New Castle, Ind.—Oct. 3, 2012— Each year Tracy Hines circles a few select midget races on his calendar. A couple have historic significance and prestige, while others are high-paying events. The Gold Crown Midget Nationals at Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Ill., has elements of both. While in just its fourth edition, the event is quickly becoming a must-see late season event for midget fans from coast-to-coast, and the three-day contest also pays ones of the largest purses of the season for a midget race.
Hines opens the 4th DuPont Gold Crown Midget Nationals in his Parker Machinery Toyota-powered midget on Thursday, Oct. 4, with a full night of racing, including a preliminary feature. Another complete racing program is set for Friday, Oct. 5. The three-day event culminates on Saturday, Oct. 6, with a 50-lap, $10,000-to-win A-Feature. The Gold Crown Midget Nationals will again be sanctioned this year by the USAC Mopar National Midget Series.
“The Gold Crown Midget Nationals are definitely one of the biggest midget events of the year,” said Hines. “It’s great to have a high-paying race like this toward the end of the season. There is always a very strong field of cars at the event, so you have to be on your game and race as hard as you can each time you hit the track.”
Last season Hines was fifth in the preliminary feature on the first night of the Gold Crown Midget Nationals, with a stout 54-car field in attendance. He opened the night by finishing fifth in the fifth eight-lap heat race, coming up just one spot short of transferring to the main event. He would win the B-main to earn a spot in the 25-lap preliminary feature.
On the second night at Tri-City Speedway last year Hines raced his way from the C-main all the way into the A-Feature, eventually finishing 11th in that 25-lapper. The native of New Castle, Ind., came home third in the first B-main during the finale of the Gold Crown Nationals to earn a spot in the 50-lap main event on Saturday night, where he would place 13th.
“Heat races are pretty important in an event like this,” he noted. “With a bigger field, you have to finish in the front few spots to transfer, so there isn’t much time to be patient, especially if you are starting toward the back of a heat. The heats and consolation races provides some of the best racing all night, as everyone battles for a spot in the main event.”
In 2010, the native of New Castle, Ind., finished 11th in the opener of the Gold Crown Midget Nationals and was seventh on the second night. Both of those preliminary features were 25 laps in distance. Hines wrapped up the second edition of the marquee event in 2010 with a ninth-place showing in the 50-lap main event.
The 2009 Gold Crown Midget Nationals were rained out and not rescheduled. Hines recorded a 13th-place finish in the weekend finale of the inaugural Gold Crown Midget Nationals in 2008. He also raced on the former half-mile at Tri-City Speedway in a midget, scoring a win at the historic track in 2003.
“We have a handful of midget races left this year and we definitely want to pick up another win or two,” said Hines. “I won on the half-mile at Granite City a long time ago, and it would be great to add another to that this weekend. It’s always been a fast track, even since they reconfigured it, and we have a good set-up for the bigger, wide open tracks.”
Last weekend the veteran driver competed in a pair of sprint car events in his home state of Indiana. On Friday, Sept. 28, Hines finished eighth at Gas City I-69 Speedway, piloting the No. 24 Parker Machinery/Turbine Inc./Support Esophagus Cancer Stanton Mopar DRC. He competed with the USAC Amsoil National Sprint Car Series on Saturday, Sept. 29, at Lawrenceburg Speedway, where he also finished eighth in the MP Environmental DRC.
Hines enters the 2012 Gold Crown Midget Nationals second in the USAC Mopar National Midget Series championship standings. He has scored three wins this season, including at Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas, which is a three-eighths-mile dirt oval, similar to Tri-City Speedway. Hines also took the checkered flag first on the pavement at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indiana twice, including in the famed Night Before the 500.
Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank: Parker Machinery, 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.
