(Photo by TeeJay Crawford)
Inside Line Promotions – TULSA, Okla. (Jan. 22, 2019) – Derek Hagar took another leap forward in his limited midget racing career last week during the 33rd annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
Hagar was one of 350 competitors inside the River Spirit Expo Center vying for the coveted Golden Driller. He opened the action last Tuesday by advancing from sixth to fourth place in a heat race during his preliminary night. Hagar then finished where he started – seventh – in a qualifier before rallying from sixth to third place in the B Main to transfer into the back of the main event.
“We got up to third in our heat and the guy behind us tried to spin us in turn three and he got by us,” he said. “That put us on the outskirts of being in the inversion of the qualifier and we finished seventh. We made it through the B Main and we had a good car in the feature, but we got lapped early. Once that happened we were just out there trying to make laps. We drove up to 12th, but we were a lap down so those positions didn’t count. We learned a lot of stuff and I felt confident in the car.”
Hagar advanced his Hagar-Proctor Racing machine a trio of positions to finish 19th.
The event concluded on Saturday with Hagar charging from 12th to fourth in a D Main to transfer into the back of a C Main. He then powered from 19th to ninth, which marked his career-best finish at the event.
“We made a lot of changes shock-wise and setup-wise,” he said. “You don’t get to hot lap so we went out there and hoped it worked. We set in staging for 30 minutes and then they told us to get out of the car. They did real in-depth track work. The track was heavy and I had my doubts we’d even pass a car, but the changes we made to the car really helped and we drove up to fourth. Then running a C Main and passing 10 cars felt like a win to us. We have a 20-year old car and an outdated motor. We’re really happy with the progress.”
Hagar is set to kick off his sprint car season next month in Florida while driving for Witherspoon Racing. The team will compete Feb. 8-9 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala and Feb. 14-16 at East Bay Raceway Park in Tampa.
QUICK RESULTS –
Jan. 15 – River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla. – Heat race: 4 (6); Qualifier: 7 (7); B Main: 3 (6): Feature: 19 (22).
Jan. 19 – River Spirit Expo Center in Tulsa, Okla. – D Main: 4 (12): C Main: 9 (19).
UP NEXT –
Feb. 8-9 at Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla., 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 and Recovery, Xtreme Race Graphics, Fragola Performance Systems, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Weld Wheels, Hinchman Racewear, Wix Filters, Wings Unlimited, FK Rod Ends, Valvoline 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 Jan 22, 2019
- Article Date: 1/22/2019 by Inside Line Promotions