After Extended Break In Racing Action, Tony Stewart Racing’s Jones And Hines Look Forward To U

The waterworks that Mother Nature has imposed upon the competitors of the USAC National Sprint Car Series have seemingly come to an end as the series gears up for a season-opening doubleheader at Indiana’s Lawrenceburg Speedway on Saturday (April 21) and Winchester Speedway on Sunday (April 22).

For Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Levi Jones and Tracy Hines, this weekend’s events couldn’t come soon enough.

Entering Saturday’s USAC National Sprint Car Series opener at Lawrenceburg Speedway, Jones is hoping the luck of the nearby riverboat casinos will rub off – not that he’s needed much luck at the facility in the past. In 2006, he earned a respectable ninth-place finish on April 22 and later won the opening night of the Lawrenceburg Fall Classic Sprint Nationals on September 19.

Jones has also faired well just up the road at Winchester Speedway. In the past two seasons, he earned an impressive fourth-place finish on the high-banked asphalt half-mile in 2005. He followed that run with a solid fifth-place finish at the facility in 2006 and will seek his first podium finish on Sunday.

Hines will return to Lawrenceburg Speedway for the first time in more than three years on Saturday. In his last USAC National Sprint Car Series appearance at Lawrenceburg on July 24, 2003, Hines earned a sixth-place finish despite a wild frontstretch flip. That would be Hines’ last outing at Lawrenceburg as his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series commitment prevented him from competing at the facility over the next three years.

Winchester Speedway has been much kinder to Hines. He earned a sixth-place finish in 2005 and finished fourth last year in the early season event. This Sunday’s race will also mark Hines’ first race behind the wheel of the No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST entry.

Quotes from Levi Jones, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Chevrolet/Maxim – USAC National Sprint Car Series Dirt Car

No. 20 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST – USAC National Sprint Car Series Pavement Car:

While you only raced at Lawrenceburg Speedway with the USAC National Sprint Car Series one time in 2006, you won a weekly show at the facility late last season. With the adjustments that have been made to the track’s configuration, what are you expecting to see this weekend?

“The track and the way you approach it has changed quite a bit in the past few years. The shortest and fastest way around the place is on the bottom. Last year when we raced there, the tires that line the inside of the track were pushed down pretty far. But it’s similar to a lot of other Indiana tracks in that toward the end of the race, you know the best place to be is going to be on the bottom. The part of racing at Lawrenceburg that I really enjoy is the fact that, in the early part of the season, it’s normally rough with a lot of ruts. To me, that’s a lot of fun. With all of the rain that we’ve had lately and the moisture the air (at Lawrenceburg) carries because of its location on the river, I hope that the place is rough. The fans love that kind of racing and so do I. Hopefully, it will be a good show. ”

With so many recent delays in the racing schedule due to weather, does the USAC National Sprint Car Series doubleheader force you to think about coming away from the weekend with the series points lead?

“To be honest, this early in the season we’re not points racing. When I won the sprint car title in 2005, I finished dead last in the first event of the season. I proved to myself that having a bad start doesn’t have to make or break you. It’s the entire season as a whole that you have to worry about. Ideally, we’d like to win both races for Chevrolet and come away from the weekend ranked first and second in the points. Realistically, we’re going after the wins on both days and will worry about the points as the year sorts itself out. It’s a long season and this is just the beginning of it. ”

Winchester Speedway is a very fast, very intimidating race track. Do you remember what went through your mind as you took your first laps at speed around the facility in a sprint car?

“I remember asking myself if I could really do this. It was that intimidating. I was running my Dad’s car and the place and the speed really made me think. After I settled in and got a few laps around the place, that feeling went away. I still think that it’s impossible to have too much seat time around Winchester. But I am much more confident about the track today as I know what to expect. It’s actually become a pretty fun place to race. ”

The No. 20 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST team tested at Winchester Speedway on Monday (April 16). Were you able to learn anything that will work to your benefit this Sunday?

“The starts at Winchester can get pretty hairy. You’re running such a high gear that once you’re up to speed you’re really just hammer down. We worked on our starts on Monday and really ran through a lot of scenarios which I think will help should a situation that calls for evasive action arise. You hope at the start that everyone’s engine takes off as it should, but they’re all different and a stutter can really throw a wrench into the first lap. It can also get pretty narrow off of (turn) four when you come down to take the green flag, especially with all of the rookies that we’re going to have in the field this weekend. It will definitely be interesting to see how the first few laps and the feature event shake out. ”