Tracy Hines Finishes Second at Columbus in USAC Midget Pavement Finale
By Tracy Hines Racing PR
NEW CASTLE, Ind. — Oct. 13, 2013— The battle couldn’t have gotten any closer. Tracy Hines entered the season finale for the Honda USAC National Midget Series Pavement Championship at Columbus Motor Speedway in Ohio, on Saturday, Oct. 12, tied at the top of the standings with Darren Hagen. The pair qualified one spot apart. They each won their qualifying scramble, and thus started side-by-side on the front row for the 40-lap main event. When the final checkered flag flew, Hagen picked up the win over Hines, which secured the title for the Californian over the native of New Castle, Ind. The final margin was a scant three points — one position on the track.
The runner-up finish for Hines in the Parker Machinery/Powered by Toyota Spike was his eighth top-eight finish of the season in the same number of starts with the Honda USAC National Midget Series Pavement Championship. He opened the event at Columbus by turning in a lap of 13.732-seconds in qualifying at the semi-banked, one-third-mile oval, which was 11th-fastest of the drivers in attendance. That put Hines on the pole for the first 12-lap qualifying scramble, which he won, to earn the pole position for the 40-lap main event.
In the A-Feature, Hagen jumped into the lead at the start. Hines ran second in the early going, before Kyle Hamilton took that spot from him on the fifth circuit. The veteran driver then ran third, just behind Hamilton and Hagen, keeping pace with the lead pair. Hamilton would spin, after contact with a lapped car late in the race, moving Hines back into second for a pair of late restarts. On each of the restarts, Hagen quickly was able to jump to a comfortable lead and pulled away. Hines took the checkered flag in second.
Hines scored a pair of wins with the Honda USAC National Midget Series Pavement Championship this season. He was victorious in June at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado, and followed that up with a triumph at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in July. In eight Honda USAC National Midget Series Pavement Championship starts in 2013, he finished eighth or better in each one, with five of those being podium finishes.
