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NST: Tulare race notes 2006-02-25

Steve Kinser "survives" to Sweep NST Inaugural Weekend at Thunderbowl Steve Kinser found a huge burst of speed going "up top" in the final laps of the Saturday night feature at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA. His momentum shot him by Paul ...

Edited: Jan 4, 2007, 9:06 AM

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Steve Kinser "survives" to Sweep NST Inaugural Weekend at Thunderbowl

Steve Kinser found a huge burst of speed going "up top" in the final laps of the Saturday night feature at Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, CA. His momentum shot him by Paul McMahan (20) into second.

All history of the Swindell/Kinser rivalry could be felt as the King set his sights on the leader, Sammy Swindell (5). Prior to moving to the high side it seemed unimaginable that Sammy could be caught let alone passed. Wrong. Swindell looked low and slow as Kinser ripped by on the outside of turns 1 and 2. Despite a number of opportunities during restarts and lapping traffic Sammy was unable to match the speed of the high line. The white flag saw Sammy spinout in turn 4 ending his evening.

Winged sprint car fans love their drivers and they especially appreciate the rivalries that develop over time. Opening night at the Tulare Thunderbowl saw an unexpected rivalry develop between Steve Kinser and his hired gun California driver Tim Kaeding. It's hard to imagine that the second night of the inaugural Tulare Thunderbowl event could top the first, but by scoring each race separately, the drivers had a clean slate Saturday night and they were ready. Track conditions were still "heavy" but lap times improved significantly faster for the whole field.

Ronnie Day, a California legend and a crowd favorite, in the 1D sprinter used his pole position start to prove that "they are not going to (beat me up) in my back yard." After dominating his dash and the early laps of the main event, he spun out avoiding a Travis Rutz (8r) spinout, much to the disappointment of the fans.

When asked at the end of the forty laps main, how he felt Steve replied, "I sorta feel like a survivor." Very true as there were many challenges to surmount with the large field and very close racing. Steve mentioned that the team had prepared the car to run low but the handling allowed him to "come on strong at the end, and that's what we wanted to do."

In post race interviews, Paul McMahan (20) was very pleased with his third place finish. When he tried the high line late in the race he said "I broke a shock mount trying to follow Steve." He ran in the top three most of the race and was happy to survive.

Jason Meyers when asked about his second place finish said, "I was about the same all evening just not quite good enough."

The National Sprint Tour travels to New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, NM for a double-header March 10 and 11, 2006. Fred Brownfield, NST President has said, "We are committed to bringing the very best sprint car drivers to SNM, and we will. Our guys had better be strapped in tight, though, because I know Johnny Herrera and the other guys in the S.C.O.A. who run there regularly are gonna be laying in wait for us. It will be one heckuva two nights of racing."

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