Tracy Hines to defend at Eldora

Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind., fresh from his victory in the April 8 Coors Light Silver Bullet race at Nazareth, Pa., will be trying to defend his Stoops "Border Wars" championship when the Stoops Freightliner Sprint Cars compete the weekend of April 29-30. Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio hosts the Saturday night program, while the Winchester (Ind.) Speedway is Sunday afternoon's host, with combined points earned in the two events determining the overall Stoops "Border Wars VI" champion. A second at Eldora and a sixth at Winchester last year were good enough to garner Hines the title, but he's looking for a couple of victories this time. He's currently sixth in the Stoops Freightliner standings after the season-opening races. Tony Stewart was the inaugural "Border Wars" champion in 1995 and Brian Tyler won three consecutive "Border Wars" titles from 1996-1998. Tyler will be among those challenging Hines when this year's event unfolds on the 1/2-mile Eldora dirt and the 1/2-mile Winchester pavement. Hines and Tyler are among that elite group of drivers who have won Sprint car races at both Eldora and Winchester. Hines won two features at each track last year and Tyler won at both in 1997 and at Winchester in 1998. Practice for the Stoops "Border Wars VI" opener at Eldora Speedway on April 29 starts at 6:30 pm. Qualifying begins at 7 and racing gets under way at 8. Winchester's timetable on April 30 has practice at 11:30 am, qualifying at 1 pm and racing at 2. The feature events are 30 laps. Drivers will be aiming at Jimmy Sills' 1-lap track record of 15.312 seconds at Eldora and Ryan Newman's 1-lap track record of 14.249 seconds (126.325 mph) at Winchester.

<pre> STOOPS FREIGHTLINER USAC SPRINT CAR SERIES STANDINGS

1. Derek Davidson 108 2. Eric Gordon 97 3. J.J. Yeley 96 4. Tony Elliott 92 5. Dave Darland 82 6. Tracy Hines 78 7. Billy Puterbaugh, Jr. 78 8. Bud Kaeding 76 9. Jack Hewitt 73 10. Jay Drake 71