From Inside Line Promotions
Little Rock, AR — (October 28, 2013) — Derek Hagar added a couple more top 10s and tied his career-best finish at the Short Track Nationals last weekend.
After placing 10th in both the inaugural Short Track Nationals Open on Wednesday and during his preliminary night at the 26th annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals Presented by Hoosier Tires on Thursday, Hagar tied a career-best result of 14th place on Saturday at the $15,000-to-win Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour event at I-30 Speedway.
“It was a very good, solid weekend,” he said. “There were a lot of guys in the pits that race with the Outlaws and ASCS sitting there watching us. We had a good time all weekend.”
Hagar began the premier week of racing on Wednesday by winning his heat race from the pole at the Short Track Nationals Open. That locked him into the feature, which he started 14th.
“We drew a one and won the heat race,” he said. “It put us starting pretty far back in the feature because of passing points. We had a good car at the beginning. We worked our way through there pretty good and the right rear tire sealed up. We probably got to sixth or seventh. We had a caution on Lap 13. I guess the tire got cold and it sealed up. We started going backwards and we salvaged a 10th-place finish out of it.”
Hagar returned to the bullring the following night for preliminary action, which he began by charging from fourth to win his heat race.
“That put us pretty good in the inversion for the qualifier,” he said. “We actually backed up a position in the qualifier. It was more setup-wise. I think we missed it a little bit. We didn’t have the drive that we needed.”
After starting sixth, Hagar placed seventh in his qualifier. That sent him to a B Main, which he won to transfer to the feature. Hagar then rallied from 15 th to 10th in the main event to earn his 43rd top-10 result of the season.
“That put us pretty good for Saturday,” he said. “At the end it could have been better. We had 25 laps to make more ground, but everybody was so equal because the race track was so slick.”
Once the preliminary points were tabulated, Hagar started 10th in a B Main that transferred the top seven to the main event on Saturday. However, a storm delayed the races for a couple of hours and plagued the track once racing resumed.
“The rain killed the race track,” he said. “There wasn’t a whole lot of passing. There were a couple of guys getting together a couple of times and that got us in a good position in the show.”
Hagar advanced to seventh place, earning the final transfer to the main event. He then started 19th in the 40-lap feature.
“I felt good about the car,” he said. “We had a caution on Lap 20 and we had a long yellow flag and I think the right rear bleeder stuck. It got really tight and tried to bike up a couple of times. Instead of tearing anything up I just pulled off. It was so fast that everybody stayed on the bottom and you couldn’t do anything.”
Hagar was credited with a 14th-place finish after pulling off the track in the closing laps.
Hagar returns to action this Friday and Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the USCS Fall Nationals. It marks the final event of the season for the USCS National and the USCS Mid-South Thunder. Hagar is in contention for both championships to go with his USCS Southern Thunder title earlier this season.
QUICK RESULTS –
Oct. 23 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 1 (1); Feature: 10 (14).
Oct. 24 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – Heat race: 1 (4); Qualifier: 7 (6); B Main: 1 (1); Feature: 10 (15).
Oct. 26 – I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. – B Main: 7 (10); Feature: 14 (19).
SEASON STATS –
45 races, 10 wins, 30 top fives, 43 top 10s, 44 top 15s, 44 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the USCS Fall Nationals with the USCS
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagar.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/hagarderek
APPAREL –
Hagar has t-shirts, hats and koozies available for sale at his race trailer at every race he competes at. To see his schedule, visit http://www.DerekHagar.com/