Kraig Kinser won his second ARCA race, but his first season in the Truck Series was a little tougher. Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Kinser eager for second full season on pavement

Former dirt racer adjusting to Truck Series with Morgan-Dollar

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- With his short, stocky figure and wiry hair, Kraig Kinser looks exactly like his father.

That is not where the similarities end. Like his father, he found major success racing Sprint Cars on dirt. Like his father, he has found immediate success elusive in NASCAR.

Kraig Kinser's best 2006 finish was ninth-place at Las Vegas. Credit: Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Inside the Numbers Kinser's 2006 results Race Start Finish Status Daytona 11 30 crash Atlanta 9 28 running Martinsville 33 29 running Gateway 32 17 running Charlotte 22 19 running Mansfield 23 35 rear end Dover 19 31 running Texas 3 36 crash Michigan 19 22 running Milwaukee 32 28 running Kansas 20 35 running Kentucky 27 35 crash Memphis 36 27 running ORP 28 13 running Nashville 29 23 running Bristol 27 24 running Las Vegas 14 9 running Phoenix 8 24 running

His father, Steve, a 20-time champion in the World of Outlaw ranks, didn't attempt to make the jump to NASCAR until he was 40 years old. He had done well in IROC -- he surprisingly won a race in 1994 -- but his straight-to-Cup experiment in 1995 lasted only two months.

The younger Kinser had already established himself at the World of Outlaws level by winning the Knoxville Nationals a few weeks before his 21st birthday. NASCAR owners -- ones with a lot of resources -- came calling.

Kinser decided he didn't want to wait until he was middle-aged to see if he could make the transition from dirt to pavement. When MB2 Motorsports (now Ginn Racing) CEO Jay Frye offered a driver development deal in 2005, Kinser jumped at the chance.

"It was hard for me to make that choice to go to pavement, but I got a good offer with MB2 Motorsports at the time and I took it," Kinser said. "I took the opportunity I had in my hands, and I knew I would regret it if I didn't take it.

"I felt like I was getting too old to start learning. You have some kids that all they do is start running stock cars from an early age."

At first, things were easy for Kinser in the stock car world. He quickly blended into ARCA, winning at Talladega in just his second start. Frye then moved to create a partnership with the established Morgan-Dollar Motorsports outfit in the in the Craftsman Truck Series, handing Kinser the keys to one of the better trucks in the garage for the 2006 season.

But over the course of a 25-race Truck Series season, Kinser's inexperience showed. His difficult rookie season went down like this: 18 starts, one top-10, no top-fives, four DNFs.

"There were only a couple of tracks where I took off to it," Kinser said. "It was my first year on pavement, and it was just a rough year getting used to everything."

There were some bright spots. Kinser completed all but six laps in his final six starts, and a ninth-place finish at Las Vegas was his best showing of the year.

TRUCK SERIES •   Day 1 Speeds •   Day 2 Speeds

The short tracks, with premiums on handling and experience, were the toughest.

"Short tracks were, by far, probably the hardest to get used to," Kinser said. "The control you have over the truck, it is hard to get out there to [race] people with two and three years experience, let alone people with 30 years experience."

Part of the problem, Kinser said, is that he simply didn't get a lot of track time before the race, leaving him entirely dependent on learning in a 36-truck environment.

"Two hours [of practice] sounds like a lot of time until you actually get going," Kinser said. "A year of experience could make all the difference in the world."

Kinser knows that his sophomore season in trucks must be better, and he is banking on a year of seasoning to help. He insists that he isn't under a huge amount of pressure to perform.

"No pressure," Kinser said. "I mean, this is going to be my second year in pavement, so I am going to take it slow and try to learn the proper way and not take any backsteps.

"Obviously, we want to finish good, and we are definitely going to try to finish in the top 10 in points. We are really capable of doing it right now."