Derek Hagar is only two wins away from tying the most feature victories he’s earned in a season.
Hagar produced his 14 th triumph – in only his 17 th start – of the 2023 season last Saturday at Riverside International Speedway during the second night of a two-race weekend with the USCS Series.
“We started and finished third in our heat race so we didn’t make the dash and that put us eighth in points,” he said. “We started eighth in the feature. The track was a little different than it had been all year. It had a middle, bottom and a cushion. You could go all over the track and feel grip. We tightened the car up because we knew it’d slick off. I was really tight the first couple of laps. Once the fuel load started burning off the car came alive and I could charge the corner hard and stick it against the middle. Everyone else had to baby it to get in where I could run hard into the center.
“I got to second with about four or five laps to go. At that time the leader was a half track ahead. With two laps to go he broke a motor and I inherited the lead. We had a green-white-checkered restart and were able to hold on to win.”
It marked Hagar’s fifth win of the season at the track and his eighth with the USCS Series.
The weekend started on Friday at Lexington 104 Speedway in Lexington, Tenn., where Hagar advanced from second to win a heat race. He finished fourth in the dash to garner the fourth starting position in the A Main.
“It’s not a passing-friendly track,” he said. “You get what you can on the start and hold on. We got to third on the initial start and that’s where we rode the whole race. We didn’t battle for second. We just followed each other and tried to keep our nose clean. A good podium finish was nice.”
The third-place outing gives Hagar a podium finish in all but one race this season.
Hagar will return to the Paul Hart owned No. 44 sprint car this Friday and Saturday at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, Ky., with the POWRi 410 Bandit Outlaw Sprint Series. They produced a Tezos All Star Circuit of Champions victory the last time the two teamed up.
“I think we’ll be decent,” Hagar said. “He’s been updating some stuff on the car and putting some new parts on it for Paducah, which is a pretty big race track. Hopefully we can battle up front all weekend. It’s a small team so it’s special to go out and run good in it and contend for wins.”
QUICK RESULTS –
Aug. 18 – Lexington 104 Speedway in Lexington, Tenn. – Heat race: 1 (2); Dash: 4 (4); Feature: 3 (4).
Aug. 19 – Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. – Heat race: 3 (3); Feature: 1 (8).
SEASON STATS –
17 races, 14 wins, 16 top fives, 16 top 10s, 16 top 15s, 17 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday and Saturday at Paducah International Raceway in Paducah, Ky., with the POWRi 410 Bandit Outlaw Sprint Series
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