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Quarter-Mile Madness Jones, Hines and Chevy Set to Make First Appearance at Brownstown Speedway for USAC National Sprint Car Series Competition |
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INDIANAPOLIS (April 30, 2008) – Tony Stewart Racing’s Levi Jones and Tracy Hines will make their first career appearances at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway this Saturday as the USAC National Sprint Car Series championship battle heats up in the month of May. The event marks the first time in series history that its fire-breathing machines have taken to the quarter-mile bullring. Two-time USAC National Sprint Car Series champion Jones and the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops team will go to work on their drive for a third series title. Saturday’s race will see Jones take to the track, located on the Jackson County Fairgrounds, for the first time in his career. Currently ranked second in the USAC Sprint Series standings, Jones will look to overhaul point leader Dave Darland, who has an eight-point advantage. The No. 21 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops team and driver Hines will make their second USAC Sprint Series start on the dirt on Saturday. Hines will look to move into the top-five in the series standings. He is currently ranked seventh in the championship chase with 80 points. This weekend’s race will mark Hines’ second dirt Sprint car event since April of last year. Gates will open at 3 p.m. EDT for Saturday’s event at Brownstown Speedway. Hot laps are set to begin at 5:30 p.m., followed by qualifying. The official Web site of Brownstown Speedway is www.brownstownspeedway.com. For more information, the track office can be reached at 812-358-5332. Levi Jones, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Maxim You will make your first appearance at Brownstown Speedway this Saturday. What do you expect as you prepare for the race? “I have yet to see the track. We’ve never competed or tested at Brownstown before. In talking with other drivers who have competed at the facility before, I’ve heard it can get pretty slick and that you really have to stay on top of the track conditions and make adjustments to your car as the night goes on. We’re heading into Saturday’s race expecting a slick track. But the weather will play a big part in our preparations, as well. We’ll definitely pay attention to things before we get into hot laps.” Brownstown Speedway is a quarter-mile dirt track. The USAC Sprint Series competes on a variety of race tracks during the season. Do you enjoy competing on the smaller tracks? “If you live in Indiana or the Midwest, you learn early on that bullrings are part of racing Sprint cars. I really enjoy racing on a smaller track. It puts an emphasis on your program as a whole. You have to qualify well, have a good heat race and work to get to the front in the feature. Rob (Hart, crew chief) and I have been working on getting the right combinations for the quarter-miles. We’re working to detune our Chevy engines for the shorter tracks. Chevy and Paul Kistler have built us a great engine. They have so much power that we have to pull them back a little bit to run the short tracks. That’s a good issue to have, though. It says a lot about how good our engine program is. We’ve worked hard to have all of our bases covered and I think that TSR will have a good shot at putting Chevy and Bass Pro Shops in the winner’s circle for the first time this year.” On a smaller track such as Brownstown Speedway, how crucial is qualifying? “Qualifying is pretty important in the way our events are set up, no matter what size of track you’re competing on. You want to qualify well in order to put yourself in a good spot to start the heat race, as well as the feature since coming out of your heat race is a huge part of how your night goes. In addition to qualifying well, you want to also try to put yourself in a position to start on the pole. It’s always better to start up front, as the air is always better. When we head to Brownstown on Saturday, we’ll definitely work to start the night off well with a good qualifying effort.” Tracy Hines, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Maxim Will this Saturday’s race be your first look at Brownstown Speedway? “I have not raced there. I’ve never even seen the track. I have talked to several drivers who have spent some time at Brownstown Speedway and they tell me that it tends to slick off over the course of a race. Since I’ve not seen the track, it’s hard to compare it to any others we race on during the season. We’ll plan accordingly and make adjustments as needed on Saturday.” Does it level the playing field when the USAC National Sprint Car Series competes at a new facility? “I think that we’re all kind of in the same boat when it comes to tracks that we’ve never raced at with the USAC Sprint Series. Early on in the night, it may be an advantage to some. But as time goes by, I think everyone will get an idea of how to approach the track. Most of the drivers who compete in the USAC Racing series can figure out new tracks fairly quickly. By the time the feature rolls out, we’ll all pretty much be on the same page. “With that being said, I think that TSR has a very good chance to win on Saturday night. We learned quite a bit at Gas City a few weeks ago and that will definitely help us out this weekend. I’m looking forward to getting back on the dirt and hopefully we’ll be able to put Chevy and Bass Pro Shops in the winner’s circle.” For complete results from this weekend’s USAC Racing Series events, log on to www.usacracing.com. For information regarding TSR, Chevy or Bass Pro Shops, please visit www.tonystewartracing.com, www.chevy.com or www.basspro.com. |
