Coons Takes Over USAC Sprints Lead From Jones at Winchester

Winchester, IN - While the boss Tony Stewart was having a horrible day at Kansas City, Levi Jones saw his USAC National Sprint Car lead vanish.  Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Okla. won Sunday afternoon’s 30-lap “Winchester Oldtimers Weekend” USAC National Sprint Car race at the Winchester Speedway.

Bacon caught Chris Windom in turn three on the 11th lap and led the final 20 laps to put his Kasey Kahne Racing Mopar/Team ASE Beast/Speedway Mopar in victory lane. The victory was the first in five USAC Sprint races at Winchester for a car NOT fielded by car owner Keith Kunz, whose drivers Darren Hagen and Cole Whitt finished second and sixth. Hagen had won the last two races at Winchester and was followed at the checkered flag by Jacob Wilson, Windom and Tracy Hines.

Jerry Coons Jr. is the new series point leader, finishing eighth Sunday. He leads Levi Jones, who was 12th in Sunday’s race, by only two points going into the Budweiser Oval Nationals at Perris, Calif. Oct. 30-31 and Nov. 1.

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Tracy Hines, 21, Stewart-14.142; 2. Cole Whitt, 67k, Kunz-14.284; 3. Jacob Wilson, 07, Wilson-14.338; 4. Darren Hagen, 67, Kunz-14.401; 5. Chris Windom, 17, Windom-14.425; 6. Brady Bacon, 99, Kahne-14.432; 7. Brian Gerster, 27, Davis/Gerster-14.489; 8. Mike Murgoitio, 80, Murgoitio-14.500; 9. Dakoda Armstrong, 7A, C & A-14.582; 10. Eric Gordon, 51, Bowman-14.583; 11. Jerry Coons Jr., 69, Dynamics-14.637; 12. Levi Jones, 20, Stewart-14.676; 13. Brad Sweet, 9, Kahne-14.741; 14. Aaron Pierce, 5G, Goacher-14.850; 15. Brian Gingras, 50m, Ram-14.891; 16. Chad Boat, 30, Boat-14.902; 17. Damion Gardner, 71, Leffler-15.212; 18. Shane Cottle, 4, Contos-15.374; 19. Eddie Kelley, 64, Speed Chasers-NT; 20. #67x, Kunz-NT.

FIRST HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Sweet, 2. Gerster, 3. Hagen, 4. Hines, 5. Boat, 6. Gordon. NT

SECOND HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Coons, 2. Pierce, 3. Murgoitio, 4. Whitt, 5. Windom, 6. Gardner. NT

THIRD HEAT: (8 laps) 1. Bacon, 2. Jones, 3. Gingras, 4. Wilson, 5. Armstrong, 6. Cottle. 2:03.03

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Brady Bacon, 2. Darren Hagen, 3. Jacob Wilson, 4. Chris Windom, 5. Tracy Hines, 6. Cole Whitt, 7. Mike Murgoitio, 8. Jerry Coons Jr., 9. Dakoda Armstrong, 10. Brian Gerster, 11. Damion Gardner, 12. Levi Jones, 13. Shane Cottle, 14. Brad Sweet, 15. Aaron Pierce, 16. Chad Boat, 17. Brian Gingras. NT

FEATURE LEADERS: Windon lap 1-10, Bacon 11-30.

NEW NATIONAL SPRINT CAR STANDINGS: 1-Coons-1,114; 2-Jones-1,112; 3-Whitt-1,051; 4-Hines-1,005; 5-Cottle-915; 6-Dave Darland-886; 7-Bacon-875; 8-Hagen-874; 9-Sweet-817; 10-Gardner-784.

NEXT NATIONAL SPRINT CAR RACE: - October 30-31 & November 1 - Perris (CA) Auto Speedway

With Six Races Left in the USAC Season TSR Heads to Winchester Speedway

INDIANAPOLIS (TSR) – Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) USAC duo of Levi Jones and Tracy Hines will take to the famed high banks of Winchester (Ind.) Speedway on Sunday in their third and final appearance at the facility this season. With high stakes racing action on tap as the USAC National Sprint Car Series enters the final six races of the year, TSR will look to put its name in the record books as the series prepares to leave the Midwest.

Jones and the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops team carry a nine-point margin over second-place Jerry Coons, Jr., as they head to Winchester this weekend. Neither Jones nor Coons have found their way to victory lane at the historic half-mile paved oval. Sunday’s event offers 74 points to competitors as the season winds to a close and the 30-lap feature event on tap will be key in Jones’ run at a third career series title. Jones is ranked first in the USAC Sprint Series standings with 1,076 points entering the weekend.

