Hagar Charges to Top 10 During Hockett/McMillin Memorial Opener - Speedway Digest

Derek Hagar started out strong at the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillin Memorial last weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway.

Hagar and car owner Paul Hart kicked off the POWRi 410 Outlaw Sprints tripleheader on Thursday by qualifying second quickest in their group. A fifth-place result in a heat race relegated Hagar to the B Main, in which a second-place showing earned a transfer into the back of the main event.

“Thursday started out promising,” he said. “Our heat race wasn’t what it needed to be and it put us in the B Main, but we transferred. In the feature, once the track moved up and everybody was married to the rubber I could make the middle work. I was making moves and able to put us eighth by the time the race ended. That put us pretty good in points.”

Hagar’s rally from 18 th to eighth in the A Main marked the second-most positions gained.

The team returned to the track on Friday for the second preliminary night.

“They went out and made the track really, really heavy,” he said. “I was way too tight for qualifying and couldn’t make a good lap. I was last in our group and I only passed one car in the heat race. We started deep in the B Main and we were able to put ourselves in the feature.”

Hagar advanced from ninth to fifth in the B Main to line up on the last row in the main event.

“I was riding around the first few laps,” he said. “I was on the tail of the guy in front of me when somebody spun or wrecked. I zigged when I should have zagged and jumped a right rear and ended our night.”

The crash damaged the car so badly the weekend ended early for the team. It will also force Hagar and Hart to consolidate equipment this Friday to be able to race at Benton Speedway in Benton, Mo., where they won an All Star Circuit of Champions event last year.

“We’re going to put the motor in my car and whatever body panels we can fit on the car,” Hagar said. “That wreck killed that car and it’s not fixable so we’ll do the best we can to still compete at Benton this weekend.”

QUICK RESULTS –

Sept. 12 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. – Qualifying: 2; Heat race: 5 (3); B Main: 2 (2); Feature: 8 (18).

Sept. 13 – Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo. – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 7 (8); B Main: 5 (9); Feature: 22 (21).

SEASON STATS –

28 races, 8 wins, 16 top fives, 21 top 10s, 23 top 15s, 23 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday at Benton Speedway in Benton, Mo.

ILP PR