Kite to close out '02 on the double.

On Friday, September 27, sometime Indy Racing League driver Jimmy Kite will return to his roots at the Auto Tyre and Parts Race Park in Benton, Missouri.

The 26-year old, whose laidback, smiling demeanour contradicts his aggressive driving style, will race a winged-mini-sprint and a 410 winged-sprint car in the same evening.

The $5,000 to win sprint car race on the 3/8th-mile dirt oval is drawing the best winged-sprint cars from around the region. The U.S. Outlaw Mini-Sprint Association (USOMA) National Championship race will be the first time in over ten years that Kite has driven one of the 1200 cc powered machines.

The USOMA race is part of a two-day show that will have the mini-sprints back on track for a $2,000 to win event on Saturday. The weekend will closeout Kite's 2002 season.

"This weekend is going to be a blast," said the Georgia based driver who cut his teeth on dirt tracks in quarter-midgets and mini-sprints. "I haven't been in a mini-sprint in years and I'm really looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun. I love this type of racing. I can never get enough."

The #12 Joe Reddick-owned Maxim chassis will be Kite's mount for the winged-sprint car portion of the evening. Kite has raced Reddick's entry for much of the year with a number of heat wins and top-three feature performances. Kite was the 1991 mini-sprint rookie of the year and is a two-time Budweiser Nationals mini-sprint champion (1991, 1993).

"We have been running fast in Joe's car all season," continued Kite who is talking with several NASCAR and IRL teams about the 2003 season. "If we get just a little bit of luck we should have a good shot at the big money. We win that and I can guarantee you there'll be a party at my place. We have been talking to so many owners in the IRL and NASCAR that this may be my last chance to run these for a while and I want to go out on a high-note.

"I have really enjoyed this season racing on dirt and doing the Silver Crown pavement races. I've come back here and learned a lot that is going to help me with the big cars.

"It has been a great season. Getting a chance to close the year with a $5,000-to-win sprint car feature and a major mini-sprint race just ices the cake for me."

Kite began racing quarter-midgets at the age of eight and worked his way up through mini-sprints, USAC midgets, sprint cars and Silver Crown cars to the Indy Racing League. Making his debut for Team Scandia in 1997, Kite has 22 career IRL starts to date with a best result of sixth at Las Vegas in that first year.

Kite's most recent IRL start was in the 2000 finale at Texas for Blueprint Racing although he attempted to qualify the PDM Racing Dallara-Chevrolet at Indy this year with no success.

Towards the end of 2001 Kite was linked with a new IRL team called Satellite Motorsports with the aim to make their debut at the start of 2003. However after no further announcements that entry now appears to be a non-starter.