By Roby Helm
COLUMBUS, MS – March 22, 2025 – Derek Hagar of Marion, AR drove the Nutrien Ag Solutions Special to victory on Saturday night in the 25-lap United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire Winter Heat Series Round 14 Feature Race. Hagar made it a clean sweep of the event by leading all 25 laps after winning his Heat Race, and the Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash.
Mark Smith of Sunbury, PA kept Hagar close for the entire race, but had to settle for the second spot. Chase Howard of Nesbit, MS finished third and Brad Bowden of Hernando, MS took the fourth spot. Ayden Gatewood of Caruthersville, MO was fifth and sixth went to Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC.
Jan Howard of Marion, AR finished seventh and Max Stambaugh of Lima, OH was eighth. Davie Franek of Wantage, NJ took the ninth spot and Chris Martin of Ankeny, IA started 19th and rounded out the top ten to earn the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award.
In preliminary action, Hagar won the six-lap Hoosier Racing Tire Speed Dash to earn the Pole Position for the Feature Race. The four eight-lap Heat Races were won by Gatewood in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat, Hagar in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat, Chase Howard in the Schoenfeld Headers Third Heat, and Bowden in the Huggins Cams Fourth Heat.
There were 27 drivers from 13 different states that rolled to the green flag to start the 25-lap Feature Race at Johnny Stokes’ 3/8-mile clay oval. Hagar took the lead followed by Smith, Chase Howard, Bowden and Jan Howard.
Gatewood passed Jan Howard for the fifth spot on lap four, as the field settled in to a nose-to-tail race pace. Hagar maintained a three tenths of the second lead over Smith, as the leaders caught the cars on the tail end of the lead lap at the halfway point of the race.
Hagar got a little breathing room as he worked lapped traffic by using both the inside and outside grooves to put three lapped cars between himself and Smith on lap 20. Once Smith cleared the lapped cars, he was able to reel Hagar back in. On the last lap, Smith got a run on Hagar down the backstretch, and made a dive to the bottom of turn four to challenge for the win.
Riding the outside groove, Hagar got the bite he needed to take a .404 second margin of victory under the checkered flag of the caution-free race that took just seven minutes and 4.243 seconds to complete.
The next two races for the United Sprint Car Series Presented by Hoosier Racing Tire will be Rounds 10 and 11 of the Winter Heat Series on Friday night, March 28 and Saturday night, March 29 at Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL. For more information about USCS, visit their website at uscsracing.com and the series Facebook page, or call the USCS office at 770-865-6097.
United Sprint Car Series Marketing Partners are Engler Machine & Tool, Hoosier Racing Tire, Huggins Cams, Hero Graphics, DMI/Bulldog, Racing Electronics, JE Pistons, DHR Suspension, Wilwood Disc Brakes, KSE Racing Products, PRO Shocks, Schoenfeld Headers, and Arizona Sport Shirts.
OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE UNITED SPRINT CAR SERIES PRESENTED BY HOOSIER RACING TIRE WINTER HEAT SERIES ROUND 9 AT MAGNOLIA MOTOR SPEEDWAY IN COLUMBUS, MS ON 3/22/25:
FEATURE RACE – 25 Laps: 1. 3 Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (1); 2. M1 Mark Smith, Sunbury, AR (3); 3. 13 Chase Howard, Nesbit, MS (2); 4. 8x Brad Bowden, Hernando, MS (4); 5. 37 Ayden Gatewood, Caruthersville, MO (6); 6. Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (12); 7. 46 Jan Howard, Marion, AR (5); 8. 5m Max Stambaugh, Lima, OH (8); 9. 28f Davie Franek, Wantage, NJ (11); 10. 44 Chris Martin, Ankeny, IA (19); 11. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (7); 12. 4m Cameron Martin, Ankeney, IA (18); 13. 4 Danny Smith, Chillicothe, OH (17); 14. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (13); 15. 13v Van Gurley Jr., Valparaiso, IN (24); 16. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (9); 17. 12 Corbin Gurley, Hebron, IN (14); 18. 23w Conner Wray, Olive Branch, MS (20); 19. 11 Trey Meredith, Dade City, FL (26); 20. 44 Ronny Howard, Nesbit, MS (15); 21. 55 Mike Vaculik, Hot Springs Village, AR (23); 22. 52x Adrain Tetreault, Horn Lake, MS (27); 23. 88 Terry Easum, Broken Arrow, OK (22); 24. 67 Hayden Martin, Olive Branch, MS (10); 25. 18 Paul Jones, Kokomo, MS (16); 26. 9 Lane Whittington, Denham Springs, LA (21) DNS; 27. 4x Zach Pringle, Benton, AR (25 DNS.
HOOSER SPEED DASH – 6 Laps: 1. Hagar; 2. C. Howard; 3. M. Smith; 4. Bowden; 5. J. Howard; 6. Gatewood.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. Gatewood; 2. Willingham; 3. J. Howard; 4. R. Howard; 5. Whittington; 6. Pringle; 7. Ch. Martin.
BUTLERBUILT HEAT 2: 1. Hagar; 2. H. Martin; 3. M. Smith; 4. D. Smith; 5. C. Gurley; 6. Vaculik; 7. Meredith.
SCHOENFELD HEADERS HEAT 3: 1. C. Howard; 2. Franek; 3. Moss; 4. Gray; 5. Wray; 6. Easum; 7. Tetreault.
HUGGINS CAMS HEAT 4: 1. Bowden; 2. Stambaugh; 3. D. Howard; 4. Ca. Martin; 5. V. Gurley; 6. Jones,