CONCORD, N.C. — The World of Outlaws will celebrate its 30th anniversary in 2008 and one of the original series competitors, Danny Smith, will return to the series full time.
The Danville, Ind., native who has been racing sprint cars for more than 30 years, has hooked up with Ohio businessman Jeff Schrader, who will venture into the world of car ownership for the first time, fielding a team for Smith.
“Being the car owner the last four or five years, I need to do something different from a financial standpoint,” Smith said. “It was very good timing that Jeff called and wanted to go World of Outlaws racing, especially with the 30-year anniversary of the Outlaws next year. I have been running the Outlaws a little bit every year for the last 30 years.”
Schrader, who has sponsored sprint cars in the past, will help Smith with the resources he needs to compete at the top level of sprint-car racing.
The team will field Maxim cars with Smith’s familiar No. 4, and will receive a little extra help from a familiar sprint-car supporter. K.C. Spurlock, who fielded the Kenny Rogers Gamblers that Smith drove in the 1980s and will supply the truck and trailer for the team.
Look for some special paint schemes from the team during the course of the year, including a potential throwback to the Spurlock/Kenny Rogers days that would be timed around the Knoxville Nationals Aug. 6-9.

• The inaugural World Finals was a huge hit with fans and racers alike. Fans from 48 states and five provinces were on hand.
Saturday’s program was a sellout and Friday’s came within a few hundred tickets of selling out. Meanwhile, 48 sprint-car teams and 82 late-model operations filled the pit area. The dates for the second-annual event will be Oct. 30-Nov. 1, 2008.

• While Donny Schatz, who clinched his second-straight World of Outlaws championship, said not much will change with his approach to racing next season. He will move from his family owned team to the Tony Stewart Racing stable, but most of the parts and pieces will remain the same.
Schatz acknowledged he tested another chassis and some other parts earlier in the year, but will remain with J & J chassis and Shaver engines next season. The only major component that will change on Schatz’s Armor All-backed machine will be the wheels, which will be provided by Weld.

• As for Schatz’s teammate for 2008? TSR officials confirmed Saturday night that third-generation sprint-car racer Kraig Kinser will take the wheel of the Bass Pro Shops entry for the 2008 season.
Kinser, who returns to sprint-car racing full-time after two disappointing seasons racing in the Craftsman Truck Series, will team with veteran crew chief Jimmy Carr, who led TSR and driver Danny Lasoski to the 2001 WoO title.

• Paul McMahan, who Kinser will replace with TSR, had a miserable final weekend with the team. McMahan suffered a violent flip and crash on Friday night, with the right downtube and several suspension pieces from the car remaining caught in the catch fence.
McMahan, who still doesn’t have a ride for next season, was very sore on Saturday when the driveline on his No. 20, broke during a heat race sending him to the hospital with an injury to one of his toes.

• Low-buck sprint-car racers Brian and Sarah Carlson were back with the World of Outlaws at LMS and told NSSN they hope to have some unique new sponsorship arrangements in place for their No. 18, which Brian drives, in time for next season. That would be good news for one of sprint-car racing’s nicest couples.

• How many short-track events have fly overs?
The World Finals did. A C-130 H-3 Hercules cargo plane from the 156th Air Lift Squadron located in Charlotte, N.C., buzzed The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway following Saturday’s National Anthem.

• Steve Kinser won his 10th feature of the season Saturday night, and he did it in a new 2008 Maxim chassis, which he debuted for the weekend.