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 GRANITE
CITY, IL (June 4) -- New Castle, Indiana's Tracy Hines led 16 of the
final 17 laps in the 30-lap feature at Tri-City Speedway Wednesday
night to take over the USAC National Midget Car Series points lead
over J.J. Yeley. Yeley had entered Wednesday's event sizzling hot
having won four of the eight races contested to date in the series and
leading all three main USAC divisions. The night also featured Winston
Cup Champion Tony Stewart in action against Yeley who drives Stewart
sponsored cars in the USAC Silvercrown and Sprint Series. The showdown
between owner and driver was short lived when Yeley's night was
spoiled by mechanical troubles which plagued him in both his heat and
semi race relegating the Arizona driver to last place finishes in
both. The mechanical woes also ended Yeley's night without ever making
a lap in the night's feature race. Yeley was credited 21st place
(last) in the feature. After qualifying 14th and finishing fourth in
his heat, Tony Stewart also had trouble in the feature when he flipped
his midget entering the first turn on the 11th lap. Stewart was credited
with an 18th place finish. Hoosier tires are used exclusively in the
USAC National Midget Car Series.
Twenty-five cars were entered in qualifying on the
Tri-City track. Aaron Fike set fast time of the night with a lap of
20.403 seconds followed by Tracy Hines at 20.582 seconds.
Bobby East, Jay Drake and Critter Malone were the
three heat race winners.
In the 30-lap feature, Steve Buckwalter led at the
outset before giving way to Tracy Hines on lap 14. Hines led until lap
23, when Mike Hess moved into the lead. But Hess' lead was short lived
when Hines moved back into the lead one lap later. Hines led the
remainder of the way to take the win--his second of the season in the
series.
Following Tracy Hines to the finish line was Aaron
Fike, Mike Hess, Jay Drake and Sarah McCune.
With the win, Tracy Hines takes over the lead in the
USAC National Midget Car Series standings with 487 points followed by
J.J. Yeley with 476 points. Bobby East is in third place with 470
points.
The USAC National Midget Car Series will next race at
Terre Haute's Action Track on June 13th. The series will be contesting
the Hut Hundred, a 100-lap sprint marathon.
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