MERIDIAN, Miss. — Derek Hagar is now 7-for-7 as he’s won each of his seven sprint car starts this season.
The impressive run marks the best winning streak he’s achieved in his career and it guided him to another USCS Series Speedweek championship as he swept all six main events the last two weekends, becoming the first driver ever to win every Speedweek race.
“It was crazy,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to win all six races. I was thinking two or three. Some of those tracks weren’t the best tracks for me. We were able to get good track position and capitalize when it counts.”
The second half of Speedweek began last Thursday at North Alabama Speedway in Tuscumbia, Ala. Hagar won both a heat race and the dash from the outside front row to earn the pole position for the A Main.
“Whenever you get to traffic, you hope to make the right moves,” he said. “I stayed in the middle to bottom of the track. I was a little free coming off turn four. I felt I could hear somebody right behind me, but I wasn’t really challenged for the lead. The track ended up taking some rubber. At that point I had to start racing conservative to make sure we had tires at the end.”
Hagar and his team invaded Hattiesburg Speedway in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Friday. The night was another sweep as Hagar captured a heat race from the pole position, the dash from third and the main event from the pole.
“We drew good numbers all week,” he said. “It’s all based off passing points. Starting on the pole of the heat race, even though you win it it barely gets you into the redraw and sometimes the first one driver not making the redraw. I was nervous because that track is all about track position.
“We were lucky enough to get in the dash and then draw the No. 3. I was able to get the lead coming off turn two and win the dash. It was the same circumstance in the feature. I felt glued to the track the whole race. I could hear somebody to the outside of me, but I didn’t have the challenge of getting slid or someone going around me. About halfway through the track started rubbering up. Then with about four laps to go a guy blew a motor and we had a red. We were pretty used up on tires. I just tried to drive it like a pavement car and keep the tires from spinning the rest of the way.”
A high pill draw lined Hagar up ninth in a heat race on Saturday at Whynot Motorsports Park, but that didn’t slow him as he hustled to a second-place effort. A runner-up result in the dash started Hagar outside the front row in the feature.
“We had a good week of drawing pills so I guess the racing gods told us we needed to start at the back of something,” he said. “I knew in 10 laps I’d have my plate full. To go from ninth to second in the heat race put us high-points driver. We drew the No. 1 for the dash and I started beside Koty Adams. I hit the moisture and started coming up. He had a hell of a run. We kind of banged wheels and he took off to win the dash. I felt like that was a benefit for me because that gave me the preferred lane going into turn one at the start of the feature.
“He was able to get the better start and in front of me. We had a restart on lap four and he short slid the corner. It left me enough room to where I could drive around him. I got in the moisture up top and stood on the gas,” Hagar continued “I barely squeezed between him and the wall to take the lead. Being in traffic around halfway I noticed lapped cars were getting faster so I moved down. We had another late caution and I just tried to drive it like a pavement car again. It all worked out.”
Hagar is aiming to keep his winning streak this Friday at Crowleys Ridge Raceway in Paragould, Ark., where he will be racing with the ASCS Mid-South Region.