Sprint car icon Steve Kinser to run final full season in 2014 - MotorSportsTalk

In 2014, “The King” of the World of Outlaws will be going after the throne, one last time.

Tony Stewart Racing has announced that Steve Kinser, a 20-time champion of the WoO STP Sprint Car Series, will make next year his final full season on the circuit. A year-long farewell tour – dubbed the “Salute to the King” – will begin in February with the DIRTcar Nationals in Florida.

Going into 2014, Kinser has collected a staggering 576 A-Feature victories in his 35-year WoO career. He won his first all the way back in 1978 at the famed Eldora Speedway en route to winning the series’ inaugural championship that season.

Since then, he’s become a legend in the world of sprint car racing and stands as its equivalent to the likes of Mario Andretti, Ayrton Senna, and Richard Petty. Now, he’s looking ahead to one final chance at making more history.

“Racing with the Outlaws has been my life for almost 40 years,” Kinser said in a statement. “It’s all I’ve known. My family has been around it. I’ve had the pleasure of running up and down the road racing all across this incredible country, and even in Canada, Mexico and Australia with this series. I knew it wasn’t going to last forever.

“I feel like we have a great team here capable of winning a lot of races and challenging for the championship this year.”

Kinser has also branched out into other forms of motorsport during his remarkable career. He appeared multiple times in the now-defunct International Race of Champions, with a career-best finish of sixth in the 1994 championship (a year that included a win at Talladega Superspeedway). Kinser also ran a handful of Sprint Cup events in 1995 and competed in the 1997 Indianapolis 500, where he finished 14th.

With Kinser set to embark on one last go-round, his team owner paid tribute.

“I never missed an Outlaw show in the area when I was growing up,” said Stewart. “We waited for those nights like they were holidays. It was incredible watching Steve race with Sammy [Swindell] and Doug [Wolfgang]. He was our guy, being from Indiana, and when he won, it gave us all something to brag about. And he won a lot.

“A few years ago, when we had the chance to get him to drive for TSR, it was like a dream come true. When we got him on board, my goal was for him to drive for us for the remainder of his career. I’m really excited for him to go out and have a great season. He’s the best ever and I couldn’t be more proud.”

Follow @estradawriting

An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”