(Photo courtesy of USCS Series)
Inside Line Promotions – LEXINGTON, Tenn. (July 5, 2018) – The last week has been a great one for Derek Hagar, who captured a pair of feature victories to triple his win total this season.
“We haven’t got to race a whole lot this year,” he said. “To be able to race several times in a short period helped me get back in tune in the seat and stay fresh. It was a fun week. We were able to pick up a couple wins and some top-five finishes.”
Hagar, who entered last weekend with one feature triumph this season, kicked off the action on Thursday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., during the first of three straight nights of ASCS Mid-South Region competition.
“We went from third to second in a heat race, but it wasn’t enough passing points to make the inversion,” he said. “A lot of that had to do with being in a late heat race. It put us ninth for the feature. We got up to third. I tried some stuff to get my momentum going and it didn’t work out. I tried a different line through the middle. Everyone was putting around the bottom. I’m not very patient so I tried running the top a couple of times. As laps went on it went away and the bottom was better. I lost a couple of spots so I had to go back to the bottom and fight my way back to fourth.”
Hagar rallied for a fourth-place result.
He invaded Crowleys Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark., on Friday, maneuvering from sixth to second place in a heat race and from eighth to win the A Main.
“That is one of the funnest tracks to go to,” he said. “I ran eighth for a while waiting for everything to settle down. We had a good restart early in the race. Everyone went to the bottom and I railed the top in turns one and two. I passed a lot of cars doing that. We had some good races with Tim Crawley on restarts. We got the lead with seven laps to go and it seemed like the race would never end. We ran out of fuel coming to take the white flag. It sputtered and coming off turn four it was really out. Luckily the race was over because it was a close one.”
Hagar took his second win of the season into I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., on Saturday. He won a heat race before advancing from seventh to third place in the main event.
“The track was pretty challenging,” he said. “It had some slick spots and wet spots. You had to be aggressive and patient at the same time. I got by Tim coming to the white for second. I was trying to set up a possible move on the leader. I went to the top and was going to diamond the corner off turn four, but Tim plugged the hole and we ended up finishing third.”
Hagar’s third-place result propelled him into a USCS Series event on Tuesday at Lexington 104 Speedway, where he picked up a position to finish second in a heat race before capping the night with another feature victory.
“The racing groove started out being up top, but the race track started blowing off,” he said. “It had a little rubber off the cushion. We were able to run through it and make some good ground.
“We haven’t had the year we’ve had the last several years. It’s been a slow start to the year and we haven’t got to do a lot of racing so it was awesome to win a couple of races during the last week.”
Hagar is scheduled to be off for the next two weeks before resuming competition on July 21 at Riverside International Speedway with the ASCS Mid-South Region.
QUICK RESULTS –
June 28 – Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. – Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 4 (9).
June 29 – Crowleys Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark. – Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 1 (8).
June 30 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 3 (7).
July 3 – Lexington 104 Speedway in Lexington, Tenn. – Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
24 races, 3 wins, 13 top fives, 14 top 10s, 18 top 15s, 21 top 20s
UP NEXT –
July 21 at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., with the ASCS Mid-South Region
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Xtreme Race Graphics
Located in Marion, Ark., Xtreme Race Graphics creates custom graphics, banners and wraps. For more information, visit http://www.XtremeRaceGraphics.com.
“Dustin is a real good artist,” Hagar said. “He has a real good imagination. If you want the car to look the best, I’d recommend Xtreme Race Graphics.”
Hagar would also like to thank Dynotech Performance, DHR Suspension, B&D Towing and Recovery, J&J Auto Racing, 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.