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WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (June 16, 2021) – This weekend will feel like a breeze for Derek Hagar, who raced in three divisions last Friday.
Hagar heads to Riverside International Speedway this Saturday to tackle the Greg Hodnett Memorial.
“We’re looking forward to the event honoring one of the sport’s best and one of the region’s best,” he said. “We ended up only running three of the four classes last Friday. I can say that last weekend was probably my final attempt at running three classes in one night. It’s a lot of work and you can’t enjoy time with friends, family and the fans.”
Hagar was successful during the hectic night at Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark., where he won the ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprints main event, placed second in the midget feature and garnered a third-place result in the ASCS Mid-South Region 360ci winged sprint car A Main.
“It was busy,” he said. “Every time I got out of a car I had to get into another one. It was really hot and humid. It made for a long night, but we pulled off a win in the non-wing deal. We had a good run in the 360 and ran third. We should have won the midget deal, but sometimes when you’re leading you don’t know where the fastest lane is and we ended up running second. It was a pretty successful night overall.”
Hagar hustled from ninth to third in an ASCS Elite Non-Wing Sprints heat race before he won the feature after starting on the outside of the front row.
“We had a good race with the guy who started on the pole,” he said. “I ran the top the whole race and he was running the bottom. I think I led every lap. I could see his nose and he’d pull up to my left rear. Crowley’s Ridge is really short around the bottom, but if you can get momentum built up you can be dominant. I was finally able to get enough momentum built up to where I had enough gap to where I couldn’t be slid.
“It felt good to go to Victory Lane at ‘The Ridge’ in a non-wing car. Anything with a 410 in it is fun and fast. We were riding wheelies in hot laps. I always enjoy doing non-wing. It’s just not what our team is based on. It’s fun to jump in one and be competitive with these guys around here.”
Hagar placed second in both a heat race and the feature during midget competition.
“We led the whole thing and got passed with two laps to go,” he said. “He got momentum around the top. I was feeling good and didn’t hear anybody when I was running the bottom. I didn’t feel the urge to move. When I heard him I had started moving up. but he had enough momentum to squeeze between me and the wall. It was too late for me to build any momentum to slide him.”
Hagar advanced from fifth to second place in an ASCS Mid-South Region heat race before he finished where he started – third – in the main event.
“We got up to second and battled for the lead for a couple of laps,” he said. “We didn’t have the drive that we normally have there. We did things the same the way we normally do, but something was different. I was just hanging on. Howard Moore got me about halfway through for second.”
The weekend concluded on Saturday at Riverside International Speedway with a midget race. Hagar was unable to finish both his heat race and the A Main, in which he was credited with a fifth-place result.
“We were running second in the heat race and broke a lash cap,” he said. “The motor started running flat so I pulled in. We got that fixed and started sixth in the feature. We were running second off turn two. Chase Howard, who was in one of our Hagar Proctor Racing cars, led the way. We didn’t have anything for him. Then the splines in the right rear wheel stripped out so we didn’t finish. Chase did a great job and picked up his first-ever feature win on Saturday so we were really happy for him and the team.”
QUICK RESULTS –
June 11 – Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark. (360 sprint car) – Heat race: 2 (5); Feature: 3 (3).
June 11 – Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark. (non-wing sprint car) – Heat race: 3 (9); Feature: 1 (2).
June 11 – Crowley’s Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark. (midget) – Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 2 (1).
June 12 – Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. (midget) – Heat race: DNF (4); Feature: 5 (6).
SEASON STATS –
15 races, 2 wins, 7 top fives, 13 top 10s, 13 top 15s, 15 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the Greg Hodnett Memorial
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
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“We’re really appreciative of Administrative Consulting Services being a part of our team,” Hagar said. “They haven’t really been in the sport long so to go out on a limb and give us a chance to promote their business is great. I feel confident we can help each other grow.”
Hagar would like to thank Dynotech Performance, B&D Towing and Recovery, J&J Auto Racing, FK Rod Ends, Fragola Performance Systems, Summit Truck Group, Killer Coatings, Xtreme Race Graphics, Southern Collision Centre, Jeff’s Heating and Cooling, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Weld Wheels, DHR Suspension, Hinchman Racewear, Wix Filters, Valvoline and Ti64 for their continued support.