up honors while Clauson survived a late caution to top heat three.

“A” Main Cautions: Three

Lap 8 – Davey Jones rolls to a stop in turn two.

Lap 8 Restart – Austin McCarl spins in turn four before another lap is completed.

Lap 24 – T.J. Michael gets into the turn four wall.

“A” Main Hard Charger: Caleb Armstrong’s run from 14th to fifth was the best, Armstrong was among the lead mix in traffic when the final caution flew with seven laps to go.

The Box Score…

A Feature 1 (30 Laps): 1. 11K-Kraig Kinser[2]; 2. 1-Dale Blaney[6]; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett[1]; 4. 10H-Chad Kemenah[7]; 5. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[14]; 6. 45-Tim Shaffer[4]; 7. 17W-Bryan Clauson[3]; 8. 87-Aaron Reutzel[13]; 9. 70-Danny Holtgraver[5]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart[9]; 11. 4-Danny Smith[8]; 12. 1A-Jacob Allen[12]; 13. 07-Doug Esh[17]; 14. 71M-Paul May[21]; 15. 40-Caleb Helms[18]; 16. 14-Tyler Clem[16]; 17. 13-Brandon Matus[15]; 18. 49H-Bradley Howard[10]; 19. 59-Austin McCarl[11]; 20. 33-Brent Matus[20]; 21. 40I-Mark Imler[23]; 22. 8M-T.J. Michael[19]; 23. 76-David Jones[22]; 24. 24-Terry McCarl[24]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 8M-T.J. Michael[2]; 2. 40-Caleb Helms[1]; 3. 71M-Paul May[4]; 4. 33-Brent Matus[3]; 5. 40I-Mark Imler[5]; 6. 76-David Jones[8]; 7. I07-Jordan Givler[6]; 8. 51-John Garvin[7]

Dash 1 (6 Laps): 1. 27-Greg Hodnett[1]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser[2]; 3. 17W-Bryan Clauson[4]; 4. 45-Tim Shaffer[5]; 5. 70-Danny Holtgraver[3]; 6. 1-Dale Blaney[7]; 7. 10H-Chad Kemenah[6]; 8. 4-Danny Smith[8]

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1]; 2. 4-Danny Smith[2]; 3. 27-Greg Hodnett[3]; 4. 70-Danny Holtgraver[4]; 5. 24-Terry McCarl[6]; 6. 13-Brandon Matus[5]; 7. 33-Brent Matus[7]; 8. I07-Jordan Givler[8]; 9. 51-John Garvin[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 10H-Chad Kemenah[3]; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer[4]; 3. 49H-Bradley Howard[1]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel[6]; 5. 59-Austin McCarl[2]; 6. 14-Tyler Clem[5]; 7. 8M-T.J. Michael[7]; 8. 40I-Mark Imler[8]; 9. 76-David Jones[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Bryan Clauson[2]; 2. 11K-Kraig Kinser[4]; 3. 07-Doug Esh[7]; 4. 1-Dale Blaney[3]; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen[1]; 6. 7C-Caleb Armstrong[5]; 7. 71M-Paul May[8]; 8. 40-Caleb Helms[6]

Qualifying 1 (2 Laps): 1. 70-Danny Holtgraver, 12.906; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer, 13.025; 3. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.087; 4. 1-Dale Blaney, 13.113; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.170; 6. 27-Greg Hodnett, 13.274; 7. 59-Austin McCarl, 13.372; 8. 17W-Bryan Clauson, 13.453; 9. 4-Danny Smith, 13.453; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.471; 11. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.493; 12. 7C-Caleb Armstrong, 13.514; 13. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.581; 14. 49H-Bradley Howard, 13.590; 15. 13-Brandon Matus, 13.628; 16. 07-Doug Esh, 13.679; 17. 24-Terry McCarl, 13.702; 18. 14-Tyler Clem, 13.721; 19. 87-Aaron Reutzel, 13.935; 20. 8M-T.J. Michael, 13.983; 21. 71M-Paul May, 14.056; 22. 40I-Mark Imler, 14.141; 23. 33-Brent Matus, 14.397; 24. 76-David Jones, 14.470; 25. I07-Jordan Givler, 14.563; 26. 51-John Garvin, 15.005