(Photo by Jones Sports Media)
Inside Line Promotions – ORRVILLE, Ohio (July 8, 2014) – Derek Hagar is still on Cloud Nine after a nearly flawless weekend in Ohio.
Hagar scored a trio of top-five results, including his first-ever 410ci sprint car victory.
“My Facebook has been blowing up with friend requests,” he quipped.
The busy weekend began when Hagar towed his own 360ci sprint car approximately 10 hours to tackle the 3rd annual Bob Reynolds Memorial last Thursday at Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield.
“We got a bad draw and they didn’t do passing points either,” he said. “It made me a little worried. It all worked out though. We had a really good heat race.”
Hagar charged from ninth to third place in his heat race, which earned him a spot in the dash. After drawing the six, he picked up a trio of positions to finish third in the dash that lined up the outside row for the main event.
“It was a lot different going from a 410 back to a 360 as far as how much slower reacting it is,” he said. “By the end of the night we had it all worked out. I just picked them off one at a time when I could. I could put the car where I wanted for the most part.”
Hagar advanced from sixth to third place. Then, after being caught behind a lapped car in traffic, he made a late run to take over second place and close within a few car lengths of the eventual winner.
His second-place result paid him $4,200, which eased the burden for the remainder of the weekend.
“We got up there and had a real good night,” he said. “That made the whole weekend a lot easier. It got me to focus on racing instead of worrying about being in a position to make some money.”
The extra focus paid dividends on Friday when Hagar teamed up with Pete Grove for a 410ci event at Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg.
“We had a really, really good car,” Hagar said. “I got to put my shocks on it that I run on my 360 car. I had a lot better feel of the car.”
Hagar qualified fourth quickest and won his heat race after starting on the inside of the second row. He then pulled the No. 1 in the random feature redraw to start on the pole for the main event.
“Me and (Jac) Haudenschild had a real good race at the beginning,” he said. “We were swapping the lead back and forth. It felt really good to race Haud like we did and come out on top.”
Hagar held onto the top spot to secure the monumental $3,500-to-win race, which marked his 11th victory of the season.
The weekend wrapped up on Saturday when Hagar and Grove faced the All Star Circuit of Champions at Wayne County Speedway. After qualifying sixth quickest, Hagar placed third in his heat race and third in the dash to start the main event on the inside of the second row.
“It was a pretty consistent night,” he said. “The race track was as dusty as I’ve seen one. My motor kinda stumbled at the start of the feature. Chad Kemenah beat me into turn one and that was it. The race was on the bottom, follow the leader and hope somebody screws up in front of you.”
Hagar maintained the fourth position throughout the feature as he registered his 14th top five of the season.
He is slated to compete in his own 410ci sprint car this Friday at Benton Raceway Park in Benton, Mo., before ending the weekend on Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the final round of the USCS Speedweek that was postponed from May 31.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 3 – Waynesfield Raceway Park in Waynesfield, Ohio – Heat race: 3 (9); Dash: 3 (6); Feature: 2 (6).
July 4 – Hilltop Speedway in Millersburg, Ohio – Qualifying: 4; Heat race: 1 (3); Feature: 1 (1).
July 5 – Wayne County Speedway in Orrville, Ohio – Qualifying: 6; Heat race: 3 (5); Dash: 3 (3); Feature: 4 (3).
SEASON STATS –
22 races, 11 wins, 14 top fives, 17 top 10s, 19 top 15s, 20 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Benton Raceway Park in Benton, Mo., and Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the final round of the USCS Speedweek
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
VIDEO –
Ride along with Hagar during his victory at I-30 Speedway on April 5 thanks to this video by Jones Sports Media: http://youtu.be/JDYTr1M4KjM
APPAREL –
Hagar has t-shirts, hats and koozies available for sale at his race trailer at every race he competes at. To see his schedule, visit http://www.DerekHagar.com/schedule.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Fragola Performance Systems
Housed in Southington, Conn., Fragola Performance Systems manufactures fittings, lines and hoses for the racing industry. For more information, visit http://www.FragolaPerformanceSystems.com.
“Fragola Performance Systems are all in all a good fitting and line manufacturer,” Hagar said. “They make really good lightweight hose. I prefer them over anybody else as far as a good pressure hose.”
Hagar would also like to thank R.E. Enterprises, J&J Auto Racing, DynoTech Performance, Xtreme Race Graphics, FSR Radiators, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Hinchman Racewear, FK Rod Ends and Ti64 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 and to join Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or InsideLinePromotions@gmail.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.
- Shawn Miller on Jul 08, 2014
- Article Date: 7/8/2014 by Inside Line Promotions