Inside Line Promotions
WEST MEMPHIS, Ark. (Sept. 27, 2022) – Derek Hagar captured his 12th feature triumph of the season last Saturday at Riverside International Speedway, which hosted the Fall Nationals.
It marked his fifth victory at the track this season.
“Clayton, the promoter at Riverside, took a chance and luckily Mother Nature stayed away,” Hagar said. “They didn’t water the track as much as they usually do because of the chance of rain. The track slicked off a lot more than usual.”
Hagar hustled from sixth to second place in a heat race.
“That put us as high-point man,” he said. “We started on the pole in the feature and I tried to conserve my tires for 25 laps. With three or four laps to go my right rear tire started delaminating real bad. It shook off half of the tread of my tire. It was uncomfortable because it felt like it would shake the rear end out of the car.”
Hagar outlasted the competition and the tire problem to earn the trip into Victory Lane.
The team takes that momentum into three huge nights at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., this weekend. It begins on Thursday with the Ralph Henson Memorial, which is the final points race of the season. Hagar enters the ASCS Mid-South Region event leading the track standings as well as the series standings. The weekend concludes with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour’s 35th annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires on Friday and Saturday.
“It’d be nice to go out there and go out with a bang,” he said. “We’re leading the track championship. That ends Thursday so it’d be nice to seal the deal off and be the final track champion. It’ll be weird come Saturday knowing we won’t be pulling through that pit gate again.
“Everything has to fall our way. There will be a lot of good cars there. We’ve been a contender with them and beat a lot of them. We finally have our motor program where it needs to be so I feel confident we will be contending for a win Saturday night.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Sept. 24 – Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. – Heat race: 2 (6); Feature: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
34 races, 12 wins, 20 top fives, 25 top 10s, 25 top 15s, 27 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Thursday through Saturday at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark., for the Ralph Henson Memorial and the 35th annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour and ASCS Mid-South Region
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – DynoTech Performance
DynoTech Performance is an engine building and performance shop based in Memphis, Tenn., and operated by Ricky Stenhouse Sr.
“Ricky has been doing our engines since the beginning,” Hagar said. “We’ve had great success. Every time we get something from him it’s reliable. It makes it easy on the pocket book knowing you have something that will last.”
Hagar would like to thank Ameri-Panel, KO Motorsports, J&J Auto Racing, B & D Towing and Recovery, FK Rod Ends, DynoTech Performance, A.M.P., Fragola Performance Systems, Administrative Consulting Services, 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, Ti64 and Builtwiser Wings for their continued support.