ROSSBURG, Ohio — Tracy Hines visited victory lane Saturday night for the first time since suffering injuries in an off-roading accident and missing most of last season, topping Saturday night’s USAC National Sprint Car Series race at Eldora Speedway.
“It is great to do it at Eldora. It is great to do it in a sprint car,” said Hines.
Hines led 26 laps, sharing the top spot only with his Tony Stewart Racing teammate Levi Jones. Jones took the lead with a slide job in the fourth turn on the second lap, setting the stage for a duel between the teammates when a red flag stopped the event after Brad Sweet and Rob Chaney flipped.
Jones, the defending USAC National champion, was penalized two positions after crew members repaired the hood on Jones’ car. This handed the lead to Hines and put Jerry Coons, Jr. in second.
“I felt like we were going to have a really good battle,” said Hines. “I don’t know what happened (with Jones.) They just said on the radio that I was leading. I knew then that all I had to do was keep hitting my marks. I moved around a little bit in three and four trying to figure out where I needed be.”
The low line in turns three and four worked initially and then Hines found the top was the groove for him.
In the last few laps, Hines could not see the track because of the dust. He almost hit the fence in fourth turn on the white-flag lap.
Brady Bacon finished second.
“I was going to have to drive over my head to catch him and pass him, so I laid back,” said Bacon. “If we had a yellow or he made a big mistake I was going to be there to capitalize on it.”

LEADING THE WAY: Tracy Hines (21) leads Brady Bacon en route to winning Saturday night’s USAC National Sprint Car Series feature at Ohio’s Eldora Speedway. (Jim Morrison Photo)

Shane Cottle, Brady Short and Jesse Hockett rounded out the top five.
The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Brady Short, Short 36, 15.388; 2. Jerry Coons, Jr., Dynamics 69, 15.404; 3. Jesse Hockett, VKCC 75, 15.425; 4. Neil Shepherd, Shepherd 4n, 15.557; 5. Levi Jones, Stewart 20, 15.560; 6. Tracy Hines, Stewart 21, 15.707; 7. Brad Sweet, Kahne 9, 15.708; 8. Chad Boat, Boat 30, 15.719; 9. Rob Chaney, Hammer 24h,15.813; 10. Dean Jacobs, Jessup 7k, 15.815; 11. Brady Bacon, Kahne 99, 15.828; 12. Shane Cottle, Contos 4, 15.864; 13. Cole Whitt, Kunz 67k, 15.867; 14. Darren Hagen, Kunz 67, 15.870; 15. Chris Windom, Triple Crown 1h, 15.901; 16. Blake Fitzpatrick, Fitzpatrick 10f, 15.903; 17. Mat Neely, Reid 2, 15.957; 18. Robert Ballou, MPHG 81, 15.980; 19. Brad Kuhn, 2B Racing 2b, 16.020; 20. Dave Darland, Pace 44, 16.110; 21. Dustin Morgan, M & M 93, 16.121; 22. Bret Mellenberndt, Mellenberndt 97, 16.297; 23. Matt Goodnight, Goodnight 39, 16.314; 24. Josh Spencer, Batcheldor 66, 16.479; 25. Matt Westfall, Westfall 54, 16.509; 26. Kenny Biro, Biro 22, 16.516; 27. Aaron Mosley, Mosley 27, 16.523; 28. Bill Rose, Rose 6, 16.574; 29. Sammy Imel, Imel 35, 16.594; 30. Kevin Huntley, SC 9x, 16.661; 31. Damion Gardner, Leffler 71, 16.738; 32. Brandon Ferguson, Ferguson 15, 17.659.
First Heat (10 laps): Morgan, Jones, Whitt, Short, Wesfall, Neely, Chaney, Imel.
Second Heat (10 laps): Coons, Hines, Hagen, Huntley, Mellenberndt, Jacobs, Biro, Ballou.
Third Heat (10 laps): Gardner, Kuhn, Windom, Bacon, Goodnight, Hockett, Sweet, Mosley.
Fourth Heat (10 laps): Rose, Darland, Cottle, Boat, Spencer, Ferguson, Fitzpatrick, Shepherd.
Semi (12 laps): Shepherd, Sweet, Jacobs, Chaney, Neely, Mellenberndt, Biro, Imel, Spencer, Goodnight, Westfall, Ferguson, Hockett, Ballou, Mosley.
Feature (30 laps): Hines, Bacon, Cottle, Short, Hockett, Darland, Boat, Gardner, Hagen, Kuhn, Coons, Whitt, Rose, Huntley, Jones, Windom, Morgan, Neely, Mellenberndt, Shepherd, Jacobs, Sweet, Chaney.