Inside Line Promotions – TOCCOA, Ga. (Sept. 2, 2013) – With help from NASCAR stars Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick, Derek Hagar continued his career season by picking up a trio of podium finishes with the USCS last weekend.
“You can’t argue with that,” he said. “We had a pretty good weekend.”
Hagar competed on Friday on a quarter-mile pavement track at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., which was his second race on pavement of the season, as a prelude to the NASCAR weekend.
“The crowd at Atlanta Motor Speedway was amazing,” he said. “They said they’ve never had a crowd that big on a Friday night, not even for a NASCAR truck race. To go out and have a good show in front of the NASCAR guys was a pretty good feeling.”
Hagar qualified fifth quickest and advanced from fourth to second place during his heat race. That lined him up on the outside of the second row for the main event.
“I had Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Danica Patrick there and they helped me out a lot telling me how slick it was,” he said. “They helped me out a lot on how to drive the car and what to expect on different parts of the track. Drive it like a go-kart and hold your position.”
Hagar, who grew up racing go-karts and sprint cars against Stenhouse Jr., spent most of the 50-lap feature competing for a spot in the top three and he settled for a third-place result on the pavement.
“I was the only dirt car that finished in the top five,” he said. “The two cars that beat me were both asphalt cars and had bigger motors. I’m pretty pleased with how we battled. The biggest difference is being as smooth as you possibly can be, knowing when and where to use the brakes.”
Hagar returned to the dirt on Saturday at Cleveland Speedway in Cleveland, Tenn., where he won his heat race and charged from sixth to third place in both dashes. Hagar then started fourth in the main event.
“I got up to second early in the race and was challenging Morgan Turpin for the lead,” he said. “As soon as I got by her the caution came out. I knew I was done then because whenever you show someone your nose they’ll take your line. She took my line, but I stayed with her. We went across the line side-by-side. She probably beat me by half a car. It was a really good race. It was good for the fans and good for us also.”
Hagar headed to Toccoa Speedway on Sunday to wrap up the weekend. He placed third in his heat race and won the dash. However, he missed the feature redraw by one position and started the main event on the inside of the fourth row.
After reaching third place by the midpoint, Hagar passed Terry Gray for the runner-up position with approximately six laps remaining. However, the caution flag came out on the same lap to erase the pass and give the spot back to Gray.
“We really couldn’t make any good runs on people until we got to lapped traffic because everybody was so equal,” Hagar said. “We ended up having to settle for third place.”
Hagar will take this weekend off before returning to action on Saturday, Sept. 14, with the USCS at Tennessee National Raceway in Hohenwald, Tenn.
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 30 – Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 3 (4).
Aug. 31 – Cleveland Speedway in Cleveland, Tenn. – Heat race: 1 (2); Dash #1: 3 (6); Dash: 3 (6); Feature: 2 (4).
Sept. 1 – Toccoa Speedway in Toccoa, Ga. – Heat race: 3 (3); Dash: 1 (2); Feature: 3 (7).
SEASON STATS –
31 races, 9 wins, 24 top fives, 31 top 10s, 31 top 15s, 31 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday, Sept. 14th, at Tennessee National Raceway in Hohenwald, Tenn., with USCS
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagar.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hagarderek
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 – FSR Radiators
Located in Gallaway, Tenn., FSR Radiators has been supplying high-performance, all-aluminum radiators to the racing community for many years. For more information, visit http://www.FSRProducts.com.
“FSR Radiators make the best radiators to keep your motor as cool as it possibly can be,” Hagar said. “I’d definitely recommend them to any racer.”
Hagar would also like to thank R.E. Enterprises, J&J Auto Racing, DynoTech Performance, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, FK Rod Ends, Xtreme Race Graphics and Fragola Performance Lines for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations, media management and merchandising services for sprint car teams. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and your sponsors’ return on investment.
To meet the media relations needs of your team, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or sprintcarreporter@yahoo.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.insidelinepromotions.com.