Category: Other Series PR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 12, 2012
DICK JORDAN 12-214

BRYANT, FANELLI BATTLE FOR LAS VEGAS TITLE SATURDAY

USAC’s 2012 Las Vegas Ignite Midget Series concludes Saturday at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring in Nevada and 47 points separate the top two drivers in the standings.

Phoenix, Ariz. driver Bryant Dawson has had an impeccable record at the LVMS oval this year. In 11 starts he’s had five wins, three seconds and three thirds! By contrast, Rio Rancho, N.M. driver Michael Fanelli has had three wins, two seconds and a third, but he won the last two features.

Dawson and Fanelli are both seeking repeat USAC driving titles. Dawson won the 2010 B and 2011 Mod and Heavy AA Mopar .25 Midget titles, while Fanelli won the 2010 Unrestricted Animal and 2011 Heavy World Family and Heavy 160 Mopar .25 Midget titles.

USAC LAS VEGAS IGNITE MIDGET POINTS

1-Bryant Dawson-699, 2-Michael Fanelli-652, 3-Marina Turner-502, 4-George Blacker-497, 5-Austin Blair-479, 6-Christine Breckenridge-445, 7-Winn Frazin-383, 8-Chris Lamb-258, 9-Jake Swanson-121, 10-Cody Mansfield-104.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 12, 2012
DICK JORDAN 12-213

MIDGETS CONCLUDE NOV. 22 AT “TURKEY NIGHT”
LARSON WINS “WESTERN CLASSIC;” RAIN TAKES FRIDAY

Darren Hagen will take an insurmountable 199-point USAC Mopar National Midget lead into the November 22 “Turkey Night Grand Prix” at Perris, Calif. as the 2012 USAC racing season concludes at Perris Auto Speedway.

Hagen emerged from Saturday’s “Western Classic” at Peoria, Ariz. with a second-place finish behind Kyle Larson, while series runner-up Tracy Hines was fourth in the 30-lapper at Canyon Speedway Park.

Larson, of Elk Grove, Calif., became the winningest driver in 2012 Mopar National Midget racing with his fifth feature win Saturday, leading the final 25 laps in his Toyota TRD Bullet after passing Zach Daum on lap six. Hagen was second ahead of Rico Abreu, Hines and Bryan Clauson.

Friday’s “Western Classic” event at Peoria was cancelled after persistent rains fell on the 3/8-mile dirt oval.

Hagen also has an unsurmountable 113-point lead over Jerry Coons Jr. in the current Mopar National Midget Dirt standings.

2012 MOPAR USAC NATIONAL MIDGET POINT STANDINGS

1-Darren Hagen-1,283, 2-Tracy Hines-1,084, 3-Bryan Clauson-1,038, 4-Caleb Armstrong-924, 5-Kyle Larson-863, 6-Brad Kuhn-822, 7-Rico Abreu-816, 8-Jerry Coons Jr.-737, 9-Bobby East-732, 10-Chris Windom-670.

2012 MOPAR USAC NATIONAL MIDGET DIRT POINT STANDINGS

1-Darren Hagen-850, 2-Jerry Coons Jr.-737, 3-Bryan Clauson-715, 4-Brad Kuhn-715, 5-Tracy Hines-700, 6-Chris Windom-670, 7-Kyle Larson-627, 8-Rico Abreu-579, 9-Caleb Armstrong-516, 10-Davey Ray-499.

New Castle, Ind.—Nov 11, 2012— Tracy Hines knew that all of the laps he had turned in a sprint car this season at Canyon Speedway Park in Peoria, Ariz., would come in handy when he made his first-ever start in a midget at the three-eighths-mile during the Western Classic on Saturday night. After Mother Nature interrupted the opener of the originally scheduled two-night event with rain, a very challenging track greeted drivers for the finale. Hines used a strong start to the 30-lap main event to move forward and would run a steady race to finish fourth.

Hines, who entered the event second in points with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series, lined up seventh for the 30-lap A-Feature in the Parker Machinery Toyota-powered Spike and gained a couple of positions in the opening four laps, before the first caution flag of the night flew. The second yellow flag of the night would come out on the eighth circuit, with Hines still running fifth.

The remainder of the 30-lapper would go green, without any cautions, on a lightning fast and very heavy surface. Hines would pick up one more spot to finish fourth. He battled Rico Abreu in the late going for third, coming up just short. The fourth-place showing for Hines was his 13th Top-10 finish of the season with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series, of which nine have been Top-Five performances, including four wins.

“The track was definitely fast all night,” said Hines. “The start and then the two restarts were pretty important and the best chances we had to pick up a few spots. We had that long green flag run after the two cautions and then were battling for third late in the race in traffic. We’ve been consistent all season in the midget and have one more chance to see if we can get another win this year.”

