Resilient Hinds Fights For Tucson Top-Five Finish

Cassidy Hinds (Molly Hinds photo)

TUCSON, Ariz. – Cassidy Hinds fought through a bout of bronchitis to contend for a pair of victories and earn a top-five finish over the weekend at Tucson Speedway.

The 20-year-old from Arvada, Colo., started the week under the weather, but rallied quickly with a top qualifying effort for the first of twin 40-lap mains at the three-eighths-mile oval.

A four-pill inverted Hinds to the outside of the second row on the grid, but she raced her way up to second place and was making a pass on leader Dylan Jones when the two came together slightly, leading to a spin that sent the No. 3c to the rear of the field.

That didn’t slow Hinds down, as she worked her way back to third place by the halfway point, engaging in a battle with David Levitt for much of the latter stages of the race before a broken sway bar mount inside of five to go took her out of the race just before the checkered flag.

As such, Hinds was left with a seventh-place finish in race one, but her team was able to make repairs and get her out to compete in the nightcap.

Though she started from the back of the field, Hinds charged her way up to second in four laps, holding the runner-up placing for the first 25 laps before the handling began to go away on her late model.

She drifted back to fourth as a result, holding that to the finish and earning a top five to cap a resilient evening.

“Passing for the lead in that first race, I got a little loose and I think got into the brakes a little too hard on corner entry. Dylan and I bumped a little bit; it wasn’t bad, but I ended up spinning,” explained Hinds. “If not for the broken sway bar mount at the end, I think we’d have been able to challenge for a podium.

“Once we got everything fixed, I was able to drive up as high as second, but the new right-front [tire] didn’t take to the car as well as we’d hoped and I got too loose at the end,” Hinds continued. “It’s not what we wanted for the weekend, but we managed to finish and the car is in one piece, which is the most important thing.

“With the good weeks come the learning weeks and we’ll work to come back from this one that much stronger.”

Hinds’ racing efforts are made possible by marketing partners Frontier Restoration, Leary’s Shock Shop, Fort Worth Screen Printing, Commit 2 Fitness, Pineapple Pump Project, MATCO Tools, Puzzle Effects, Buckeye Welding, 5280 Pit Lighting, and the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.

She’ll get back to the racetrack Saturday, Aug. 3 at her home track, Colorado National Speedway.

About Cassidy Hinds Racing

Cassidy Hinds is a 20-year-old racing driver from Arvada, Colorado, who competes in the Super Late Model and Pro Truck divisions at the three-eighths-mile Colorado National Speedway as part of the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series. She’s a past participant in the Toyota Racing Development Young Driver Combine, and honed her racing skills in quarter midgets, junior late models, and the Spears SRL Pro Late Model Series prior to advancing into Pro Trucks and super late models.

Hinds also competes in various regional and national super late model events as her schedule permits.

Off the racetrack, Hinds is in her third year of college at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

For more information on Cassidy Hinds, visit www.cassidyhindsracing.com.