Hagar Garners First Win of the Season to Extend Winning Streak to 16 Straight Seasons
COLUMBUS, Miss. — It didn’t take long for Derek Hagar to visit Victory Lane this season.
Hagar and new car owner A.G. Rains captured their first triumph of the season during their opening weekend of the year. After placing second on Friday at North Alabama Speedway, Hagar swept the USCS Series program on Saturday at Magnolia Motor Speedway to give him a victory in 16 straight sprint car seasons.
“Building a brand new car with a new chassis to him, I think it was in everybody’s head it will take us a minute,” Hagar said. “After hot laps and the heat race on Friday, I told A.G. we’re where we need to be and I feel like I’m in my own car. We just need a little fine-tuning.”
The weekend began on Friday with a run from sixth to third place in a heat race at the dirt oval in Tuscumbia, Ala. A runner-up result in the dash lined Hagar up on the outside of the front row in the main event.
“The track was bottom dominant and traffic was thick,” he said. “Every time I tried to make a move on the outside I’d lose ground. I got up beside (Davey) Franek a couple of times, but he was in the preferred line and I was trying to momentum around him. I’d get hung out and he’d gap me a little bit. The cards didn’t play in our favor.”
It played out better for the team on Saturday at Magnolia Motor Speedway. Hagar hustled from fifth to win a heat race. He followed that up by winning the dash from the pole position and he repeated that success in the A Main, leading the distance of the race.
“We unloaded fast out of the trailer,” he said. “We had a strong heat race. Then I got a good pill draw for the dash and won. It was a good race between Mark Smith and I in the feature. We were able to get through traffic like we needed to and hold on to get a win. He gave me a good challenge a couple of times and pulled beside me a couple of times. It was a good, clean race. After watching the video, he and Chase Howard were right there with us the whole race so it was a good show for the fans. It was one of those deals where whoever got through traffic the best was probably going to win and we were able to make the right moves.”
QUICK RESULTS –
March 21 – North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia, Ala. – Heat race: 3 (6); Dash: 2 (1); Feature: 2 (2).
March 22 – Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Miss. – Heat race: 1 (5); Dash: 1 (1); Feature: 1 (1).
SEASON STATS –
4 races, 1 win, 2 top fives, 2 top 10s, 2 top 15s, 2 top 20s
UP NEXT –
TBD
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
X: http://www.twitter.com/dhrracing
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