New Castle, Ind.—Oct. 18, 2012— Kokomo Speedway is about 70 miles from Tracy Hines’ shop in New Castle, Ind., and while the quarter-mile is not technically his home track, it might as well have been this year. The veteran has made nine starts at the venue, picking up eight finishes of sixth or better, of which seven have been top-five performances. Following a pair of runner-up finishes in each of his last two starts at the always racy quarter-mile bullring, he’ll look to improve one spot this weekend, as he takes to the track for a pair of races as part of the Sixth Annual Kokomo Klash, where he is the defending winner of the midget portion of the event.
The open wheel segment of the Kokomo Klash is set for Friday, Oct.19, with Hines taking to the track in both a sprint car and midget. He’ll pilot the No. 24 Parker Machinery DRC in the sprint car portion of the event. For the midget race, he’ll climb behind the wheel of a self-owned Spike with a Stanton Chevy under the hood.
“The Kokomo Klash is a great late season event,” said Hines. “The fans really turn out at Kokomo and there always seems to be a good field of cars for the race as well. To be able to go out and race twice in one night and not have to worry about points allows us to try a few things and really have some fun. At the same time though, we always go out and try our best to win as well.”
The 2002 USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series champion made his first start of the season at Kokomo on May 13 in a weekly show aboard the No. 24 finishing sixth. Hines made another start at the quarter-mile in that same machine on July 29, finishing fifth. His most recent start aboard the No. 24 sprint car came at Gas City I-69 Speedway on Sept. 28, when he was charged from the rear of the field to finish ninth.
Hines has competed in four USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series races at Kokomo Speedway this season, recording three Top-Five finishes, which all came during the inaugural Sprint Car Smackdown. He finished second on both the second and third nights of that three-day event, after a fifth-place showing in the opener. Hines also made a start at the quarter-mile during Indiana Sprint Week.
“The No. 24 has been pretty good most of the times we have taken it to the track this year,” he noted. “We have been very, very close to winning at Kokomo this year and will certainly give it everything we got this weekend. Things happen in a hurry at Kokomo, so you always have to be on your toes and ready. It’s definitely a fun place to race.”
The veteran driver also made a start in a midget at the quarter-mile bullring this season, finishing third during Indiana Midget Week with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series. Hines was victorious last year in the 25-lap A-Feature for the midgets during the Kokomo Klash. He has finished on the podium in each of his last three midget starts at Kokomo dating back to last season. The midget that Hines will be racing this weekend will be a car that will be available for rent next season beginning at the Chili Bowl in January.
“It will be good to shake the car down at Kokomo this week, as we start to get ready for next season,” said Hines. “We only get to race a midget a couple of times each season at Kokomo and always seem to do pretty well. We won there last fall and were strong during Indiana Midget Week. It would be great to pick up a win in the midget before we head out west to wrap up the season.”
Entering this weekend, Hines has won six times overall this season in both a sprint car and a midget. He picked up his first win of the 2012 campaign with the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series at the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio, in April, and earned his second sprint car win of the year at the legendary half-mile last month during the 4-Crown Nationals. Hines has won four times with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series, twice on the pavement at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, as well on the dirt at Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas and during the Gold Crown Midget Nationals at Tri-City Speedway in Illinois.
“We still have a few more weeks left in the season and really want to pick up a few more wins before winter,” Hines stated. “We’ve been on a pretty good roll the last few weeks and hopefully we can carry some of the momentum we’ve had at the bigger track to Kokomo this week.”
Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank: Parker Machinery, Turbines, Inc., Support Esophagus Cancer, DRC, AFCO Racing Shocks, Bell Race Gear, FatHeadz, Kenny’s Components, Race Bumpers, Rod End Supply, Schoenfeld Headers and Stanton Racing for their continued support.
For more information on Tracy Hines Racing, including a complete 2012 schedule, visit http://www.tracyhinesracing.com. Follow Tracy on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TracyHinesRacin.
