NEW CASTLE, Ind.—June 16, 2014— The only thing better than four second-place finishes, would have been four wins for Tracy Hines over the last week, but faced with stiff competition each race, he’ll gladly take the consistency as he battles for a pair of championships with the Honda USAC National Midget Series and Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series.
Following Indiana Midget Week for the Honda USAC National Midget Series, Hines is third in points, while a runner-up finish at Gateway Motorsports Park with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series moved him into a tie for the top spot in points with that series.
“It was a very good week for us,” said Hines. “You always want to win a couple when you are up front, but with the level of competition out here, finishing second is nothing to hang your head about. We put in a lot of hours and miles in, especially last Saturday going from Gateway (Motorsports Park- Silver Crown race) to Lawrenceburg (Speedway- midget race), so the strong finishes makes all of that worth it. We are very happy with everything in our program right now.”
Hines wrapped up the four-race Indiana Midget Week with a second-place finish aboard the Parker Machinery/Powered by Toyota Spike on Sunday, June 15 at Kokomo Speedway. He took the green flag for the 30-lap main event on the inside of the second row. He fell back to fifth in the early going, before making a late-race charge to take the second position. Hines was fourth-quickest in qualifying and finished fourth in the fourth heat race.
On Saturday, June 14, Hines raced with both the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series and the Honda USAC National Midget Series. He was fastest in Silver Crown time trials at Gateway Motorsports Park in Madison, Illinois, and finished second in the subsequent 80-lap race, piloting the Hughs Brothers/Midwest Sheet Metal Beast for Lightfoot Racing. That night, he also finished second at Lawrenceburg Speedway during Indiana Midget Week, after timing in sixth and finishing fourth in the second heat race.
Hines finished 10th on Friday, June 13, during the Indiana Midget Week event at Bloomington Speedway, which was his lowest finish of the four-race mini-series. He opened the night by qualifying 15th and would win the third heat race to earn a spot in the 30-lap main event, where he lined up 12th.
At Lincoln Park Speedway on Thursday, June 12, Hines finished second, in what wound up being the opening night of Indiana Midget Week. He started fifth in the main event and ran among the top-five for the duration of the 30-lapper. Earlier in the night, Hines timed in second-fastest of the 44 entries. He came home fourth in the second heat race to transfer to the A-Feature.
The originally scheduled opener of Indiana Midget Week at Gas City I-69 Speedway was rained out on Wednesday, June 11, and was not rescheduled. Hines ended up third in the Indiana Midget Week standings and moved into second in the overall Honda USAC National Midget Series Dirt Championship standings. The series returns to action in early July.
Hines is back at the track this coming weekend with a trio of events for the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
“We have a couple of days to get ready for the trip up north and it will be good to be back in the sprint car,” noted Hines. “Hopefully we can carry the momentum from the past week up there. We’ve been making gains on the sprint car side and those are tracks that should suit our package pretty well. When you are running up front, you kind of wish you could be at the track every day.”
Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank Primary Sponsors: The Carolina Nut Company, Hansen’s Welding Inc, Elliott’s Custom Trailers and Carts, and MPHG Promotions Inc. Associate Sponsors for 2014 include: ProSource Professional Resources, Turbines Inc., Daum Crop Insurance, Parker Machinery, Stanton Racing Engines and Schipper Family Farms. Product Sponsors that are part of Tracy Hines Racing in 2014 include: Afco Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Autonet Mobile, Indy Race Parts, Bell Racing, Kenny’s Components, Race Bumpers, Hoosier Racing Tires, CSI Competition Suspension, Shadow Graphix, Driven Racing Oil, Sander Engineering, Hughs Brothers and Midwest Sheet Metal.
For more information on Tracy Hines Racing, visit http://www.tracyhinesracing.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TracyHinesRacin and “Like him” on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/Tracyhinesracing.
