Bell Sponsored driver Steve Kinser said that he felt better than he had in two or three years, after having off-season surgery to fix a bulging disc in his neck heading into the 2010 season. The 20-time World of Outlaws champion started the season off very strong and was in contention for wins in each of the first three races of the 39th Annual Florida DIRTcar Nationals by University of Northwestern Ohio at Volusia Speedway. Kinser sealed the deal on Sunday night, picking up his first win of the season and his first victory since joining Tony Stewart Racing.
Kinser battled Tim Kaeding for most of the 30-lap contest and had Joey Saldana challenging him in the late going. For the Hall of Famer, it was his third career World of Outlaws A-Feature win at Volusia Speedway Park and his fifth overall triumph at the half-mile. Kinser now has 553 career A-Feature wins with the World of Outlaws.
“It feels good to get the first win of the year early on,” Kinser said. “The car got better as the race went on and I had to let it come to me. I was able to run low and also up top. I’m just glad to be in Victory Lane. That’s what we want to do, win races with this car.”
Kinser lined up second in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim and took the lead for the first time on the 12th lap from Tim Kaeding in traffic. Kinser used strong restarts each time to hold down the top spot.
“The car was good on the restarts,” shard the native of Bloomington, Ind. “We have been trying some different things here lately and I think we found a few that seem to work.”
Kinser had a very good week at the DIRTcar Nationals, finishing fourth or better in all four events he competed in, with three of those being podium runs. He leaves the Sunshine State second in points, just three markers behind his teammate Donny Schatz as he chases his record 21st series title.
“We had a pretty good week here and it was good to get back to the track and racing again,” noted Kinser. “We still have some work to do and we’ll go back to the shop and keep plugging away. This is a pretty good start to the year and we have plenty of racing left.” Steve Kinser wears the Bell Dominator in WOO competition.