NEW CASTLE, Ind.— Aug. 27, 2013— For a lot of people, Labor Day and the days leading up to it are all about that one last trip to the lake or having a family picnic as summer winds down. For racers like Tracy Hines, it’s one of the busiest weeks and weekends of the year and he wouldn’t want it any other way. Four races over a five-day stretch at four different states await the veteran driver as Labor Day approaches.
Hines will open the four-race stretch on Wednesday, Aug. 28 at Wayne County Speedway in Illinois, for the running of the inaugural Jason Leffler Memorial for the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series. The native of New Castle, Ind., will then head to 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa, on Friday, Aug. 30 with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series. He’ll then hit the track at the historic Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana on Saturday, Aug. 31 for the Tony Hulman Classic, which was postponed by rain earlier this year. On Sunday, Sept. 1, Hines will wrap up the weekend by competing with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series at the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds in Illinois.
Wayne County Speedway is a dirt oval located in Wayne City, Ill, and Hines will be making his debut at the track aboard the Parker Machinery/Powered by Toyota Spike. Proceeds from the Jason Leffler Memorial will go to the Charlie Dean Leffler Discretionary Fund, which benefits Leffler’s son Charlie Dean. Hines has competed in a four races this season that were co-sanctioned by the POWRi Lucas Oil National Midget Series and Honda USAC National Midget, finishing seventh or better in all four events.
“It’s going to be an emotional night for everyone, that’s for sure,” said Hines. “Jason was a great competitor and we sure miss him. It’s great that an event like this has been put together to benefit Charlie Dean and hopefully the fans support the race like a lot of us drivers are.”
Hines has made two career starts at 34 Raceway. He competed with both the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series and the Honda USAC National Midget Series at the three-eighths-mile in a doubleheader in 2010. Hines finished fourth in the midget portion of that event and was caught up in an opening lap accident in the sprint car feature. He has raced once in Iowa this season with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series, finishing seventh at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa earlier this month in his self-owned Hansen’s Welding Inc. DRC.
“We didn’t have the best of luck at Burlington (34 Raceway) in the sprint car last time there, so we are looking to make up for that,” he shared. “We’ve been getting more consistent in the sprint car and as long as we put ourselves in a good position at the beginning of the night, we should be okay. The fans in that area don’t get to see non-wing sprint cars very often, so we always look forward to putting on a good show for them.”
Hines has made one start at the Terre Haute Action Track in 2013, with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series. That race at the half-mile was during Indiana Sprint Week and he started second, before mechanical problems forced him to the pit area and relegated him to a 22nd-place finish. He was scheduled to compete with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series at the track, but that event fell to rain.
“It’s kind of amazing that we’ve only raced at Terre Haute once this year,” Hines noted. “Mother Nature definitely has gotten in the way a few times. We’ve run well on the bigger tracks this year in the sprint car and feel like we have a good package for places like Terre Haute. We started on the front row there during Sprint Week and had a DNF, so we know we have the speed to be up front, we just need a little luck on our side as well.”
At the DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, Hines has had quite a bit of success in his career with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series. He was victorious on the one-mile dirt oval for the first time with the series in 2005 and followed that up with another win in 2006. He led 110 of the 200 total laps in those two races. In his last visit to DuQuoin in 2011, the 2000 Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series champion finished third. Last year’s event at the track was rained out. In his most recent start on a one-mile dirt oval earlier this month, Hines finished fourth at the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, piloting the Lightfoot Racing Beast. He came home third at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in May, in the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series season opener.
“We only have two Silver Crown races left and they are both at tracks I’ve well at in the past, so that bodes well for us,” he said. “The miles have been good to us this year and it would get great to get another win at DuQuoin. It’s been a few years since I’ve won over there. We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing and as long as we start toward the front, we should have a good shot.”
Hines is currently seventh in the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series championship standings. He has won two races this season with the series and recorded 10 top-10 finishes. With the USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series Hines leads the points on the strength of a win and five top-five finishes in six starts as he chases his second series title.
Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank: Hansen’s Welding Inc., Parker Machinery, Turbines, Inc., Afco Racing Products, Daum Crop Insurance, Schoenfeld Headers, Allstar Performance, Kenny’s Components, Race Bumpers and Bell Racing.
For more information on Tracy Hines Racing, visit http://www.tracyhinesracing.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TracyHinesRacin.
- Admin Account on Aug 27, 2013
- Article Date: 8/27/2013 by Tracy Hines Racing PR