By Roby Helm
COLUMBUS, MS – July 3 2025 – Derek Hagar of Marion, AR drove to his fourth win of the season with the United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire guring the USCS Firecracker 150 on Thursday night in the 25-lap USCS Feature Race at Magnolia Motor Speedway. Hagar took the lead at the start of the race from his outside front row starting spot, then led wire-to-wire for his second win of the season at The Mag.
USCS point leader Dale Howard of Byhalia, MS, came from the ninth starting spot to finish second. The defending and 16-time USCS National Champion Terry Gray of Bartlett, TN, started 11th and finished third. That earned the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee the Wilwood Disc Brakes Hard Charger of the Race Award.
Brad Bowden of Hernando, MS, finished fourth and fifth went to Lance Moss of Cherryville, NC. Tucker Boulton of Brighton, TN, took the sixth spot and, Jan Howard of Marion, AR, was seventh. Jeff Willingham of Ripley, MS, came home in the eighth spot, and Donny Howard of Hernando, MS, finished ninth. Hannah Merritt of Nesbit, MS rounded out the top ten.
In preliminary action, the six lap Hoosier Speed Dash was won by Bowden to earn the Pole Position for the 25-lap Feature Race. The two eight-lap Heat Races were won by Chase Howard of Nesbit, MS in the Engler Machine & Tool First Heat and Jadan Bowling of Holden Beach, NC in the Butlerbuilt Second Heat.
Hagar grabbed the lead at the start of the race followed by Bowden, Bowling, Chase Howard and Lance Moss. Bowling and Chase Howard go
t together in turn four on lap three, and both cars flipped to bring out the red flag. That reshuffled the top five to Hagar, Bowden, Moss, Dale Howard, and Jan Howard for the restart.
Dale Howard passed Moss for third on lap four, and he drove past Bowden for second on lap eight. Gray moved into the top five on lap nine. At the halfway point in the race, Hagar had opened up 2.576 second lead over Dale Howard. Just past the halfway point, Gray got busy, as he passed Moss for the fourth spot on lap 15, and moved up to third on lap 16 getting by Bowden.
Hagar lost a little ground with four laps to go, as Dale Howard closed to within seven tenths of a second. Once Hagar cleared the lapped traffic, he cruised to the checkered flag with a 2.733 second margin of victory.
The United Sprint Car Series Presented By Hoosier Racing Tire will travel to Deep South Speedway in Loxley, AL for its next two shows on Friday night and Saturday night. 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 K&N Filters, Engler Machine & Tool, Hoosier Racing Tire, Huggins Cams, Hero Graphics, DMI/Bulldog, J&J Supply of NC, 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 EVENT AT PENTON RACEWAY IN PENTON, AL ON 6/27/25:
FEATURE RACE – 25 Laps: 1. 3 Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (2); 2. 47 Dale Howard, Byhalia, MS (8); 3. 10 Terry Gray, Bartlett, TN (11); 4. 8x Brad Bowden, Hernando, MS (1); 5. 23 Lance Moss, Cherryville, NC (6); 6. 901 Tucker Boulton, Brighton, TN (7); 7. 4x Jan Howard, Marion, AR (4); 8. 28 Jeff Willingham, Ripley, MS (10); 9. 55 Donny Howard, Hernando, MS (14); 10. 16 Hannah Merritt, Nesbit, MS (12); 11. 44 Ronny Howard, Nesbit, MS (9); 12. 25g Luke Goolsby, Nesbit, MS (13); 13. 01 Jadan Bowling, Holden Beach, NC (3); 14. 13 Chase Howard, Nesbit, MS (5).
HOOSIER RACING TIRE SPEED DASH – 6 Laps; 1. Bowden; 2. Hagar; 3. Bowling; 4. J. Howard; 5. C. Howard; 6. Moss.
HEAT RACES – 8 Laps:
ENGLER MACHINE & TOOL HEAT 1: 1. C. Howard; 2. Moss; 3. J. Howard; 4. Boulton; 5. Willingham; 6. Merritt; 7. Goolsby.
BUTLERBUILT HEAT 2: 1. Bowling; 2. Bowden; 3. Hagar; 4. Da. Howard; 5. R. Howard; 6. Gray; 7. Do. Howard DNS.