Hagar Produces Podiums at Benton Speedway and Riverside International Speedway - Speedway Digest

Derek Hagar captured a podium result for two different car owners last weekend to give him 17 podiums in 30 sprint car starts this season.

Hagar drove for Paul Hart on Friday at Benton Speedway in Benton, Mo., where a second-place finish in a heat race was followed by a rally from sixth to second place in the Jim Hall Memorial main event.

“Friday was dangerous racing the 410 against a handful of 305s,” Hagar said. “It made it kind of sketchy. We made the top work and went from sixth to second fairly quickly. Everybody was following each other around the bottom. I got a run on Joe B. (Miller) and slid him. He got back underneath me and moved to the top. Once we got to traffic it was ridiculous. We were having to run caution speed to make sure we weren’t going to run over anybody. It made it exciting for the fans. We fell to fourth and got back to third. We had a restart with one lap to go and I was able to slide Kameron Key and hold on for second.”

Hagar ventured to Riverside International Speedway on Saturday to race a McCord Farms car. He advanced from sixth to fourth place in a heat race and from seventh to third place in the main event.

“We had a bad pill draw and it was a one-lane track in the heat race,” he said. “They don’t do passing points so that lined us up seventh in the feature. The modifieds went out before us and rutted the track up big time. I was able to make the top work and keep the car underneath me. I finally got up to third with a handful of laps to go. Once I got clear of everybody else I was able to run down the leaders, but just ran out of laps.”

Hagar will return to Riverside International Speedway this Friday and Saturday for the $10,000-to-win World Short Track Challenge featuring the ASCS National Tour and USCS Series.

“I think we have as good of a shot as any to win this deal,” he said. “We just need to do things the way we’ve been doing them forever. I feel confident going into this weekend. I don’t see why we can’t keep plugging along and be in contention.”

Hagar has earned three victories at the track this season to extend his winning streak to five years in a row. He won nine races there last year, five in 2022, three in 2021 and four in 2020.

QUICK RESULTS –

Sept. 20 – Benton Speedway in Benton, Mo. – Heat race: 2 (2); Feature: 2 (6).

Sept. 21 – Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. – Heat race: 4 (6); Feature: 3 (7).

SEASON STATS –

30 races, 8 wins, 18 top fives, 23 top 10s, 25 top 15s, 25 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Friday and Saturday at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark., for the World Short Track Challenge with the ASCS National Tour and USCS Series

ILP PR