HINES AT TOP OF NDC STANDINGS HEADING INTO IOWA


Tracy Hines of New Castle, Ind. stands atop the 2012 USAC National Drivers Championship standings after posting “top-10” finishes in all five Indiana Midget Week outings this past week. That left him with a 46-point edge over Levi Jones, who won at Bloomington, Ind. Friday but failed to crack the “top-10” in any of the other four races.


Hines and Jones now face this Friday’s USAC “doubleheader” at Iowa Speedway, featuring the Traxxas Silver Crown series and Mopar National Midgets in the track’s “Casey’s General Stores USAC Challenge.”


Chris Windom ranks fifth in the latest standings after four “top-five” IMW finishes last week, while Mopar National Midget point leader Darren Hagen is third after a pair of IMW wins, a second, fourth and a sixth.


Defending two-time USAC National Drivers Champion Bryan Clauson is fourth in the points after winning last week at Putnamville, Ind. and finishing second at Kokomo.