New Castle, Ind.—April 28, 2013— It’s starting to feel like the movie Groundhog Day for Tracy Hines and his fellow USAC competitors, as rainouts continue to dominate the early part of the season. After getting in a full show with the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series on Friday, April 26 at Gas City Speedway in Indiana, the originally scheduled event on Saturday, April 27 at Lincoln Park Speedway was interrupted by rain after the first heat race, while the USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series event on Sunday, April 28 at the Terre Haute Action Track fell to rain.
At Gas City, Hines finished eighth in his Hansen’s Welding Inc. DRC, which marked his third top-10 finish of the season and helped him remain among the top-five in the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series standings. He lined up 12th on a very fast track that was challenging to pass on and was able to gain four spots over the course of the 30-lap main event to cross the finish line in eighth.
“It was wide open and fast at Gas City, no doubt about it,” said Hines. “With all the rain the last few weeks here in the Midwest, we’ll probably see some similar situations to that in the next few weeks. We were able to gain a few spots in the feature, but you always want to gain a few more and finish even further up front. We’ll work on a few things in the shop this week and try to put ourselves in a position to start a little closer to the front in the features next weekend.”
The native of New Castle, Ind., opened the night at Gas City by turning the 12th-fastest lap in time trials of the 29 drivers in attendance. He was victorious in the fourth eight-lap heat race to earn a spot in the A-Feature, which started 23 cars.
On Saturday night at Lincoln Park Speedway, also in Indiana, Hines recorded the 15th-fastest lap in time trials of the 35 entrants. He was slated to compete in the third heat race, but a rain shower hit after the first heat, forcing a postponed of the remainder of the racing program. Series and track officials are currently working on a date to reschedule the event at the high-banked five-sixteenths-mile.
With the Sumar Classic at the Terre Haute Action Track being rained out for the USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series on Sunday, the Hall of Fame Classic at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis on May 18 will now serve as the season opener for the series. Hines finished ninth in the Silver Crown standings in 2012.
“It’s been a tough month weather-wise, that’s for sure,” he shared. “We were really hoping to get all three races in and try to get back into a rhythm, since it had been a couple of weeks since we had raced. Early season races in the Midwest are always tough and we seem to spend just as much time watching the radar as we do anything else this time of year. All we can do is keep looking forward and make sure we are ready to go when the next race comes up.”
Hines will be back in action with the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series next weekend at U.S. 36 Raceway in Missouri, on Friday, May 3 and at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska, on Saturday, May 4. The 2002 series champion is currently fifth in points, just 20 markers out of the top spot. Hines has two wins and three top-10 finishes in the first five races of the 2013 USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series campaign.
“Hopefully, the weather cooperates next weekend and we can get both shows in,” shared Hines. “U.S. 36 (Raceway) and Eagle (Raceway) are pretty racy tracks. I’ve had a good amount of success over the years in a midget at Eagle and it would be great to win in a sprint car over there. Those are two tracks that don’t get see us race very often, so we’re looking forward to putting on a good show for the fans out that way.”
Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank: Hansen’s Welding Inc., Parker Machinery, Motor City Auto Transport, Turbines, Inc., Afco Racing Products, Daum Crop Insurance, Schoenfeld Headers, Allstar Performance, Kenny’s Components, Race Bumpers, Driven Racing Oil and Bell Racing.
For more information on Tracy Hines Racing, visit http://www.tracyhinesracing.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter atwww.Twitter.com/TracyHinesRacin.
