HAGEN AIMS FOR 3RD “COPPER ON DIRT” TITLE AT TUCSON

By Dick Jordan

Darren Hagen of Riverside, Calif. and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. each have two “Copper on Dirt” feature victories but Hagen hopes to notch his third triumph when the 4th Rosemont Copper “Copper on Dirt” unfolds this weekend at USA Raceway in Tucson, Ariz.

Hagen won the 2008 Midget race and last year’s Sprint feature at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Ariz. and is among top threats for this year’s USAC Mopar National and Western Midget race, part of the rare USAC “tripleheader.” The event also features the USAC Silver Crown and Amsoil USAC National and CRA Sprints.

Hagen finished third in last year’s National Midget points and has five career wins in the very competitive National series. Last year he ran down Kevin Swindell five laps from the finish to win the Sprint feature and finished fifth in the Midgets.

Brad Kuhn is the defending USAC Mopar National champ and Garrett Hansen won last year’s USAC Western Midget crown.

Preliminaries are set for Friday, while the semis and feature events are Saturday. A 30-lap Midget feature precedes the 40-lap Sprint race and the 50-lap Silver Crown finale.

Brad Sweet is the defending Rosemont Copper “Copper on Dirt” Midget champ, passing Bryan Clauson two laps from the end of last year’s race at Manzanita. Cory Kruseman won the 2007 inaugural and Hagen won two years ago.

The Tucson event kicks off the 2010 Mopar National and Western Midget campaigns.