Series IMW round 1 Gas City preview

DEFENDING CHAMP HINES EYES "INDIANA MIDGET WEEK" REPEAT?

Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. hopes to parlay this week's five-race "Indiana Midget Week" series into a giant leap toward what would be the final leg of his personal USAC "Triple Crown" quest. Despite winning last year's "Indiana Midget Week" title, Hines fell one point shy of Cole Whitt in the final Mopar National Midget Series standings.

Hines coupled a second, third, fourth and seventh in last year's "Indiana Midget Week" races to claim the title and he hopes to match Shane Cottle's 2005-2006 back-to-back championships. Jerry Coons Jr. won the 2007 "Indiana Midget Week" title.

Hines is still seeking his initial feature win during "Indiana Midget Week." The previous 13 events have produced 11 different winners, only Cottle and Davey Ray having been able to repeat.

Wednesday night's opener is at Gas City I-69 Speedway, while Thursday's race is at Twin Cities Raceway Park in North Vernon. Bloomington Speedway hosts Friday night's race, while the series travels to Lawrenceburg Speedway Saturday and concludes Sunday night at Kokomo Speedway.

Brad Kuhn (Gas City), Davey Ray (Bloomington), Brad Sweet (Lawrenceburg) and Bryan Clauson (Kokomo) are the defending race winners.

Both Hines and his Tony Stewart Racing teammate, Levi Jones, are among the "top-10" in the current USAC Mopar National Midget Series points.

-credit: usac