The native of New Castle, Ind., opened the night by turning a lap of 14.349-seconds, which was seventh-fastest of the 28 cars that took to the track. Hines followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the third eight-lap heat race to earn a spot in the 30-lap A-Feature.

“It was a strong field of cars for sure,” noted Hines. “We worked on the car all night and made some gains for the feature. For our first time in a midget at that track it was a decent run. With all the laps we have there, we certainly had high expectations going into the weekend.”

The opener of the Western Classic at Canyon Speedway Park on Friday, Nov. 9, was rained out and will not be rescheduled. Just one event remains for Hines this season with the USAC Mopar National Midget Series, and that is the 72nd Annual Turkey Night Grand Prix at Perris Auto Speedway in California, on Nov. 22.

Hines returns to action later this week at Canyon Speedway Park in the 45th Annual FVP Western World Championships Presented by Sands Chevrolet aboard his MP Environmental DRC. The Western World Championships begin with a practice session on Wednesday, Nov. 14, followed by racing on Thursday, Nov. 15, Friday, Nov. 16 and Saturday Nov. 17. Hines is the defending champion of the non-wing sprint car portion of the Western World.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in the sprint car later this week at Canyon,” said Hines. “We’ve spent a lot of time at Canyon over the last few weeks and have learned quite a few things that should help us in the Western World. That’s a tough event for sure and we were fortunate enough to win it last year, so we’ll give it everything we got again this year and see if we can win it again.”

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.

[media-credit name=”Paul Arche” align=”alignright” width=”133″][/media-credit]Bloomington, Ind.—Nov. 11, 2012— Faced with the first weekend of the off-season, following last weekend’s World Finals for the World of Outlaws, Kraig Kinser did what any true racer would do. He climbed right back in his car and went racing. With the Battle at the Border event for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Presented by MAVTV set for El Paso Speedway Park and Southern New Mexico Speedway, Kinser headed to the southwest with the No. 11K Hendrickcars.com machine for two final nights of racing in 2012, before officially beginning his off-season. The third-generation turned in a pair of solid performances, finishing third at El Paso Speedway Park in El Paso, Texas, and ninth at Southern New Mexico Speedway in Las Cruces, N.M.

Kinser lined up fourth on Friday, Nov. 9, for the second eight-lap heat race at the three-eighths-mile, semi-banked El Paso Speedway Park. He charged to the front to pick up the win and valuable passing points, which are a key component in the ASCS race night format.

Kinser lined up fourth for the 30-lap A-Feature at El Paso, with Tony Bruce Jr., Logan Forler and Kyle Hirst in front of him. The main event took a trio of starts to finally get underway, with Kinser getting past Hirst to move into third and setting his sights on Bruce. Kinser would battle Bruce for several laps in traffic, eventually taking the checkered flag in third to earn a podium finish in his first-ever appearance at El Paso Speedway Park.

“It was a pretty good run for us,” said Kinser. “There were a lot of good cars there, and track position was very important in the feature. We put ourselves in a good position by winning the heat race from fourth. With the passing points format, you have to be on your game in the heat races for sure. In the feature the car was pretty good and we had a good start to gain that spot at the drop of the green. We had a couple of chances to gain some ground on the leader in traffic, but could not quite track him down. All in all, it was a pretty good night for us.”

On Saturday, Nov. 10, at Southern New Mexico Speedway, Kinser lined up 12th and ran a consistent race in the 30-lap main event to cross the finish line in ninth. He opened the night by finishing second in the third eight-lap heat race, behind Seth Bergman. Kinser also competed at the five-sixteenths-mile last season with ASCS, aboard a different car.

“We always enjoy racing at Las Cruces,” noted Kinser. “It’s been a number of years since we’ve had a World of Outlaws race there, so it’s good that ASCS gets down that way and the fans get to see some winged sprint car racing. There are a lot of great fans in the southwest.”

Prior to the event on Friday, Kinser and his team made an appearance at the Mesilla Valley Transportation (MVT) Driver Appreciation Day in El Paso at the MVT headquarters. Mesilla Valley Transportation has been a long-time supporter of Steve Kinser Racing.

“It was great to visit with so many different people at MVT during their Driver Appreciation Day,” shared Kinser. “We’ve had a great relationship with the folks at MVT for quite a few years and look to continue that for many years to come. It’s always fun to have the car on display and talk some racing with folks that don’t get to see a sprint car up close very often.”

Kinser and his team will now return to their shop in Bloomington, Ind., to begin preparing for the 2013 World of Outlaws season. The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals won four times with the series in 2012, while recording 46 Top-10 finishes, of which 22 were Top-Five performances, which placed him sixth in points at season’s end.

