![\"Stafford\"](\"http:\/\/maineracer.com\/images\/stafford.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Former Wild Thing Kart driver Tyler Hines is the
\nnewest addition to the ever growing SK Light rookie class at Stafford
\nSpeedway for the 2012 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season. Hines will
\ntake the reins of the #19 Gunsmoke Stables Ford that was driven the past
\nseveral seasons by Steve Greer for his rookie season in the SK Light
\ndivision. It was thanks to an association with the Greer family and a phone
\ncall from Steve Greer that will see Hines living his dream during the 2012
\nseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteve\u2019s niece Kayla started racing Junior Outlaws in the Wild Thing Kart
\nSeries, and they bought one of our old karts,\u201d said Hines. \u201cWe became
\nfriends with the Greers and we helped them work on Kayla\u2019s kart. After the
\nseason was over, my dad got a call from Stash Butova, (both Frank Ruocco\u2019s
\nand Tyler\u2019s crew chief) stating that Steve wanted to offer me a chance to
\ndrive in the SK Lights. When the SK Light division first started, I dreamed
\nof racing at Stafford on a Friday night and now I have the opportunity to do
\nthat. I can\u2019t wait for the season to get started, this is a great
\nopportunity for me to be able to move into bigger and faster cars. It was a
\nthrill for me to have Steve offer me a seat in his car.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike most rookie drivers, Hines will be able to head into his rookie
\nseason with some experience behind the wheel of a modified, which came
\nthrough a connection to Frank and Jesse Ruocco. Hines got his start in
\nracing by taking one of Ruocco\u2019s Wild Thing Karts out onto the track, and
\nthe connection with the Ruocco family led to Hines taking a few laps in
\nJesse Ruocco\u2019s SK Light.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m real good friends with Jesse Ruocco and it was Frank Ruocco who gave me
\nmy first opportunity to drive in one of his karts,\u201d said Hines. \u201cI was able
\nto take Jesse\u2019s SK Light out for one round of practice to get an opportunity
\nto see what the cars are like, and driving that car was unbelievable. It
\nfelt like I was floating on a cloud, the car was so smooth. I had never
\nfelt anything like it before.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Hines has a small amount of experience under his belt, he knows he
\nfaces an uphill challenge as Stafford will be the biggest track and the SK
\nLight will be the biggest car he\u2019s driven in his racing career to date.<\/p>\n
Hines will be making good use of the open practice session the week before
\nthe season opening CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler as well as the extended
\npractice session on the Friday of Sizzler weekend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like my first challenge will be to get acclimated to the bigger
\ntrack, the bigger car, and the other drivers around me,\u201d said Hines. \u201cThe
\npractice day is going to be a huge day for me. It\u2019s definitely going to
\nhelp me with going from a kart that weighs 400 pounds to an SK Light that
\nweighs 2,600 pounds. I already feel more prepared than maybe some other
\nrookie drivers with Steve, Frank, Stash and Steve Butova\u2019s help, and the
\nmore practice laps I can get, the better I\u2019ll feel in the car. Obviously I\u2019
\nd like to be able to win Rookie of the Year, but that\u2019s a long-term goal.
\nMy short-term goal is to be able to improve every week and I\u2019d like to be
\nable to keep the car in one piece. I really can\u2019t thank Steve and his
\nfamily enough for giving me the opportunity to drive his car this season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hines will begin his SK Light rookie season with the 41st Annual CARQUEST
\nTech-Net Spring Sizzler, scheduled for April 27-29, 2012. Tickets for the
\nCARQUEST Tech-Net Spring Sizzler are available and on sale now through the
\nSMS Box Office. Tickets are priced at $38.50 for adult general admission
\ntickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5 and under are
\nadmitted free of charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating will
\nbe priced at $42.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers
\nfree parking with overnight parking available.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(Stafford Springs, CT)—Former Wild Thing Kart driver Tyler Hines is the newest addition to the ever growing SK Light rookie class at Stafford Speedway for the 2012 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series season. Hines will take the reins of the #19 Gunsmoke Stables Ford that was driven the past several seasons by Steve Greer for his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[196,126,197],"tags":[72,14956],"class_list":["post-8866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-connecticut","category-new-england","category-stafford-connecticut","tag-stafford","tag-tyler-hines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8866"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8866\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newenglandracingnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}