(Photo by Casey Jones)
Inside Line Promotions – LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Nov. 8, 2016) – Derek Hagar put together a career-best performance last weekend at I-30 Speedway, which hosted the 29th annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires.
The event began in Thursday when a third-place finish in a heat race wasn’t enough to get Hagar into the inversion for a qualifier, making it a challenging remainder to the evening.
“We started fourth and finished third in the heat,” he said. “That put us right outside of the inversion bubble for the qualifier. We started seventh in the qualifier and finished eighth. That put us in the B Main and we didn’t transfer out of it, ending our night.”
The team rebounded on Friday night when Hagar’s pill draw was 140 out of 150. However, that didn’t hurt him as he was able to advance forward in both a heat race and qualifier to lock himself into the ninth starting position for the main event.
“With my good pill draw skills, I drew a big number on Friday night and started in the back of the heat race and passed a car or two,” Hagar said. “The track was good early, but there really wasn’t a whole lot of passing. We started eighth in the qualifier and finished third.
“That started me ninth in the A Main. I passed a couple of good cars and got up to fifth. The track laid a little rubber and fifth is where we finished. We were faster than the car in front of us, but just couldn’t get around him.”
Hagar ranked sixth in preliminary points behind the locked-in drivers. The format took the preliminary night points and had a redraw for the heat races to open the finale on Saturday. Hagar’s bad pill drawing skills made another appearance as he drew 149 out of 150.
That lined him up last in a heat race, but Hagar quickly maneuvered from 10th to third place to earn enough points to lock into the 40-lap main event.
“Because of the great number I drew I started in the back of the heat again and finished third,” he said. “That gave us enough points to be locked into the feature so we didn’t have to run the B Main. We started ninth and fell back to 10th. The race track was right around the bottom again, no passing. A car ahead of me got knocked out and we ended up finishing eighth.”
While Hagar was hoping to grab the win in front of his home crowd, his eighth-place result was his best ever during the marquee event.
“We didn’t tear anything up and it could have been a lot worse,” he said. “We made some money and got to bring it home in one piece.”
Next up, Hagar looks to wrap up the USCS Mid South championship this Friday and Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the Flip Flop 50.
QUICK RESULTS –
Nov. 3 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 3 (4); Qualifier: 8 (7); B Main: 7 (9).
Nov. 4 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 5 (7); Qualifier: 3 (8); Feature: 5 (9).
Nov. 5 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 3 (10); Feature: 8 (9).
SEASON STATS –
53 races, 15 wins, 36 top fives, 40 top 10s, 43 top 15s, 46 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the Flip Flop 50 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 B&D Towing, Dynotech Performance, DHR Suspension, 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 –
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 Nov 08, 2016
- Article Date: 11/8/2016 by Inside Line Promotions