Hagar’s season had started on a sour note after a rough outing during the season-opening event the weekend prior and engine issues during a Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour practice night at Bubba Raceway Park on Thursday.

“We cracked a head in the engine during our practice night so we had to make an engine change,” he said. “With that on top of the tough weekend to open the season we needed a strong performance at Bubba Raceway Park.”

Hagar and his team did just that, starting with a powerful drive in a heat race.

“On the original start we got up to third, but they called it back because the front row didn’t start the race like it should,” he said. “On the second start I got up to fifth and then another driver spun out and gave us fourth. We started making ground on third place, but couldn’t get by him.”

Hagar maneuvered from seventh to fourth place during the heat race, which locked him into the feature starting ninth – only one position out of making the feature redraw.

“You could tell the track was taking rubber in the B Mains,” he said. “It was weird because in the heat races it was eating the left rear tires off without taking any rubber. Then it got really, really thick about five laps into the A Main. I was biding my time and whenever cars would push up off the corner I’d ease by them.”

Hagar rallied from ninth to fifth place before he lost two positions in the closing laps.

“The motor was staying at too high of an RPM,” he said. “The way the race track is shaped it’s kind of tricky to run that track when it’s rubbered up. You’re always turning. You have to have a car that is free enough. It pushed up once and a couple of guys got by me. I was able to pass one driver on a late-race restart to finish sixth.”

Hagar’s sixth-place result marked his first top 10 of the season.

“It helped boost our confidence,” he said. “We had a fast car. To go out there and get a top 10 after the previous weekend and the test night on Thursday, I’m just glad we rebounded the way we did.”

Saturday’s race at Bubba Raceway Park rained out.

Hagar is scheduled to compete this Friday and Saturday at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss., during the USCS season opener.

QUICK RESULTS –

Feb. 27 – Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Fla. – Heat race: 4 (7); Feature: 6 (9).

SEASON STATS –

4 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top 10, 1 top 15, 1 top 20

UP NEXT –

Friday and Saturday at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss., with the USCS

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek

LIVE COVERAGE –

To keep up to speed with Hagar at every Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event, visit http://www.RacinBoys.com for free, live audio. Additionally, RacinBoys will provide live Pay-Per-View video at select races.

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, Xtreme Race Graphics, Dynotech Performance, Fragola Performance Systems, 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.

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