(Photo courtesy of Derek Hagar Racing)
Inside Line Promotions – NASHVILLE, Ark. (July 5, 2016) – Derek Hagar scored his 10th feature victory of the season to cap last weekend’s tripleheader with the USCS Series.
Hagar led the distance of the event on Sunday at Diamond Park Speedway to record the triumph, which also marked his 13th straight podium finish.
“It was a pretty successful weekend and it was great to end it with a win after two straight second-place finishes,” he said.
Hagar opened the weekend on Friday at Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark., where he advanced from sixth to third place in a dash and from fourth to second place in a heat race. That lined him up on the outside of the fourth row for the main event.
“We set ourselves pretty far back behind some good guys,” he said. “We worked our way through there. I got up to fourth fairly quickly rolling through the middle of the track. It got strung out and I wasn’t gaining until we got to lapped traffic. I slid the guy for third and three lapped cars going into one corner. You have to have a game plan and picture what’s going to go on and hopefully it goes that way. Marshall Skinner slid Brad Bowden for the lead and I got up to second. We had a couple of late-race cautions. I tried to make a couple of charges for the lead, but I didn’t have enough momentum to make something happen.”
Hagar held on for a runner-up result.
He took that momentum into Saturday’s event at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. Hagar won the dash and was second in a heat race. That lined him up on the outside of the front row for the feature.
“I led going into turn one and we had a slide job thrown at us and then he took off,” he said. “I fell back to third around Lap 15 and we had a red flag. Cody Gardner had two flat tires so that put us back to second. We rode there the rest of the race. We just had to hang on and try not to do anything crazy and finish the race. We had red flag after red flag. They finally cut it to a 30-lap feature. We were on the track for an hour and a half.”
Hagar finished second for the second straight night.
The weekend concluded on Sunday at Diamond Park Speedway, where Hagar won the dash. He charged from ninth to third place in the first heat race and placed second in the second heat race to earn the most combined points and the pole position for the main event.
“That track has probably one of the biggest straightaways with the tightest corners,” he said. “It’s right around the bottom and if you don’t slip off the bottom you won’t get passed. It was a boring race, but it felt good to get the win.”
Hagar’s win was his fifth with the series this season.
He will return to USCS competition this Saturday at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss.
QUICK RESULTS –
July 1 – Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark. – Dash: 3 (6); Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 2 (8).
July 2 – Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. – Dash: 1 (2); Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 2 (2).
July 3 – Diamond Park Speedway in Nashville, Ark. – Dash: 1 (1); Heat race #1: 3 (9); Heat race #2: 2 (2); Feature: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
30 races, 10 wins, 25 top fives, 26 top 10s, 27 top 15s, 28 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Whynot Motorsports Park in Meridian, Miss., with the USCS Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – J&J Auto Racing
Located in McKenzie, Tenn., J&J Auto Racing has manufactured sprint car chassis and racing parts for more than 40 years. For more information, visit http://www.JandJAutoRacing.com.
“They’ve been in the family since J&J Auto Racing started building cars,” Hagar said. “My stepdad’s dad owned race cars back in the Riverside days. They are good, safe, dependable race cars and great people to deal with.”
Hagar would also like to thank Dynotech Performance, DHR Suspension, B&D Towing, Xtreme Race Graphics, Fragola Performance Systems, FSR Radiators, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Hinchman Racewear, Wings Unlimited, FK Rod Ends and Ti64 for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
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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 05, 2016
- Article Date: 7/5/2016 by Inside Line Promotions