New Castle, Ind.—Oct. 28, 2012— Consistency has been a key element for Tracy Hines this season with the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series. He continued that trend over the weekend as he finished among the Top-10 in each of the two nights of the Parker Store Hall of Fame Classic at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz.
Hines opened the two-night event at the track located just outside of Phoenix on Friday, Oct. 26, with a sixth-place finish aboard the MP Environmental DRC. He wrapped up the Hall of Fame Classic with a ninth-place showing on Saturday, Oct. 27.
On Friday night, Hines kicked off the event by turning the ninth-fastest lap in time trials of the 32 cars that were in attendance. He finished third in the first eight-lap heat race to earn a spot in the 30-lap main event. Hines started the A-Feature from the inside of the fifth row in the ninth position, with 23 cars taking the green flag.
The veteran driver gained a couple of spots in the early going and ran seventh when the first caution flag flew with five laps in the books. The yellow flag was displayed again two laps later with Hines in eighth. The native of New Castle, Ind., would gain a spot on the ensuing restart and continued to work his way forward, taking the checkered flag in the sixth position.
“We always want to be in the Top-five and contending for wins, but sometimes you just have to take what the track gives you and Friday night was one of those nights,” said Hines. “The car was pretty good and we were able to gain a few spots early in the race and then on a couple of restarts. We learned a few things on Friday night that should help us down the road.”
Hines would finish second in the third heat race in the finale on Saturday night, after qualifying 15th. The 2002 USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series champion lined up on the outside of the seventh row in the 14th position for the 30-lap main event. He would work his way forward, in the feature race, which was slowed by a pair of yellow flags and one red flag period. Hines would cross the line ninth when the checkered flag flew.
“We were just a little off all night,” explained Hines. “Qualifying is so important out here and if you don’t qualify in the right spot, you really have your work cut out for you. We worked on the car all night and made some gains for the heat race and the feature as well. To be a bit disappointed with a ninth-place finish shows the high expectations that we have each time we hit the track and what we know we are capable of. We have two more USAC sprint races this year to try and get a couple of wins and we’ll give it everything we got.”
Hines, who scored three wins at Canyon Raceway Park during the Winter Freeze event at the track in late January and early February, has finished among the Top-10 in seven of his eight starts at the venue in 2012. He has two more appearances scheduled at Canyon this season, including a two-night event with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series on Nov. 9–10, as well as competing in the Western World Classic, Nov. 15–17.
“We found a few things that we’ll be able to use when we come back in a few weeks for the midget show, as well as for the Western World,” shared Hines. “The surface was certainly different here in the fall versus how it was when we were here in the winter. We’ll just keep working hard and get ready for Perris and then to come back to Arizona.”
Hines returns to action on Friday, Nov. 2 and Saturday, Nov. 3 at Perris Auto Speedway in California for the Budweiser Oval Nationals, which will put a wrap on the 2012 USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series season. He is currently fourth in points, and has two wins with the series this season, along with 21 Top-10 finishes, of which 11 are Top-five performances.
Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank: MP Environmental, 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.
