By NICK SCHWIEN

nschwien@dailynews.net

The wheels were turning for the 2010 season.

But they started turning a bit faster during the holidays for Tyler Kraus.

Now, the Ransom native who lives in Olathe is enjoying his rookie season in the United Rebel Sprint Series 305 sprint car class.

"Over the holidays, my grandpa came up to me and said he wished he had a granson still racing," Kraus said.

That made Kraus -- who had sat out the last four racing seasons after finding abundant success in the stock car class before the hiatus -- move up his plans a year.

He had planned to step into the sprint car ranks next summer. But when his grandfather, Frank Offutt, started talking, Kraus hit the fast-forward button.

"I wanted to race again when my grandpa was around," Kraus said about Offutt, who spent many summers racing a sprint car years ago. "He's an old-time racer. That's why I got started racing. I wanted to race a sprint car why he's still around."

Offutt lives north of Utica in Ness County, and Kraus honed his skills on tracks at Jetmore and WaKeeney in the stock car ranks.

"I basically got to the point where if I didn't break down, I could probably win," Kraus said about his stock car success. "When you get to that point, I felt it was time to move up. ... But this thing here, well, I've got a long way to go."

Kraus, who spent the last four years away from racing after getting married and focusing on his career, will get a chance to return to his old stomping grounds Monday night at WaKeeney Speedway for races during the Trego County Fair.

He's already locked into the make-up feature that was rained out May 25, then he'll battle it out in heat races to qualify for Monday's regular feature.

That is, if he's able to make the trip. One of the reasons Kraus was planning on waiting until next year to jump into the URSS was because his wife, Holly, is due to have the couple's first child. The due date is Aug. 4.

"As long as nothing weird is happening, she's OK with it," Kraus said about his wife's approval to travel to northwest Kansas for Monday's races at WaKeeney. "I'll probably come out (today) and miss the Norton races to be able to spend more time with her here."

Kraus, a 2000 graduate of Ransom, is grateful for all the help he has received from his friends and family this year, including his father, Pat.

That's why he's so excited about getting the chance to get back to northwest Kansas on Monday -- if he's not a new proud father by then.

"All I've ever wanted to do is race a sprint car in the big show," he said. "You're a guy out there winning (in the stock car class) and people get to know you and know where you're from and cheer for you. That's a pretty good feeling, especially when family is around."