The No. 21 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops team and Hines head to Winchester ranked fourth in the USAC Sprint Series standings. Hines is no stranger to the winner’s circle at the track. In 17 starts, he’s posted four victories, 12 top-five finishes and 15 top-10s. He is also still mathematically eligible to win the series championship, sitting only 134 points out of first place.

Gates will open to the public at 11 a.m. EDT for Sunday’s Old Timers Weekend USAC Sprint 30 at Winchester Speedway. Racing will begin at 2 p.m. The official Web site of Winchester Speedway is www.winchesterspeedway.com. For more information, the track office can be reached at 765-584-9701.

Levi Jones, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/BEAST

From a driver’s perspective, how do you approach this weekend’s race and the other remaining events with the USAC Sprint Series championship standings being so tight?

“You focus on each race as it comes. Every time we go to the track, our goal is to win. If you win races and perform well, the points will take care of themselves although, at this point in my career, I’ve also been able to use my experience to know when I need to think about the point standings. If I know I have a top-five car – maybe not one that can win, but a solid top-five car – I know that we need to focus on finishing the race and making sure we gain as many points as we possibly can. As I’ve matured as a driver, I’ve learned when to go all out and when to look at the bigger picture.”

With the possibility of a third USAC National Sprint Car Series title within reach, do you allow yourself to think about the possibility of winning the championship?

“It’s always in the back of your mind. As much as we need to stay focused on the races we have in front of us, you’re always aware that the possibility is there. But, in order for that to become a reality, we need to keep our attention on the remaining races of the season. It would be great to win a second title for Chevy and Bass Pro Shops, as well as put my name in the record books for a third time. Hopefully, we’ll see the ending we’d like to have happen played out as the season comes to a close in November.”

Tracy Hines, driver of the No. 21 TSR/Chevy/BEAST

Do you enjoy racing at Winchester Speedway?

“I do enjoy racing at Winchester. I’ve had some success there over the course of my career. It’s definitely a place that requires your attention. It’s very fast and is a lot of fun to race on. It’s also a place where you have to respect the speed and banking. We were involved in an incident earlier this season at Winchester where I ended up flipping. Things can happen in the blink of an eye and you really have to be aware of the other cars around you at all times.”

Does testing at Winchester Speedway early in the season help with set-up and approach over the course of the year?

“Testing at Winchester has definitely helped us this year. We learned quite a bit in terms of set-up and that knowledge has benefited us each time we’ve race at Winchester this season. We’ll have all of the testing information, as well as what we’ve learned in the previous two USAC Sprint Series events this year, at the front of our minds as we prepare for Sunday’s racing. I think we’re going to have a good chance of putting Chevy and Bass Pro Shops in victory lane this weekend.”

Tony Stewart Racing Ready for Border Wars XIV

INDIANAPOLIS - Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) Tracy Hines and Levi Jones return to the Midwest this week for the XIV USAC Border Wars series. The triple header featuring the USAC National Sprint Car Series will kick off at Winchester (Ind.) Speedway on Thursday. The series will move to the Shady Bowl Speedway in DeGraff, Ohio, on Friday. Saturday’s race at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, will wrap up the Border Wars battle.

Hines will seek his fourth career Border Wars title this week. The driver of the No. 21 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops entry won the prestigious series in 1999, 2002 and 2003. In his last appearance at the half-mile Winchester Speedway, on April 27, 2008, Hines earned a solid third-place finish. This week’s event at the Shady Bowl will be his first career appearance at the 3/10-mile facility. On May 10, 2008, Hines posted his first USAC Sprint Series victory of the season on the half-mile high banks of Eldora.

This week’s racing action will see Jones vying for his third USAC Sprint Series win of the year. In his last race at Winchester, Jones finished ninth. Friday’s race at the Shady Bowl will be his first career appearance at the track. After leading the opening laps at Eldora on May 10, Jones was relegated to a 15th-place finish due to a green-flag pit stop to repair broken hood pins on the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Bass Pro Shops entry. He has posted victories at Brownstown (Ind.) Speedway and the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track already this season.

Entering the week, Jones is ranked second in the USAC Sprint Series standings with 398 points. Hines is ranked sixth in the championship chase with 338 markers. If Hines can win his fourth Border Wars title this week, he’ll become the second driver in USAC Sprint Series history to do so. Brian Tyler currently leads the series in the number of Border Wars titles, having won the mini-series four times in his career.

Racing at Winchester Speedway will get underway at 7:30 p.m. EDT Thursday. Tickets can be purchased by calling 800-514-3849 or by visiting the track’s official Web site at www.winchesterspeedway.com.

