Quotes from Tracy Hines, driver of the No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/Maxim – USAC National Sprint Car Series Dirt Car
No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST – USAC National Sprint Car Series Pavement Car:
With more than two years since your last appearance at Lawrenceburg Speedway, are you looking forward to returning to the facility and getting an opportunity to compete on the track since changes have been implemented?
“Lawrenceburg has always been a good place for racing. It’s just rougher than I’d like on some nights. I’ve not had an opportunity to compete there since they made the changes. But from the preliminary reports I’ve gotten, they’ve done a great job with it in terms of smoothing the ruts out and that will be a great plus for us. In the past, the track has been a bit too rough and the one groove that usually surfaces would tend to go away in the late stages of the race. With everything other drivers have told me, I think it’s going to be a great night of racing and I’m looking forward to our first opportunity to put Chevrolet in victory lane. ”
This early in the season, how much focus do you place on the point standings? Will these first two events be about points racing or more about trying to establish a rhythm?
“I don’t really think about the points until the middle part of the season. At the beginning of the year, the point positions are always stacked too close together. They don’t really give us enough points so ranking isn’t much of an issue. As you enter the halfway part of the season, that’s when your focus should turn to the point standings. The spread is starting to take shape by that point and you can really work on scenarios and strategies. This weekend, we plan to focus on running as well as possible and learning our chassis. If we figure out all of the variables early in the year, the rest of the season will fall into place. ”
You’ve had a great deal of success at Winchester Speedway over the years, even in the early part of your career. What do you remember about your first event at the facility?
“The first time I ever competed at Winchester, I had landed a last minute ride and we showed up without any practice of any kind. I remember being pretty comfortable in my first qualifying run and ended up second or third quick. We went on to finish second in the feature event and I’ve really been pretty good at the track since that day. I think that the most important things any driver can do when they race at Winchester is to really work on the comfort level of the car and to remember that it’s not a short track. You have to have different setups and a different mentality in order to run well at Winchester. I definitely respect the speed of the place. It’s a great race track for both us and the fans. ”
The No. 21 TSR/Chevrolet/BEAST team tested at Winchester Speedway earlier this week. In terms of preparedness for this Sunday’s event, are you where you thought you’d be?
“The TSR team has been working very hard in recent weeks to prepare for our first sprint car races. We thought we’d be pretty good right off the truck in testing and that ended up being the case. We only used one set of tires in testing. We rolled off with a new set and were pretty
quick. As the day went on, we got to the point where we had about 30 laps left on the tires and were really just as quick at that point. We know we’re going to be fast with new tires and I think that Levi and I both will be very good throughout the entire 30 laps. ”
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