Racing brothers enjoy successful season

The racing Hines brothers enjoyed a very successful 2016 season, with Jeremy capturing the Ultimate Battle of the Bluegrass Late Model Series points standings and his younger brother Jacoby winning the modifieds track championship at both Bloomington and Brownstown Speedways.

Both are natives of Seymour, with Jacoby now residing in Nineveh.

Jeremy, 39, was honored at the Fastrak International Companies annual awards banquet back in January at the Park Vista Hotel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. He celebrated with his crew made up of family and close friends, as it has always been through the years.

Jacoby, 32, who already has been honored for his Bloomington Speedway championship last fall, was feted at the Brownstown Speedway annual awards banquet back in January at the Pewter Hall in Brownstown. Jeremy finished fourth in last year’s Brownstown late-model points standings.

Jacoby took his first career title at Brownstown over Rick Gumm of Crothersville and Dennis Boknecht of Seymour. His Diamond Race Car Chassis, which is built in Seymour, is sponsored by Century 21 by Corina Jones, Warrior Race Engines, Honey Creek Auto and 31 Auto Group.

“It was really a good season for us,” said Jacoby, a 2003 graduate of Brownstown Central High School. “We didn’t get to race as much as we wanted to. With a brand-new baby, it really makes it tough on my wife to come to the races. It seemed like the summer just flew by. We won four races, and two of those were races that I have wanted to win for awhile now.”

The two races that Jacoby was eluding to were the Josh Burton Memorial at Bloomington Speedway and the Jackson County Grand Champion Fair Race at Brownstown, both of which he ended to Victory Lane.

His pit crew consists of his wife Kristin and his father Rick, along with Chris McCoy, Joe Hines and Aaron Fields.

Jeremy Hines’ championship chassis was built not far from his home by the Masters family at Mastersbilt Race Cars in Crothersville. Hines learned how to race at nearby Brownstown Speedway. It was at his home track in front of his family, friends and many fans that Hines clinched the 2016 Ultimate Battle of the Bluegrass championship back on Oct. 1, but it wasn’t easy.

“It feels great to clinch this championship here at my home track where my dad and my family have raced for years,” Jeremy said. “It was a lot of fun to run the Ultimate BoB Series, as we traveled to five different states, and I got to run at a lot of track I’ve never been to before. My plan is to defend my title in 2017,” said Jeremy, a 1995 graduate of Brownstown Central.

During the 2016 Inaugural Ultimate Battle of the Bluegrass Late Model season, Jeremy competed in all 11 races and accumulated 350 points. Consistency was the key to the title. He had four top-five finishes and eight top-10 finishes.

All Jeremy had to do was start the main event in the Ultimate BoB season finale at Brownstown Speedway to clinch the championship on Oct. 1. That should be an easy thing to do for a guy at his home track, and a driver that had made the main event of the 10 previous races.

The second heat race saw Jeremy start on the outside of the front row. When the green flag came out, Hines jumped the cushion in turn one and his championship hopes suddenly became a challenge. His car flew out of the wall less track tail first and landed on the back of the car, bending some very important bars and pieces that make the race car go fast.

“I guess if I had to pick a place to have such of a misfortune, it would be here at my hometown track, Brownstown Speedway,” Jeremy said. “I had a lot of family and friends here tonight, and I think they were all in my pit area doing whatever they could to help us fix the car enough to start the main event to clinch the title. There were even guys helping that I have had some tough battles through the years at this track helping to get us out there.”

So many times in the history of auto racing has the most wins not won a championship. Consistency and that never-quit attitude have won many championships through the years. Jeremy Hines and his race team are a product of that racing spirit.

After starting 14th in the main event, Jeremy took the green flag and clinched the 2016 Ultimate BoB Dirt Late Model championship. He finished the race in the 10th  spot. It wasn’t the result he wanted, but after what he had gone through during the evening, it was like a win just to finish.

Besides that, he was racing with a purpose in dedicating the race to a family friend that had recently passed. Myron “Turtle” Owens was remembered in a special ceremony before the race, and Jeremy Hines participated in the tribute.

Jeremy finished the season with a 72-point advantage over Columbus native Derek Fisher, who had 278 points. Dustin Linville of Bryantsville, Kentucky, was third with 175 points, and Chad Stapleton of Edinburgh took the fourth spot with 145 points. Michael Chilton of Salvisa, Kentucky, rounded out the top five of the Ultimate Battle of the Bluegrass Dirt Late Model Series standings with 130 points.

Jeremy Hines’s sponsors include Don’s Auto Sales, Genesis Shocks, Kimball Midwest by Krissie, Alcorn Industries, DeHart Farms, Lucas Oil Products, Hoosier Tire, Automotive Recycling and Jason Ayers Trucking.

Former sprint-car racer dies

Former Bloomington and Lawrenceburg Speedway track champion Greg Staab passed away March 6.

Staab, a native of Cincinnati, was currently living in Speedway. He was 68 years old.

Staab began his racing career in the 1960s at Lawrenceburg Speedway. He won the 1969 and 1970 stock-car track titles at Lawrenceburg before moving on to sprints. He won four straight sprint-car championships at Lawrenceburg from 1982-85 and for the fifth time in 1987. He won the Bloomington sprint-car track championship in 1984.

Staab’s best season was in 1984, when he recorded 19 wins, which ranked fourth nationally that year.

His driving career ended in July of 1996 after an accident at Paragon Speedway. He as a mechanic for the City of Cincinnati before retiring after 25 years of employment in 2004. His racing involvement included being a mechanic, crew chief, driver, car owner, and he also promoted Lawrenceburg Speedway.

He worked for the United States Auto Club (USAC) from 2006-08, heading up its National Sprint Car Division.

Brownstown cancels Icebreaker

Tonight’s Indiana Icebreaker race at the Brownstown Speedway has been postponed due to below average temperatures. March 25, the track hosts the “No-Way Out 40” for sprint cars, paying $7,500 to win.