Inside Line Promotions - TULSA, Okla. (Jan. 18, 2021) - Derek Hagar was oh so close to making the A Main for the first time in his career during the 35th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals presented by General Tire.
Hagar, who was piloting an Ariens sponsored midget for car owner Shawn Wood, hustled to a career-best sixth-place run during his preliminary night inside the River Spirit Expo Center before he finished eighth in a B Main during the finale, leaving him only one position out of the big show.
"That deal is so hard to get to that position and being that close and missing it by one spot hurts worse than missing it by 10 positions," he said. "However, it was our best Chili Bowl performance and we can't hang our heads about that."
Hagar was one of more than 300 drivers who tackled the premier midget event, which featured 60-plus drivers duking it out during five preliminary nights leading up to the finale last Saturday. Hagar's preliminary night was Tuesday and he was efficient, starting the night by advancing from fourth to third place in a heat race.
"We were going there open minded because we built a new car and didn't know what it was going to do and how it was going to perform," he said. "We showed good speed for practice on Monday and some decent speed on Tuesday. We finished third in our heat race and second in our qualifier, which locked us into the feature.
"I was really looking forward to the feature because that was the furthest we've started on a prelim night. We've come from the back to a top 10. I felt like we were in a good position to get into a top five starting that close to the field. There was a mishap in turn three and I got caught up in that so I had to go to the back. But by Lap 10 I felt like we were already in the top 10. We had a really, really good car. Then the rubber set in. I had to be patient and wait for guys to miss the rubber."
Hagar rebounded from his early incident to rally from the back of the field to a sixth-place finish.
"They built that car, the chassis itself, at a lawnmower shop," he said. "To go out the first time in it and get a sixth-place finish was pretty special."
The solid performance lined Hagar up on the inside of the fifth row in a B Main on Saturday.
"They went out and watered the track so I knew the bottom would be good for four or five laps," he said. "I went from ninth to a transfer spot on the bottom. It stayed good longer than I thought. (Daryn) Pittman had nothing to lose and he went to the top. Once I saw his nose I tried to move up, but I was too tight on the cushion. I was losing ground so I went back to the bottom. I was good for a couple more laps and then the bottom went away. There weren't cautions so there wasn't another chance to get bunched up or try something on the shocks so we had to settle for an eighth-place finish and end up one spot short of making the A Main."
Hagar ran in the seventh-and-final lock-in position for the first half of the race before dropping a spot. His eighth-place result marked the best Saturday night showing for Hagar, whose previous career-best run was a 14 th-place result in a B Main in 2020.
QUICK RESULTS -
Jan. 12 - Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. - Heat race: 3 (4); Qualifier: 2 (1); Feature: 6 (11).
Jan. 16 - Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. - B Main: 8 (9).
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - B&D Towing and Recovery
Since 2002, B&D Towing and Recovery, which is located in Marion, Ark., has been the exclusive source for professional towing, recover and transport by major Memphis truck dealerships, parcel delivery companies, nationwide trucking firms and more. For more information, visit http://www.BnDTowing.com.
"B&D Towing supports racing," Hagar said. "They can help anyone in the Memphis area. For anyone who needs a hand, B&D is recommended to save the day."
Hagar would like to thank Dynotech Performance, J&J Auto Racing, Summit Truck Group, Hedger Brothers Ready Mix, FK Rod Ends, Fragola Performance Systems, Killer Coatings, Petra Construction, Administrative Consulting Services, Xtreme Race Graphics, Southern Collision Centre, Jeff's Heating and Cooling, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Weld Wheels, DHR Suspension, Hinchman Racewear, Wix Filters, Wings Unlimited, Valvoline and Ti64 for their continued support.
Hagar, who was piloting an Ariens sponsored midget for car owner Shawn Wood, hustled to a career-best sixth-place run during his preliminary night inside the River Spirit Expo Center before he finished eighth in a B Main during the finale, leaving him only one position out of the big show.
Hagar was one of more than 300 drivers who tackled the premier midget event, which featured 60-plus drivers duking it out during five preliminary nights leading up to the finale last Saturday. Hagar's preliminary night was Tuesday and he was efficient, starting the night by advancing from fourth to third place in a heat race.
"We were going there open minded because we built a new car and didn't know what it was going to do and how it was going to perform," he said. "We showed good speed for practice on Monday and some decent speed on Tuesday. We finished third in our heat race and second in our qualifier, which locked us into the feature.
"I was really looking forward to the feature because that was the furthest we've started on a prelim night. We've come from the back to a top 10. I felt like we were in a good position to get into a top five starting that close to the field. There was a mishap in turn three and I got caught up in that so I had to go to the back. But by Lap 10 I felt like we were already in the top 10. We had a really, really good car. Then the rubber set in. I had to be patient and wait for guys to miss the rubber."
Hagar rebounded from his early incident to rally from the back of the field to a sixth-place finish.
"They built that car, the chassis itself, at a lawnmower shop," he said. "To go out the first time in it and get a sixth-place finish was pretty special."
The solid performance lined Hagar up on the inside of the fifth row in a B Main on Saturday.
"They went out and watered the track so I knew the bottom would be good for four or five laps," he said. "I went from ninth to a transfer spot on the bottom. It stayed good longer than I thought. (Daryn) Pittman had nothing to lose and he went to the top. Once I saw his nose I tried to move up, but I was too tight on the cushion. I was losing ground so I went back to the bottom. I was good for a couple more laps and then the bottom went away. There weren't cautions so there wasn't another chance to get bunched up or try something on the shocks so we had to settle for an eighth-place finish and end up one spot short of making the A Main."
Hagar ran in the seventh-and-final lock-in position for the first half of the race before dropping a spot. His eighth-place result marked the best Saturday night showing for Hagar, whose previous career-best run was a 14 th-place result in a B Main in 2020.
QUICK RESULTS -
Jan. 12 - Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. - Heat race: 3 (4); Qualifier: 2 (1); Feature: 6 (11).
Jan. 16 - Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. - B Main: 8 (9).
MEDIA LINKS -
Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT - B&D Towing and Recovery
Since 2002, B&D Towing and Recovery, which is located in Marion, Ark., has been the exclusive source for professional towing, recover and transport by major Memphis truck dealerships, parcel delivery companies, nationwide trucking firms and more. For more information, visit http://www.BnDTowing.com.
"B&D Towing supports racing," Hagar said. "They can help anyone in the Memphis area. For anyone who needs a hand, B&D is recommended to save the day."
Hagar would like to thank Dynotech Performance, J&J Auto Racing, Summit Truck Group, Hedger Brothers Ready Mix, FK Rod Ends, Fragola Performance Systems, Killer Coatings, Petra Construction, Administrative Consulting Services, Xtreme Race Graphics, Southern Collision Centre, Jeff's Heating and Cooling, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Weld Wheels, DHR Suspension, Hinchman Racewear, Wix Filters, Wings Unlimited, Valvoline and Ti64 for their continued support.
