Joliet, IL. (July 8, 2006) - After a solid qualifying effort Saturday at Chicagoland Speedway, Tracy Hines was hopeful he could better his 21st starting spot in the USG Durock 300. Contact with another competitor would send the Supercuts Dodge hard into the wall, and to the garage, forcing Hines to settle for a disappointing 41st place finish.
Luck was on Hines side early in the race as he expertly guided the No. 12 Supercuts Dodge through the grass to avoid the spinning cars in front of him as the field attempted to complete lap one of the 200-lap race.
The second caution flag of the day came just as quickly on lap 15 allowing Hines to bring the No. 12 Dodge to pit road to the attention of his crew.
"I'm pretty tight out of two," Hines radioed his crew. "My entry's good, but you got to free me up on exit."
The Supercuts crew quickly went to work changing just right side tires, adding Sunoco fuel, and making both wedge and track bar adjustments hoping to alleviate the tight condition plaguing Hines.
Hines would continue to battle his tight handling machine until his scheduled green flag stop on lap 77. Upon entering pit road Buffington quickly diagnosed the problem plaguing Hines. The grill of the No. 12 was almost completely covered with trash. Calling for fuel and four tires, Buffington alerted the crew to clear the debris from the grill before sending Hines back out on to the track.
Exceeding the maximum pit road speed, Hines unfortunately would be forced to serve a pass-through penalty losing two laps to the leaders before rejoining the race.
Disaster would strike on lap 93 as Hines worked his way through traffic. Contact from the #36 car of Tim Sauter would send the No. 12 Supercuts Dodge hard into the wall ending the day for Hines, relegating the team to a 41st place finish.
"I don't know what the 36 was thinking," said a disappointed Hines. "I was trying to pass the 4 car on the inside, I saw the 36 coming, he just turned left, ran right into me. I don't know if his spotter didn't tell him I was there or what. Man that was a hard hit, the car's killed. We just didn't need that. It's been a tough year, but the team's been working hard, trying to get this thing turned around. Now we've got a destroyed racecar."
The NASCAR Busch Series returns to action Saturday July 15th at New Hampshire International Speedway. The New England 200 will be broadcast live on both TNT and MRN beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Olympia Steel Buildings is a proud co-sponsor of the No.12 Dodge owned by FitzBradshaw Racing
# posted by Olympia Steel Buildings @ 6:04 AM
