Tracy Hines Opens the 2013 USAC Midget Season at New Smyrna Speedway

New Castle, Ind.--Feb. 15, 2013-- When it was announced that the USAC
National Midget Series would open the 2013 season in Florida, Tracy
Hines was pretty excited. He was already headed to the "Sunshine
State" with his sprint car, so getting to race two more times in a
midget and open both the sprint car and midget season at the same
time offers the perfect way to kick-off the outdoor portion of his
2013 season.

Hines will take to the track at New Smyrna Speedway on Sunday, Feb.
17 and Monday, Feb. 18, aboard the No. 24 Parker Machinery/Powered by
Toyota Spike, in what will be the first visit by any USAC series to
the high-banked, half-mile oval. It will mark the sixth track in
Florida (pavement and dirt) that he has raced at during his career.

"It will definitely feel good to unload the car and get started in
Florida," said Hines. "We had a pretty strong season last year in the
midget and improved on some areas in the winter to get a little bit
better for 2013. The competition will be tough as always this year
and it's our goal to be fast right off the truck and be in
contention."

Hines last competed in a midget on pavement in Florida in 2006,
finishing second in a special non-points event that the USAC National
Midget Series ran in conjunction with the PRI Trade Show at Orlando
Speedworld Speedway. In the companion event for the USAC Amsoil
National Sprint Car Series at the three-eighths-miles that same
night, he also finished second.

"Last time I ran a midget in Florida, I came pretty close to winning,
so it would be great to pick up a win to start the season this year,"
he shared. "To have the midgets getting to open the season in Florida
this year is great and that makes the next race in the Midwest seem
not quite as far away, like it has in the past after racing in the
Chili Bowl in early January. It will be a good test for us in Florida
to see how we stack up for the rest of the year."

The native of New Castle, Ind., has one career USAC win in the state
of Florida, with that coming at Homestead-Miami Speedway in a Traxxas
Silver Crown Series event in 2007. The veteran driver raced at the
now-defunct USA International Speedway in Lakeland in an open wheel
car in 2006. In addition, Hines made four starts at the famed Daytona
International Speedway between 2004-2006 in both the NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Hines earned four wins and recorded 12 Top-10 finishes with the USAC
National Midget Series last season en route to a second-place finish
in points. He was victorious twice on the pavement at Lucas Oil
Raceway at Indianapolis, while also picking up wins on the dirt at
Dodge City Raceway Park in Kansas and Tri-City Speedway in Illinois.

"All in all, the car was pretty good at most of the races last
season," he shared. "We won a few races, though you always want to
win more and you tend to remember the ones you probably should have
won and didn't. We worked very hard during the off-season, improving
on some things and I'm excited to get on the track at New Smyrna to
see all of those long hours come to fruition."

The veteran driver enters the season with 32 career USAC National
Midget Series wins, which is sixth on the all-time series win list.
He has won at seven tracks that are on the 2013 schedule, with five
of those being on the dirt and two on pavement.

Hines opened his 2013 season last month in the Chili Bowl Nationals
in Tulsa, Okla., finishing fifth in a preliminary feature on the
third of four qualifying nights, as well as coming home ninth in the
Race of Champions on the opening night of the event, finishing
eighth. His week ended with some bad luck in the second B-main on the
final night of the famed event.

The USAC National Midget Series will contest separate pavement and
dirt championships this season. Currently, eight races are scheduled
for the pavement series and 22 for the dirt series, and Hines will
compete in all of them. He also will contest the full USAC Amsoil
National Sprint Car Series schedule this year and the entire USAC
Traxxas Silver Crown Series calendar. He is a former titlist in both
the USAC Traxxas Silver Crown Series and the USAC Amsoil National
Sprint Car Series.

"We definitely have the bar placed high after last season in the
midget," said Hines. "The midget title is the one USAC title that I
haven't won yet, and it would be great to win it. We're going to give
it our all and starting off on the right foot in Florida is a big key
to that."

Tracy Hines Racing would like to thank: Parker Machinery, Powered by
Toyota, Turbines, Inc., Afco Racing Shocks, Schoenfeld, Stanton
Racing Engines, Daum Motorsport, Indiana Underground, Hoosier, Bell
and Drivin Racing Oil.