“We really didn’t get to do a whole lot of racing,” he said. “To still be competitive with the caliber of cars we raced with says a lot for our team. We had some wins this year in the little amount of races we got in. It wasn’t as much as we’d done in the past couple of years, but to still win six races and not race as much as we had in the past, I think we had a strong year.”

Hagar had a trio of USCS Series triumphs, including a Speedweek race. He also posted three ASCS Mid-South Region victories, one of which was a co-sanctioned race with the ASCS Red River Region – the Ralph Henson Memorial at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark.

“We’re only the second two-time winner of that event,” he said. “It’s close to home and special to us. To have our name on the trophy twice means a lot. That’s something nobody can take away from us.”

Hagar is also the King of the Wings champion for his win at Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Miss. He was also victorious at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss.; at Crowleys Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark.; and twice at Lexington 104 Speedway in Lexington, Tenn.

“Getting some wins and having my daughter in Victory Lane was really special this year,” he said. “She’s too young to think of it, but down the road she can look at it and see she was in the spotlight with me. That was pretty special.”

A couple of other standout moments include the Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway and Hagar posting his career-best World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series result of 11th at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark.

“We probably had our best Short Track Nationals, especially on our prelim night running second,” he said. “The World of Outlaws race was a last-minute deal and we were able to rent a motor. It really shocked the heck out of me to pass David Gravel, Kerry Madsen, Shane Stewart, all these top guys. We worked our way to second in the heat race to make the dash. Then we finished 11th in the feature after racing with some good cars. That was a great moment to compete with those guys.”

Hagar said he’s hopeful to run a couple of midget races during the offseason before tentatively beginning the 2019 season in February with races in Florida.

SEASON STATS –

38 races, 6 wins, 23 top fives, 26 top 10s, 31 top 15s, 34 top 20s

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, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Fragola Performance 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.

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