Tracy Hines weekend notes 2004-03-22

Thorsport's Hines Scores Four Top-5's in Phoenix USAC Weekend

Sandusky, Oh. -- Tracy Hines took a weekend off from his duties as the pilot of the ThorSport No. 88 Menards Chevrolet in the NASCAR Truck Series and scored top-5 finishes in each of the four United States Auto Club feature events this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. Hines, currently in his rookie season in the Truck Series, scored a second and a third in consecutive USAC Sprint car features on Friday and Saturday, finished fourth in the USAC Midget car feature on Saturday, and rounded out the weekend with a runner-up finish in the Silver Crown 100-mile feature on Sunday.

It was a busy weekend that saw Hines make several trips back and forth between the "Desert Mile", Phoenix International Raceway, and the flat dirt half-mile Manzanita Speedway. Both tracks are located just miles apart on the outskirts of Phoenix.

On Friday, Hines opened the day by qualifying his USAC Midget car entry in fourth position for the 25-mile Copper World Classic midget feature. That night, he followed Dave Darland to the checkered flag in the 20-lap preliminary feature that opened the "Sokola Classic" for the USAC/CRA Sprint car series.

On Saturday, Hines picked up where he left off by finishing fourth in a thrilling finish to the Midget car feature, behind J.J. Yeley, Dave Steele, and Bobby East. On Saturday night, Hines made the trek a few miles east back to Manzanita and finished third in the 40-lap finale of the "Sokola Classic", behind part-time ThorSport driver Cory Kruseman and Jeremy Sherman.

Hines capped his weekend with a strong runner-up finish in the 100-mile Silver Crown portion of the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway, finishing a close second to winner Dave Steele.

Hines returns to action in the NASCAR Truck Series on April 17 in the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway. He currently sits 18th in NCTS points, and is second in Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. The race is scheduled to be televised live on Speed at 1 p.m. Eastern. He will also attempt to qualify for his first race in the NASCAR Busch Series in the Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway on April 24, which can be seen on Fox at 1 p.m. Eastern.

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