(Photo by Vince Vellella Photos)
Inside Line Promotions – FORT WORTH, Texas (April 11, 2018) – Derek Hagar wrapped up the Tony Stewart Presents the Vankor Texas Sprint Car Nationals by earning a top-10 result last Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.
It was a great finish to the weekend for Hagar, who made his debut driving for Bruce Griffith during the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by SawBlade.com doubleheader, after Friday’s opening round got off to a rocky start.
“We had a vibration in hot laps,” he said. “We thought it might be an unbalanced wheel. We balanced all the wheels and thought we solved the problem. It was vibrating so bad in the heat I couldn’t feel the steering wheel going into the corner. We found some slack in the u-joint before the B Main, but we didn’t have time to change it and it broke.”
Hagar advanced from seventh to fifth place in a heat race before he was unable to finish the consolation race.
“We got the car repaired and had a lot better result on Saturday,” he said. “The car felt great in hot laps. Then we got to second on the start of the heat and was catching Brady Bacon for the lead.”
Hagar finished second in a heat race to lock into the eighth starting position for the 30-lap A Main.
“We gained a couple of spots and fell back a couple of spots,” he said. “We hung in there for an eighth-place finish, which wasn’t too bad being in a new car for me. Everything worked out for us. It was a big plus to run that well, especially with the caliber of cars that were there.”
Hagar’s eighth-place result was his third top 10 of the season.
“I want to thank Bruce Griffith and Ricky Tankersley for the opportunity,” he said. “It was a fun weekend.”
Hagar is scheduled to compete this Friday and Saturday at Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Miss., for the King of the Wings III event with the ASCS Gulf South Region and ASCS Mid-South Region. He won at the track each season from 2014-16 and he has earned at least one podium there for five straight years.
“I’m really looking forward to going to that track,” he said. “We have some good notes there. I’m excited to see how things play out.”
QUICK RESULTS –
April 6 – Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas – Heat race: 5 (7); B Main: DNF (2).
April 7 – Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas – Heat race: 2 (3); Feature: 8 (8).
SEASON STATS –
9 races, 0 wins, 2 top fives, 3 top 10s, 4 top 15s, 7 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Jackson Motor Speedway in Byram, Miss., for King of the Wings III with the ASCS Gulf South Region and ASCS Mid-South Region
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – B&D Towing
Since 2002, B&D Towing and Recovery, which is located in Marion, Ark., has been the exclusive source for professional towing, recovery and transport by major Memphis truck dealerships, parcel delivery companies, nationwide trucking firms and more. For more information, visit http://www.BnDTowing.com.
“B&D Towing supports racing,” Hagar said. “They can help anyone in the Memphis area. For anyone who needs a hand, B&D is recommended to save the day.”
Hagar would also like to thank Dynotech Performance, DHR Suspension, Xtreme Race Graphics, 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.