(Photo courtesy of All Star Circuit of Champions)
Inside Line Promotions – BYRAM, Miss. (July 31, 2023) – Derek Hagar accomplished a dream last Wednesday when he earned his first career Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions feature triumph.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “We weren’t even supposed to race on Wednesday. It was special not only for me, but for my guys. To go up there and have the night we had on the biggest stage and put Kenny (Conrad) up there, to have everyone in Victory Lane at the end of the night makes it that much more special. That’s probably about as pumped up about a win I’ve had in a long time.”
Hagar piloted a sprint car for Paul Hart at Benton Speedway in Benton, Mo., where he last competed in June 2013. He qualified second quickest overall before charging from fourth to second place in a heat race. That garnered a spot into the dash, in which Hagar maneuvered from fifth to fourth.
“It was crazy,” he said. “We pretty much did our same setup and we were decent in hot laps. We drew a good pill and that helped us quite a bit. We qualified second and drove to second in our heat race. We gained a position in the dash. We started fourth in the feature, on the outside, which I think was a better line to start.”
Hagar advanced into third place on the opening lap and into the runner-up position only a couple of laps later. An early red flag allowed the crew to make some changes on the race car and Hagar capitalized, powering into the lead on Lap 11.
“We threw a couple of sliders on (Tim) Shaffer,” he said. “The first one didn’t stick and I left him enough room to drive around me. We were able to get a slider to stick and I protected the slider going into turn one. Zeb (Wise) was a straightaway in front of me. Before the second red (Cole) Macedo slid me and luckily they opened the red. We worked on the car to get it tighter to where I was comfortable. I couldn’t commit to running the top as hard as I wanted to. We made some adjustments to get some balance in the car. After the restart whenever I dove to the bottom the car kept driving. I finished the slider on Zeb and protected the slider on the next corner. Then I moved up and felt really good up top.”
Hagar ran the top mostly before he moved down the track at the right time and was patient in traffic en route to the special triumph.
“I started short sliding the corner once I got to lapped traffic,” he said. “One time coming off turn four I rode up on the wall and the car turned left. I saw Zeb’s nose wing underneath me drive to my left rear. I knew as slick as it was that wasn’t possible without rubber so I immediately went to the bottom. I rode in the rubber on the bottom the rest of the race. I used the brakes up trying not to screw up.”
It was the first of another two-win week during Hagar’s hot season, which now showcases 13 sprint car victories in 15 races.
He returned to his No. 9jr on Saturday during an ASCS Mid-South Region race at Jackson Motor Speedway. Hagar powered from second to win both a heat race and the main event.
“It wasn’t supposed to rain, but a big yellow and red cell landed on the track,” he said. “I don’t know how they got it in, but they did. The track was rough and heavy. I tried to stay out of the holes. We had to work through thick traffic halfway through the feature and was able to get away from that cleanly. We just played it safe and rode around the yuke tires. I tried to stay out of holes and made it work.”
QUICK RESULTS –
July 26 – Benton Speedway in Benton, Mo. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 2 (4); Dash: 4 (5); Feature: 1 (4).
July 29 – Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Miss. – Heat race: 1 (2); Feature: 1 (2).
SEASON STATS –
15 races, 13 wins, 14 top fives, 14 top 10s, 14 top 15s, 15 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – B & D Towing and Recovery
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“B & D Towing supports racing,” Hagar said. “They can help anyone in the Memphis area. For anyone who needs a hand, B & D is recommended to save the day.”
Hagar would like to thank Ameri-Panel, J&J Auto Racing, B & D Towing and Recovery, FK Rod Ends, Dynotech Performance Race Engines, A.M.P., Fragola Performance Systems, Administrative Consulting Services, Killer Coatings, Beazt Composites, Xtreme Race Graphics, Southern Collision Centre, AR Dyno Specialty, Jeff’s Heating and Cooling, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Weld Wheels, DHR Suspension, Hinchman Racewear, Wix Filters, Valvoline, Ti64 and Builtwiser Wings for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.
To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jul 31, 2023
- Article Date: 7/31/2023 by Inside Line Promotions