Tracy Hines Looks to Keep Early Season Momentum Going


New Castle, Ind.— After opening the 2013 USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series season with a pair of wins in Florida in February, Tracy Hines has been counting the days until the series returned to action in the Midwest opener. That wait will end this weekend, as the series hits the track at Lawrenceburg Speedway in Indiana.

A full night of racing is on-tap for Hines and his fellow USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series competitors at Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday, April 6, beginning with hot laps, followed by time trials, heat races and a feature event at the state-of-the-art high-banked, three-eighths-mile.

“It’s definitely been a long time since we raced in Florida and I am ready to get back at it,” said Hines. “When you open the season on a strong note, you want to get right back in the car. Hopefully we can pick up where we left off in Florida and we know we have a very good package and team put together for this season.”

Hines, who pilots his self-owned Hansen’s Welding Inc. DRC with a Stanton Mopar powerplant under the hood, made four overall starts at Lawrenceburg Speedway last season with three of those coming in a sprint car. He finished seventh at the three-eighths-mile during Indiana Sprint Week and was ninth in the fall during a co-sanctioned USAC/MSCS event. The veteran driver earned his best 2012 Lawrenceburg finish in a USAC National Midget Series event during Indiana Midget Week, coming home fourth. Hines was victorious at the track twice in 2011 in weekly sprint car competition and scored a win with the USAC National Midget Series at Lawrenceburg in 2010.

“Being the first race of the year at Lawrenceburg, you have to make sure you are ready for a variety of situations, as the track can do a lot of different things the first time cars are on it,” he explained. “I’ve had some good runs there in the past and really want to get a USAC Sprint Car win there. Everyone is very anxious to get on the track, so there is going to be a very strong field and some tough competition.”

Hines opened the 2013 USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series season in February at Bubba Raceway Park in Florida, during the three-night Bubba Army Winternationals at the three-eighths-mile located in Ocala. He was victorious on the second and third nights of the event to bring his career total of wins with the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series to 45. In the opener of the event he was caught up in a fourth-lap, four-car accident and worked his way back through the field to finish 11th.

Hines heads to Lawrenceburg Speedway tied for third in the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series standings, just seven markers out of the lead. Over 35 events remain on the 2013 calendar that will take the series from coast-to-coast over about a ninth-month span.

“We have a long season ahead of us and are in a good position heading into the Midwest races,” Hines noted. “We put in plenty of hours in the shop during the off-season and weren’t really sure what to expect when we unloaded in Florida, having put this all together in just a few short months. We felt like we had the right pieces in place and then to go out and win a couple of races validated that for sure and I’m excited for the rest of the season.”


Photo courtesy of Al Steinberg Photos
                                           
Tracy Hines Looks to Keep Early Season Momentum Going Tracy Hines Looks to Keep Early Season Momentum Going Reviewed by Dirt Racing News on Thursday, April 04, 2013 Rating: 5