Friday at the Shady Bowl Speedway, gates will open to the public at 1 p.m. EDT. Racing is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. For more information or tickets, call 937-585-9456. The track’s official Web site is www.shadybowl.com.

Eldora Speedway will open gates to the public at 3 p.m. EDT Saturday. Hot laps are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., with racing to follow at 7:30 p.m. For more information or tickets, contract the track at 937-338-3815 or visit www.eldoraspeedway.com.

Quotes from Levi Jones, driver of the No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Maxim — USAC National Sprint Car Series (Dirt) and
No. 20 TSR/Chevy/Beast — USAC National Sprint Car Series (Pavement)

You’ve never competed at the Shady Bowl Speedway. Have you heard anything about the facility heading into this week’s race?

“Neither Tracy or I have ever raced at the Shady Bowl. It’s going to be our first look at the track on Friday night. Luckily, Tracy has set cars up for other drivers to compete with there and he’s got a pretty good set of base notes for us to work from. We’ll take a very basic pavement set-up to the track and build on it as we need to. We just need to make sure we’ve got enough tire choices with us to get the stagger right and to be able to adjust as needed.”

Do you think you’re in contention to win your first USAC Border Wars title this week?

“This is definitely a tough deal. You’ve got a lot of good guys competing in the USAC Sprint Series right now and everyone is going to be working to win as many races as they can. I have a lot of confidence in our TSR crew and I know that we’ve really stepped up our programs, especially our pavement programs, this year. I know that we have a chance to put Chevy and Bass Pro Shops in the winner’s circle every night we race. We’re also dealing with a lot of younger kids in this series right now, and they’re willing to do whatever it takes to win. Sometimes it seems that they would just as soon crash you as race you, so you really have to be on your toes. I think we’re well prepared for this weekend’s three-race run and I would love to make 2008 the year I win my first Border Wars trophy.”

Are you looking forward to any one race on this week’s schedule more so than the others?

“I am ready to go back to Eldora this week. I feel like we really gave away a win there in May. We were penalized on the start, and then to have to come in under the green flag to fix the hood really sealed our fate there that night. I love racing at Eldora and I’m really looking forward to heading there on Saturday night. Like any other driver, I really want to win and I’d love to be able to drive into victory lane at the end of that race — especially at Tony’s (Stewart, team owner) track.”

Quotes from Tracy Hines, driver of the No. 21 TSR/Chevy/Maxim — USAC National Sprint Car Series (Dirt) and No. 21 TSR/Chevy/Beast — USAC National Sprint Car Series (Pavement)

You have an opportunity to win your fourth USAC Border Wars title this week. Do you think that it’s within reach?

“The TSR No. 21 team has as good of a shot as anyone does to win this three-race series. We know going into Thursday’s race that Winchester will produce really good racing. It’s a fast track and the racing is exciting for both the drivers and the fans. Unfortunately, we anticipate a follow-the-leader situation at the Shady Bowl on Friday. The corners are really flat there and that’s not going to allow for much passing. We’ll have to wait and see, but we know that we’re going to have to qualify well and put ourselves in a position to start as close to the front as possible on Friday night. Saturday’s race should also be a good one for our team as Levi (Jones, teammate) and I both ran really well there in May. Two of the three tracks we’ll race at this week are very fast and I’m looking forward to getting on the track.”

Having never seen Shady Bowl Speedway, what do you expect heading into Friday’s race?

“I’ve set cars up for other drivers who have competed at the track in the past and I have a pretty good set of notes to refer to as we head to the Shady Bowl on Friday. We compete at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway several times during the year, and it’s a pretty tough bullring, as well. The difference between the two tracks is that, at Anderson, you have a lot of banking in the corners. That really helps you get a run on someone and can work for you in terms of passing. We know going into the Shady Bowl that the corners are very flat and that’s going to make it pretty tough to try to work your way through the field if you don’t qualify well. Every new track is a challenge and I think that we’ll have a good shot to run just as well as anyone at the Shady Bowl.”

The traditional USAC Border Wars format has changed to include two pavement races for this year. You’re well known for your pavement prowess. Are you looking forward to the new format?

“It’s pretty cool to have a change in the format, even though I’ve always liked the traditional format that included races at Eldora and Winchester. In the past, you had to go from one extreme to the other, as both tracks were really fast. With one track being dirt and the other being pavement, you really had to be on top of your game to win this deal. But change is good, and if this week’s new format goes well for us, we’re definitely open to a new tradition. It would be great to put Chevy and Bass Pro Shops in the winner’s circle this week, and if that is the case, we’ll look to carry on this new tradition in the USAC Border Wars series.”

-TSR-