Dennis Steven Kinser (born June 2, 1954), nicknamed "the King", is a former professional

sprint car racing Sprint cars are Open-wheel car, open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short Oval track racing, oval, circular dirt track racing, dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them fr ...

driver. He has won 20 championships in the

World of Outlaws World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, originally known as the World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American national touring dirt track racing series. It is owned and operated by World Racing Group, and was rebranded when the World of O ...

(WoO) series. Kinser left the World of Outlaws in 2006 to compete with the National Sprint Tour series, but returned to the World of Outlaws for the 2007 season.

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

named him 25th on their top drivers of all-time in 2008. He was inducted into the

Motorsports Hall of Fame of America The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is a hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles ...

in 2017.Steve Kinser
at the

Background

Kinser was a high school

wrestler Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves diffe ...

. He finished second in state as a junior, and was a state champion wrestler as a senior. Both of his sons also wrestled in high school. His youngest son Kurt, won the Indiana state tournament as a senior as well, capping off the

Bloomington High School South Bloomington High School South (simply referred to as BHSS or South) is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is part of the Monroe County Community School Corporation. The school is accred ...

team's excellent season. Kurt wrestled at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, competing at the 149 and 157-pound weight classes, and later became a professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

. After Kinser's win on Saturday May 12, 2012 at the Williams Grove Speedway, Steve became the oldest driver ever to win a

main event at the age of 57, although this record would be broken in May of 2021 when

Dave Blaney David Louis Blaney (born October 24, 1962) is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver. Blaney was a successful Sprint car racing, sprint car driver before he started racing in NASCAR, competing in both the Sprint Cup Series ...

won the World Of Outlaws feature race at Sharon Speedway at age 58.

World of Outlaws career

He became a World of Outlaws driver in 1978. In 1987, he won 46 features, including 12 in a row, and 24 of the last 26 events. He has won the Knoxville Nationals a record 12 times, the Gold Cup Race of Champions 12 times, and the Kings Royal at Eldora 7 times. He won twenty WoO championships and 690 "A" features (including full-field preliminary night wins). He was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2005. He has been described as the best sprint racer ever by both columnists and even his rivals. In August 2016, Kinser retired from Sprint Car racing. 11 Steve Kinser 2013

Other racing accomplishments

In 1981, a 26-year-old rookie, Kinser failed to qualify for the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

when his month was ended by a practice crash. He returned in

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

driving a

Dallara Dallara Group S.r.l. is the largest multi-national Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Giampaolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' M ...

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

, where he qualified 20th and finished 14th after a late race accident in Turn 4. It was his only

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

start. During his many tours of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

racing Sprint cars, Kinser won many feature races and drew large crowds wherever he raced, but on January 4, 1986 he swapped his Sprinter for a VW-powered

Midget Midget (from ''midge'', a tiny biting insect) is a term for a person of unusually short stature that is considered by some to be pejorative due to its etymology. While not a Medical terminology, medical term like ''dwarf'' (for a person with d ...

(called a Speedcar in Australia) and won the 38th Australian Speedcar Grand Prix at

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

's Liverpool City Raceway. Kinser began touring Australia in 1979, before returning many times during the 1980s and 1990s, generally teaming with his brother Randy in Gambler chassis Sprint cars distinctively sponsored by cigarette companies, including the black and gold of JPS, and the sky blue and white Commodore brand. In 1985/86, Steve Kinser headlined a four driver tour of Australia which included his brother Randy and cousins Mark and Kelly. The JPS sponsored Kinser's virtually cleaned-up on their 1985/86 Australian tour, winning races at the major speedways in the country against Australia's best drivers including multiple Australian Champions Garry Rush, George Tatnell and

Max Dumesny Maxwell Stewart Dumesny (born 12 July 1959, in Nullawarre, Victoria) is an Australian professional Sprintcar driver. Dumesny was born and raised in Victoria but has resided in Nelson, New South Wales since the mid-1990s, although his Sprint ...

. Kinser has been selected several times to compete in the

International Race of Champions International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an American-motorsports equivalent of an all-star game. Despite its name, IROC was primarily ...