El Paso Speedway & Southern New Mexico Speedway Results

Keep up with all the action 
For the latest news on Kraig Kinser, visit the redesigned http://www.kraigkinser.com, and
follow Kraig on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kraigkinser11k and receive live updates from the track each and every race night.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NOVEMBER 9, 2012
Contact: DICK JORDAN

WORLD SPEED RECORDS RATIFIED BY USAC & FIA

USAC World Record Run Chief Steward David Petrali has received ratification from FIA recognizing World Speed Records established during September at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

George Poteet, piloting the Poteet & Main “Speed Demon” Streamliner during the Mike Cook Shootout September 17, set new FIA International Category A, Group 1, Class 10 records in the kilometer and mile distances by averaging the following speeds: 439.562 mph and 707.408 kph in the kilometer and 439.024 mph and 706.540 kph in the mile. The records had already been eclipsed by Poteet during runs the previous day which shattered the previous records.

This makes the Speed Demon the fastest piston-engine, wheel-driven World record setting car in history. No other piston-engine car has ever achieved this speed!

In addition, records for Category A, Group 2, Classes 6 and 8 were also eclipsed during September 17 and 19 runs.

Alan Rice, driving the Rice/Vigeant Racing Lakester, set the kilometer record at 204.697 mph and 329-428 kph. His brother James Rice set the mile record at 204.371 and 328.903 respectively. James Knapp, driving the “Barnyard Bearcat” Streamliner, set mile and kilometer records at 298.482 (mph in the mile) and 480.360 (kph in the mile).

NDC SHIFTS TO BUDWEISER OVAL NATIONALS; CLAUSON-HINES SEPARATION 75 WITH 5 TO GO

Bryan Clauson is five races away from locking down his third consecutive USAC National Drivers Championship.

The Noblesville, Ind. driver has a huge 75-point lead over Tracy Hines entering the final events, which include this weekend’s “Budweiser Oval Nationals” Sprint races at Perris, Calif., the November 9-10 National Midget races at Peoria, Ariz. and the season-ending November 22 “Turkey Night Grand Prix” Midget race at Perris.

Only one “top-10” change was effected during last weekend’s races at Canyon Raceway Park in Peoria, Ariz. Robert Ballou passed Chase Stockon to take over the number 10 ranking after his second-place finish in Saturday night’s “Arizona Hall of Fame” Sprint race.

2012 USAC National Drivers Championship Standings

1-Bryan Clauson-1,091, 2-Tracy Hines-1,016, 3-Dave Darland-1,004, 4-Levi Jones-974, 5-Darren Hagen-959, 6-Jerry Coons Jr.-932, 7-Jon Stanbrough-928, 8-Chris Windom-914, 9-Damion Gardner-850, 10-Robert Ballou-833.

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.

[media-credit name=”World of Outlaws” align=”alignright” width=”234″][/media-credit]Bloomington, Ind.—Oct. 29, 2012 — Kraig Kinser begins World Finals week today with an appearance at the Hendrickcars.com retail location in Hickory, N.C. Kinser and his team will have their race car and transporter on display all day at the store, which is located at 1171 Lenoir Rhyne Blvd. Kinser will on-hand to greet fans, sign autographs and be available to the media from 12–1 p.m. Eastern.

World Finals week will continue for Kinser on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the Hendrickcars.com retail store in Charlotte, located at 9029 South Blvd. The 2005 winner of the Knoxville Nationals will again have his car and transporter on display all day, and will meet fans and be available to the media from 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Eastern.

The busy week continues for the third-generation driver on Wednesday, Oct. 31, as he will be part of the Second Annual Bash at the Brickhouse Tavern Presented by Hendrickcars.com. Kinser’s car will be on display outside of the popular pub and eatery from 4–9 p.m. Eastern.

The native of Bloomington, Ind., will also be a live on-air guest during a special edition of Winged Nation on MotorRacingNetwork.com, hosted by Kendra Jacobs and Steve Post. The live broadcast of Winged Nation is scheduled from 7–9 p.m. Eastern. The Brickyard Tavern is located at 209 Delburg Street in Davidson, N.C.

At each of these three appearances, fans can enter to-win Tony Stewart’s autographed Hendrickcars.com firesuit that the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion wore during the World of Outlaws event at the Dirt Track at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May. The winner will be drawn live on Winged Nation on Wednesday night during the Bash at the Brickhouse Presented by Hendrickcars.com.

The week will conclude for Kinser with the running of the Sixth Annual PEAK Motor Oil World Finals Presented by NAPA Auto Parts, Nov. 1–3 at The Dirt Track at Charlotte. The finale of the World Finals will air live on SPEED on Saturday, Nov. 3, beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern.