8/4/2013
Sprint Source
Tracy Hines Wins Silver Crown Race at Belleville; Finishes Fourth in Belleville Midget Nationals
NEW CASTLE, Ind. — August 4, 2013 — Tracy Hines had come close to winning in the past at the legendary Belleville High Banks in Kansas, and on Friday, Aug. 2, he broke through scoring a dominating victory with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series. He led all 50 laps on the high-banked, half-mile to score his ninth-career win with the series and his first of 2013. The win also was the first for car owner Mark Lightfoot in the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series.
Hines started on the pole for the Hustle on the High Banks event, after earning the pole position with a lap of 16.856-seconds in qualifying aboard the Lightfoot Racing Beast with a Stanton Mopar engine under the hood. At the drop of the green flag in the 50-lap feature, Hines shot out to the lead over fellow front row start Bobby East.
Hines used strong restarts following a couple of early cautions to stay out front. The final stoppage of the night came on lap-24 when the red flag flew. Hines again powered away on the restart to pick up the win and the sweep of the race program. The victory also vaulted him into the point lead with the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series, as he chases his second title.
“To win at Belleville in itself is pretty cool, and to win for Mark Lightfoot, that is the icing on the cake,” said Hines. “We’ve been together a few years now and have put together a really good package. It was a challenge driving a big, heavy Silver Crown Car around Belleville, especially early in the race with a full fuel load. I had the right rear (tire) bleed some air out under that red and it took a few laps to build that back up when the green came out. We definitely feel good about our Silver Crown combination and will give it everything we got the last three races.”
Hines finished fourth in the finale of the Belleville Midget Nationals on Saturday, Aug. 3 in the Parker Machinery/Powered by Toyota Spike. He lined up fourth and ran as high as third in the latter stages of the race, which was slowed by a number of cautions in the early going and a red flag. Hines opened the night by winning the second heat race, which put him in the pole dash, where he came home fourth to earn a starting spot on the outside of the second row for the 40-lap main event.
“It was a challenging race as always at Belleville,” he noted. “We were able to get to third for a bit and passing was at a premium when the track took rubber. You always want to finish a few spots higher, but to have the week that we did, starting at IRP last Saturday winning in the midget and then adding the Silver Crown win and to finish in the top-five in six straight races, we’ll certainly take it.”
In the opener of the Belleville Midget Nationals on Thursday, Aug. 1, the native of New Castle, Ind., finished second. He lined up fifth for the 25-lap preliminary feature and quickly worked his way forward and ran third for a number of laps. Hines got around Dave Darland in the late going to take the runner-up spot, which put him on the outside of the front row for Saturday night’s finale. In time trials at Belleville, the veteran driver was second-fastest of the 24 drivers that took to the track and he ran second in the second eight-lap heat race.
“I think Dave (Darland) was having some issues late, and I probably wasn’t going get around him if he didn’t have that,” shared Hines. “We could maintain, but couldn’t gain much ground. Restarts were very, very tough. Belleville is hard on everything, so we’ll take a second and try to make it better.”
The four-race stretch in Kansas, began for Hines on Tuesday, July 30 at Solomon Valley Raceway in Beloit, Kansas, with a fourth-place finish. He was running third in the late going, when Darland slipped past him for the final spot on the podium. Hines opened the night at the semi-banked, quarter mile by recording the fourth-quickest lap in time trials of the 24 entries. He followed that up with a fifth-place showing in the first 10-lap heat race to earn a spot in the 30-lap feature.
Hines currently leads the Traxxas USAC Silver Crown Series standings by three markers with three races remaining on the season. In the Honda USAC National Midget Series Dirt Championship he is up to third. Hines will return to action this week with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series at Southern Iowa Speedway, followed by a pair of events for the Honda USAC National Midget Series Pavement Championship.
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 and Bell Racing.
For more information on Tracy Hines Racing, visit http://www.tracyhinesracing.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TracyHinesRacin.
Article Credit: Tracy Hines Racing PR
Submitted By: Admin Account
