Tracy Hines Wins Thursday Night Chili Bowl Midget Nationals Preliminary Feature

(January 16, 2008) - Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Tracy Hines notched another milestone for Chevy Racing in Thursday’s Chili Bowl Midget Nationals qualifying event as he drove the No. 21 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops/Spike entry to a victory in front of an enthusiastic crowd at the Tulsa (Okla.) Expo Center.

Hines earned a win in the 25-lap A-main event utilizing the new Chevy midget engine, which was debuted in late 2008.
 
“I am really proud to have had the opportunity to get our first victory using the new Chevy midget engine,” Hines said. “Everyone has been working really hard on this new engine and we really appreciate all of the hard work that the GM Racing engineers and Paul Kistler have put into this program. Anytime you debut a new piece there is a learning curve and I think that our performance this week shows that we’ve been able to really advance our engine program with the addition of the new Chevy motor.”
 
After finishing second in the second heat race, Hines drove to a second place finish in the fourth A-main qualifying race to put himself on the pole for Thursday’s night feature event. Hines never fell out of the top-two as he battled to take the checkered flag over the second place entry of Dave Darland by a mere .12-second advantage.
 
TSR will continue its quest for a fourth Chili Bowl Midget Nationals victory as Levi Jones and the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops/Spike team will compete in the final night of preliminary action on Friday.
 
Hines won the prestigious event in 2005 and team owner, Tony Stewart, has claimed the famed ‘Golden Driller’ twice in his career (2002, 2007.)
 
For more information regarding the 2009 Chili Bowl Midget Nationals, log on to www.chilibowl.com <http://www.chilibowl.com/> .