(Photo by RAD Action Photography)
Inside Line Promotions – WHEATLAND, Mo. (Sept. 20, 2023) – Derek Hagar recorded a top-five finish during his preliminary night at the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial.
Hagar opened the ASCS National Tour event at Lucas Oil Speedway last Thursday by qualifying fifth quickest in his group. He narrowly missed the heat race inversion, but maneuvered from fifth to second place in a heat race to earn enough points to lock into the 10th starting spot in the A Main.
“We didn’t qualify very well so that put us fifth in a heat race,” he said. “We got to second and that got us enough points to get in the feature. We were able to pick them off fairly quick, but the track laid rubber about halfway through so it got to be just following each other.”
Hagar advanced a half dozen positions for a fourth-place finish, which was his 21st top five in only his 23rd sprint car start of the season.
Once preliminary points were tallied, Hagar was just outside of the lock-in drivers and started on the pole of a last chance qualifier on Sunday afternoon – a day later than the scheduled finale because of wet weather. He won the qualifier to once again garner the 10th starting position in the feature.
“I felt good,” he said. “We were able to get the lead in the qualifier right away and lead every lap. We were in an early qualifier so we didn’t have to worry too much about rubber. Lucas Oil Speedway did a heck of a job trying to keep the track racy. They worked the track a lot. It stayed around the bottom most of the feature and I was too tight to run down there. I thought it was going to blow off quicker than it did and we ran around 10th to 12th the whole race. We weren’t able to make moves like we normally do.”
Hagar ended 12th, which marked only his third race of finishing outside the top five all season.
He plans to compete at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., this Saturday. Hagar has captured six feature wins at the track this season.
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 14 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. – Qualifying: 5; Heat race: 2 (5); Feature: 4 (10).
Sept. 17 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. – Last Chance Qualifier: 1 (1); Feature: 12 (10).
SEASON STATS –
24 races, 17 wins, 21 top fives, 21 top 10s, 23 top 15s, 24 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark.
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 like to thank Ameri-Panel, J&J Auto Racing, B & D Towing and Recovery, FK Rod Ends, Dynotech Performance Race Engines, A.M.P., Fragola Performance Systems, Administrative Consulting Services, Killer Coatings, Beazt Composites, Xtreme Race Graphics, Southern Collision Centre, AR Dyno Specialty, Jeff’s Heating and Cooling, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Weld Wheels, DHR Suspension, Hinchman Racewear, Wix Filters, Valvoline, Ti64 and Builtwiser Wings for their continued support.
INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –
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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.
