Inside Line Promotions – MARYVILLE, Tenn. (May 2, 2017) – Derek Hagar was consistent last weekend during the USCS Thunder in the Smokies doubleheader in Tennessee with the USCS Series.

Hagar placed second every time he was on the track during both nights of action.

“I was pretty consistent,” he said. “There’s nothing to hang our heads about. We didn’t tear anything up or hurt a lot of tires. However, as a driver I’d like to be sitting on the front straightaway. We got flat out ran Friday and on Saturday we were put in a bad spot by the feature inversion.”

The weekend began on Friday at I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, where Hagar maneuvered from fourth to second place in a heat race. That lined him up on the inside of the second row for the main event.

“We fell back to fourth and ran there for three or four laps,” he said. “We got to third on a restart and finally got up to second. I wasn’t gaining on the leader. We had a restart and I heard someone zoom to the outside. There was some grip there that hasn’t been there before. Morgan Turpen found something. I jumped up there after her, but it was too late. On a late restart I drove to second. We had a couple of cautions, but I couldn’t get a good run on her.”

Hagar’s second-place finish was his sixth top five of the season.

The team ventured to Smoky Mountain Speedway on Saturday. Hagar advanced from third to second place in the dash before charging from ninth to second place in a heat race. That earned him the most points out of all the drivers, but the feature inversion was a six to start Hagar on the outside of the third row for the main event.

“We had one caution on Lap 1 and we were up to fourth at that point,” he said. “We passed for third on the restart and raced second pretty hard for five or six laps. By the time I got into second Morgan was already gone. She had a straightaway on us. We needed a caution to bunch us back up. We had a lot of ground to catch up.”

Hagar ended second for the second straight night. It marked his fifth consecutive top-five result.

He will return to action this Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., where he will drive his winged sprint car during the ASCS Red River Region and ASCS Warrior Region action and his midget during the POWRi National Midget Series competition.

QUICK RESULTS –

April 28 – I-75 Raceway in Sweetwater, Tenn. – Heat race: 2 (4); Feature: 2 (3).

April 29 – Smoky Mountain Speedway in Maryville, Tenn. – Dash: 2 (3); Heat race: 2 (9); Feature: 2 (6).

SEASON STATS –

11 races, 2 wins, 7 top fives, 7 top 10s, 7 top 15s, 8 top 20s

UP NEXT –

Saturday at Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Mo., with the ASCS Red River Region and ASCS Warrior Region as well as with the POWRi National Midget Series

MEDIA LINKS –

Website: http://www.DerekHagarRacing.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/HagarDerek

SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Xtreme Race Graphics

Located in Marion, Ark., Xtreme Race Graphics creates custom graphics, banners and wraps. For more information, visit http://www.XtremeRaceGraphics.com.

“Dustin is a real good artist,” Hagar said. “He has a real good imagination. If you want the car to look the best, I’d recommend Xtreme Race Graphics.”

Hagar would also like to thank Dynotech Performance, DHR Suspension, B&D Towing, J&J Auto Racing, Fragola Performance Systems, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Weld Wheels, Hinchman Racewear, Wix Filters, Wings Unlimited, FK Rod Ends, Valvoline and Ti64 for their continued support.

INSIDE LINE PROMOTIONS –

Inside Line Promotions specializes in affordable public relations and media management for motor sports drivers, teams, sponsors, tracks, series, events, organizations and manufacturers. ILP Founder Shawn Miller leverages professional journalism with new media technologies and social networking to improve your exposure and the return on investment for your sponsors.

To meet the media relations needs of your program by joining Team ILP, contact Shawn at 541-510-3663 or Shawn@InsideLinePromotions.com. For more information on Inside Line Promotions, visit http://www.InsideLinePromotions.com.