By Tracy Hines Racing PR
New Castle, Ind.—Sept. 6, 2012— It’s been 27 years since a USAC Sprint Car has turned a lap in the state of Arkansas, and when the green flag flies this weekend, it will have been nearly two weeks since Tracy Hines last climb aboard his familiar No. 4, following a pair of rainouts last weekend, which for a sprint car driver feels like the equivalent of 27 years.
Hines will open the weekend with the Amsoil USAC National Sprint Car Series on Friday, Sept. 7 at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, which will mark the series debut at the quarter-mile bullring. The weekend wraps up with USAC’s first visit since 1985 to the legendary Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis for the “Topless at the Ditch” event on Saturday, Sept. 8.
“I’m definitely ready to get back on the track this weekend,” said Hines. “It’s been a long, long time since there has been a USAC race at Riverside, so we are looking forward to putting on a good show for the fans down there.”
The 2002 USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series champion last competed in his MP Environmental Services Shaver-powered DRC on Aug. 25 at Kokomo Speedway in Indiana, during the inaugural Sprint Car Smackdown. He finished second on the final two nights of that three-day event, following a fifth-place showing in the opener.
“We’ve had a pretty good set-up for the smaller tracks this year,” he noted. “We came pretty close to winning a couple of times at Kokomo and hopefully can carry that momentum into this weekend. From what I hear, both the tracks are very racy and should bode well to our program.”
Both I-30 Speedway and Riverside International Speedway are quarter-mile bullrings. Hines has earned 10 Top-10 finishes on tracks that size this season, with eight of those being Top-Five performances. He has raced on quarter-miles with USAC, the Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS), King of Indiana Sprint Series (KISS) and in unsanctioned weekly events.
“I’ve been racing on quarter-mile tracks for a long time, and we’ve had a good deal of success on them this year back in Indiana,” Hines stated. “The clay will be a lot different at Little Rock and especially West Memphis. Hot laps will be important to get a feel for everything and see if we have to make any big changes.”
Hines enters the pair of races in Arkansas this weekend fifth in the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car standings, on the strength of a win at Eldora Speedway in Ohio, back in the spring, along with 16 Top-10 and eight Top-Five finishes. He has finished among the Top-10 in nine straight sprint car races with USAC.
“There is still a lot of racing left this year and we want to pick up a few more wins and move up in points,” shared the veteran driver. “We’ve been pretty consistent over the last month or so in the sprint car, and are knocking on that door of getting our second win.”
Last weekend’s USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series event at the Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana that was postponed by rain has been rescheduled for Friday, Oct. 12. That event will run in conjunction with the traditional Sumar Classic for the USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series that will follow at the historic half-mile on Saturday, Oct. 13.
For more information on Tracy Hines Racing, including a complete 2012 schedule, visit http://www.tracyhinesracing.com.