, winning a race at

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway (Alabama International Motor Speedway from 1969 to 1989) is a tri-oval superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama. Built in 1969, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, primarily races sanctioned by NASCAR. The track is ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

. That year he also finished a career best 6th in IROC points. In 1995 Kinser landed a NASCAR Winston Cup Series ride as

drag racing Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, mos ...

legend

Kenny Bernstein Kenneth Dale Bernstein (born September 6, 1944) is an American drag racer and former NASCAR and IndyCar team owner. He is nicknamed "the Bud King" for his success in the Budweiser King funny car and dragster. He has also been nicknamed "th ...

hired Kinser to drive his No. 26

Quaker State Quaker State is an American brand of motor oils, owned by Shell USA, the US-based division of Shell plc. The former Quaker State Oil Refining Company had been constituted in 1924 after the Eastern Refining Co. acquired rights to the ''Quaker Sta ...

Ford, but after the first 7 races of 1995, Kinser was released and replaced by

Hut Stricklin Waymond Lane "Hut" Stricklin Jr. (born June 24, 1961) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. Racing career Stricklin grew up in Calera, Alabama. He married Pam Allison, the daughter of NASCAR legend Donnie Allison after they ...

after posting no wins and no top tens with an average finish of 35.2 and a best finish of 27th at Rockingham along with 3 DNF's and 2 DNQ's.

Family

His family is also involved in racing, as his younger brother Randy Kinser and cousins Kelly Kinser and Mark Kinser, who was also a championship winning driver on the World of Outlaws circuit. His son Kraig Kinser races for Steve Kinser Racing in the number 11k

sprint car. Kraig won the 2005 Knoxville Nationals. He has two other children, Stevie and Kurt. His second cousin, once removed Sheldon Kinser competed in the

CART A cart or dray (Australia and New Zealand) is a vehicle designed for transport, using two wheels and normally pulled by draught animals such as horses, donkeys, mules and oxen, or even smaller animals such as goats or large dogs. A handcart ...

series and raced in the

six times. Steve is the son of Bob Kinser. Steve's third cousin Karl Kinser (Mark Kinser's father) was Steve's car owner 1978 to 1994, and was crew chief for Steve and Randy's cars on their frequent tours to Australia in the 1980s. Karl has been the winning car owner and mechanic for 16 World of Outlaws championships and 12 Knoxville Nationals wins. Karl was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. Even though Karl is his third cousin, Steve Kinser often joked to reporters that the pair weren't really related.

Motorsports career results

World of Outlaws

* 1978: Champion – 11 wins. * 1979: Champion – 23 wins. * 1980: Champion – 28 wins. * 1981: 3rd in points – 23 wins. * 1982: 2nd in points – 13 wins. * 1983: Champion – 18 wins. * 1984: Champion – 19 wins. * 1985: Champion – 15 wins. * 1986: Champion – 18 wins. * 1987: Champion – 46 wins. * 1988: Champion – 27 wins. * 1990: Champion – 27 wins. * 1991: Champion – 36 wins. * 1992: Champion – 31 wins. * 1993: Champion – 19 wins. * 1994: Champion – 29 wins. * 1995: 9th in points – 18 wins. * 1996: 4th in points – 10 wins. * 1997: 3rd in points – 5 wins. * 1998: Champion – 6 wins. * 1999: 3rd in points – 11 wins. * 2000: Champion – 10 wins. * 2001: 3rd in points – 6 wins. * 2002: Champion – 20 wins. * 2003: Champion – 25 wins. * 2004: Champion 17 wins. * 2005: Champion – 20 wins. * 2006: 2nd in points (NST) – 5 wins. * 2007: 6th in points – 10 wins. * 2008: 3rd in points – 7 wins. * 2009: 4th in points – 2 wins. * 2010: 3rd in points – 9 wins. * 2011: 3rd in points – 9 wins. * 2012: 5th in points – 4 wins. * 2013: 8th in points – 2 wins. * 2014: 8th in points – 1 win. "Last fulltime season" * 2015: 19th in points - 0 wins.

NASCAR

( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Winston Cup Series

=Daytona 500

American open-wheel racing results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Indy Racing League

Indianapolis 500

References

External links

Official website
*
Indiana State resolution honoring Kinser
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinser, Steve 1954 births NASCAR drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers International Race of Champions drivers IndyCar Series drivers Living people National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from Bloomington, Indiana Racing drivers from Indiana USAC Silver Crown Series drivers World of Outlaws drivers