Hagen, Hines have leg up on New Smyrna entries
Defending USAC National Midget Champion Darren Hagen and five-time series runner-up Tracy Hines have something unique among drivers expected to compete in the February 17-18 USAC National Midget openers at New Smyrna Beach, Fla. Both have previous USAC wins in the Sunshine State.
Hagen won last year during the USAC Sprint Car events at Ocala and Hines won the 2007 USAC Silver Crown Championship race in Homestead-Miami.
Hagen scored four victories on his way to last year’s USAC title, while Hines’ 32 career USAC National Midget wins are part of his all-time leading total of USAC National wins among active USAC drivers, 83 at the close of the 2012 season!
Hines would like nothing better than to kick-start the 2013 campaign with Florida victories. His one-point deficit to Cole Whitt in the 2008 USAC National Midget points kept him from becoming USAC’s sixth “Triple Crown Champion.” Last year he again finished second in the series points to champion Hagen.
He needs to add the Midgets to his previous Silver Crown and Sprint car titles to join Pancho Carter, Dave Darland, Tony Stewart, J.J. Yeley and Jerry Coons Jr. in that elusive list.
Only once in the last half-century have the USAC Midgets raced in Florida, with Josh Wise winning at Orlando in 2005. Before that, the state hosted an 11-race “Tangerine Tournament” and added four more races in 1963.
The two-night program at New Smyrna Speedway will be the first for USAC at the half-mile paved oval located about 10 miles south of Daytona Beach.
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Hagen won last year during the USAC Sprint Car events at Ocala and Hines won the 2007 USAC Silver Crown Championship race in Homestead-Miami.
Hagen scored four victories on his way to last year’s USAC title, while Hines’ 32 career USAC National Midget wins are part of his all-time leading total of USAC National wins among active USAC drivers, 83 at the close of the 2012 season!
Hines would like nothing better than to kick-start the 2013 campaign with Florida victories. His one-point deficit to Cole Whitt in the 2008 USAC National Midget points kept him from becoming USAC’s sixth “Triple Crown Champion.” Last year he again finished second in the series points to champion Hagen.
He needs to add the Midgets to his previous Silver Crown and Sprint car titles to join Pancho Carter, Dave Darland, Tony Stewart, J.J. Yeley and Jerry Coons Jr. in that elusive list.
Only once in the last half-century have the USAC Midgets raced in Florida, with Josh Wise winning at Orlando in 2005. Before that, the state hosted an 11-race “Tangerine Tournament” and added four more races in 1963.
The two-night program at New Smyrna Speedway will be the first for USAC at the half-mile paved oval located about 10 miles south of Daytona Beach.
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Kunz team targting '100' as USAC opens 2013 midget season in Florida
Car owner Keith Kunz and team manager Pete Willoughby of Columbus, Ind. have sights set on a USAC milestone in 2013, beginning with USAC’s upcoming Florida Midget events at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach.
They hope to reach the century plateau (100) in terms of USAC National wins.
Kunz and Willoughby will campaign drivers Tanner Swanson, plus rookies Riley Emmel and Christopher Bell at New Smyrna. Both Emmel and Bell competed at the recent Chili Bowl in Tulsa, Okla. Bell, from Norman, Okla., started three Indiana Midget Week races last year and was eighth in one of the Pontoon Beach, Ill. prelims in 2011. Emmel, from Saskatchewan, Canada, also competed in a trio of USAC races in 2012. Swanson stands alone as the only driver in USAC history with only three National wins to own one in each of the three series – Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget.
The owner combo of Kunz and Willoughby have combined for 97 USAC National victories (55 in Midgets, 40 in Sprints and two in Silver Crown). Although they have wins in 16 different states, Florida isn’t one of them. Adding in their six USAC Regional wins, they have a total of 103 USAC triumphs.
The first USAC Midget races in Florida since Josh Wise’s victory at Orlando eight years ago will offer plenty of challenges for the Kunz team. Expected to be among the entered drivers are defending champion Darren Hagen and former champion Bobby East, who won last year’s USAC Traxxas Silver Crown title.
“We look forward to being part of the New Smyrna Speedway activities for the first time,” says USAC’s James Spink. “New Smyrna has built a rich tradition in February and we are glad to be involved.”
Other top threats for victory are Kyle Hamilton, Caleb Armstrong, Bobby Santos and Tracy Hines, all winners in 2012 USAC National Midget competition. Jim Anderson, USAC’s 2012 D1 Midget Champ and Randy Cabral, the 2012 NEMA Midget king, are also expected to compete.
The Kunz legacy began with Page Jones’ victory at Kokomo, Ind. in 1992 and has also included drivers Henry Clarke, Bryan Clauson, Jerry Coons Jr., Dave Darland, Jay Drake, Darren Hagen, Tracy Hines, Page Jones, Cory Kruseman, Kyle Larson, Jason Leffler, Marc Jessup, Davey Ray, Ricky Shelton, Kevin Swindell, Brian Tyler, Cole Whitt and Josh Wise.
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