Derek Hagar won Friday's prelim at the Short Track Nationals
Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 4, 2019) – For the first time in his career, Marion, Arkansas native Derek “The Guy” Hagar reached victory lane in an STN feature event by wiring the field in Friday night’s 25-lap preliminary at the 32nd Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires atop the high-banked ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval.
Hagar got the best of pole starter John Carney II on the initial start and then held off the El Paso native after a caution in the final five laps to take the $2,500 winner’s share in the STN appetizer aboard the Dynotech-powered Southern Collision Center No. 9jr J&J.
“I was running as hard as I needed to keep the lead but was still trying to save the tires,” Hagar commented after besting last year’s previous best runner-up preliminary feature finish.
Friday marked Hagar’s eighth career STN prelim feature run.
Carney II earned the pole position over a field of 69 competitors after racing from fourth to first to win his heat race and then from sixth to first to win his qualifier to top the night’s point charts. However, it was outside front row starter Hagar diving into the first turn to take the opening lap lead.
“I knew I had to get down in front of him right away,” Hagar commented.
Hagar set the pace ahead of Carney II with Canada’s Dylan Westbrook moving to apply pressure for second until a lap nine bobble opened the door for Mississippi’s Dale Howard to take over third position.
Working delicately through traffic from the ninth lap on, Hagar kept Carney II at bay until a caution flew with just four laps remaining when fourth-running Westbrook popped a right rear tire.
Carney II tried to mount a challenge on the restart, but Hagar was up to the task and raced on to victory lane with Carney settling for runner-up honors aboard the Sander Construction/South Plains Auto Transport/Mesilla Valley Transportation No. J2 Sprint Car
“I probably shouldn’t have let him cut down on me like that getting into the first turn, but we’ll take second tonight,” Carney II commented. “It may go a little different for $10,041 to win.”
Howard held off Seth Bergman in the closing laps to claim the show position with the Washington native next across the line in fourth. Harli White, who scored her first career ASCS Regional win at I-30 Speedway earlier this season, rounded out the top five.
Ohio’s Greg Wilson crossed the stripe sixth in his STN return ahead of event rookie Justin Peck of Monrovia, IN. Sam Hafertepe, Jr., three-time STN runner-up including each of the past two years, was eighth with Cody Gardner and Justin Henderson completing the top ten.
Heat races were won by Wilson, Hafertepe, Jr., Channin Tankersley, Westbrook, Carney II, Bergman, Sean McClelland and Riley Goodno while White, Jeremy Middleton, Bergman and Peck topped the qualifying races.
Scott Bogucki and Tim Crawley won “C” Mains with Kyle Bellm and McClelland victorious in “B” Mains.
Dewayne White became the first flip victim of the 2019 STN with a wild ride through turn one in the fourth heat with Cody Hays getting upside down as the next heat went green. Alex Hill got on her side in the First “C” Main with Mike Goodman banging the turn one cushion and taking a ride several laps later. There were no injuries.
Defending STN champion was dicing tor the third and final transfer position in the Second “B” Main when he slipped off the top of turn two and did several donuts. Hahn returned to action but ran out of laps to reach a transfer.
The 32nd Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires at I-30 Speedway concludes with Saturday night’s $10,041-to-win tilt that features a full card of heat races, qualifying races, “C” Mains, “B” Mains and 41-lap STN championship “A” Main along with the Mike Pack Building Materials “Dash for Cash” and “Red Shirt Dash” in memory of Lanny Edwards. Racing action goes green at 7:30 p.m.
32nd Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Friday Night Results:
Heat Races (Top 40 in Finishing/Passing Points to Qualifying Races; Balance to Two “C” Mains):
First Heat (10 Laps): 1. W20-Greg Wilson (2), 2. 21s-Carson Short (3), 3. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (4), 4 3-Howard Moore (9), 5. 0-Eric Baldaccini (8), 6. 44b-Scott Bogucki (5), 7. 45-Monty Ferreira (6), 8. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek (7), 9. 0mg-Mike Vaculik (1).
Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (2), 2. 14-Jordon Mallett (1),3. 7-Justin Henderson (4), 4. 26-Marshall Skinner (7), 5. 12h-Tony Bruce, Jr. (8), 6. 52-Blake Hahn (9), 7. 29-Pete Butler (5), 8. 29w-Wade Woolsey (6) 9. 44J-Jason Howell (3).
Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 17T-Channin Tankersley (2), 2. 9jr-Derek Hagar (5), 3. 21p-Robbie Price (4), 4. 17w-Harli White (8), 5. 1x-Tim Crawley (3), 6. 12w-Dale Wester (7), 7. 5-Kory Bales (1), 8. 21m-Paxton Gregory (6). DNS: 2x-Tucker Doughty.
Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1.47x-Dylan Westbrook (4), 2. 84-Brandon Hanks (3), 3. D6-Cody Gardner (6), 4. 9$-Kyle Clark (2), 5. 94-Jeff Swindell (5), 6. 21a-Koty Adams (9), 7. 48-Cody Stacy (1), 8. 95-Matt Covington (7), 9. 10k-Dewayne White (8).
Fifth Heat (10 Laps): 1. J2-John Carney II (4), 2. 16p-Justin Peck (2), 3. 14k-Kyle Bellm (6), 4. 6-Dustin Gates (3), 5. 99-Blake Jenkins (8), 6. 10J-Justin Jacobsma (5), 7. 23p-Hunter Poe (1), 8. 3b-Chris Banja (7). DNS: 21k-Kevin Hinkle.
Sixth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 23b-Seth Bergman (1), 2. 47-Dale Howard (5), 3. 44m-Chris Martin (8), 4. 11x-Avery Goodman (3), 5. 33c-Casey Carter (2), 6. 2-Joseph Miller (7), 7. 1s-Joey Schmidt (4), 8. 92-Cody Hays (6).
Seventh Heat (10 Laps): 1. 22-Sean McClelland (1), 2. 44h-Ronny Howard (3), 3. 13c-Chase Howard (6), 4. X-Charlie Louden (7), 5. 38-Rick Pringle (5), 6. 4-Tommy Snellgrove (2), 7. 11g-Mike Goodman (4). DNS: 15-Jase Randolph.
Eighth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 22g-Riley Goodno (2), 2. 39-Brad Bowden (4), 3. 50z-Zach Chappell (3), 4. 15J-Jeremy Middleton (8), 5. 67-Hayden Martin (1), 6. 58-Clay Dow (5), 7. 21b-Brandon Hinkle (6), 8. 77x-Alex Hill (7).
Qualifying Races – Top 14 in Combined Passing/Finishing Points to “A” Feature; Balance to “B” Mains
First Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 17w-Harli White (2), 2. 47-Dale Howard (5), 3. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (6), 4. 14k-Kyle Bellm (3), 5. 52-Blake Hahn (9), 6. 14-Jordon Mallett (7), 7. 9$-Kyle Clark (10), 8. 22g-Riley Goodno (4), 9. 0-Eric Baldaccini (8), 10. 44h-Ronny Howard (1).
Second Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. J2-John Carney II (6), 2. 15J-Jeremy Middleton (2), 3. W20-Greg Wilson (5), 4. 3-Howard Moore (4), 5. 12h-Tony Bruce, Jr. (8), 6. 26-Marshall Skinner (1), 7. 94-Jeff Swindell (10), 8. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (7), 9. 13c-Chase Howard (3), 10. 21a-Koty Adams (9).
Third Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 23b-Seth Bergman (3), 2. 21s-Carson Short (2), 3. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (5), 4. 7-Justin Henderson (7), 5. 39-Brad Bowden (4), 6. 44m-Chris Martin (6), 7. 6-Dustin Gates (9), 8. X-Charlie Louden (1), 9. 38-Rick Pringle (10), 10. 99-Blake Jenkins (8).
Fourth Qualifier (10 Laps): 1. 16p-Justin Peck (1), 2. 9jr-Derek Hagar (6), 3. D6-Cody Gardner (4), 4. 22-Sean McClelland (3), 5. 84-Brandon Hanks (2), 6. 17T-Channin Tankersley (5), 7. 21p-Robbie Price (7), 8. 50z-Zach Chappell (8), 9. 12w-Dale Wester (10), 10. 11x-Avery Goodman (9).
“C” Features – Top 3 from Each Advance to Corresponding “B” Feature
First “C” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 44b-Scott Bogucki (1), 2. 58-Cody Dow (4), 3. 45-Monty Ferreira (3), 4. 2x-Tucker Doughty (10), 5. 33c-Casey Carter (2), 6. 48-Cody Stacy (8), 7. 29w-Wade Woolsey (9), 8. 29-Pebe Butler (6), 9. 11g-Mike Goodman (5), 10. 77x-Alex Hill (7). DNS: 2-Joseph Miller, 95-Matt Covington, 92-Cody Hays, 44J-Jason Howell, 15-Jase Randolph.
Second “C” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 1x-Tim Crawley (1), 2. 67-Hayden Martin (2), 3. 1s-Joey Schmidt (6), 4. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek (7), 5. 10J-Justin Jacobsma (3), 6. 21b-Brandon Hinkle (5), 7. 21m-Paxton Gregory (11), 8. 23p-Humter Poe (10), 9. 4-Tommy Snellgrove (4), 10. 3b-Chris Banja (8), 11. 0mg-Mike Vaculik (12), 12. 5-Kory Bales (9). DNS: 10k-Dewayne White, 21k-Kevin Hinkle.
“B” Features – Top 3 from Each Advance to “A:
First “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 14k-Kyle Bellm (1), 2. 44m-Chris Martin (2), 3. 17T-Channin Tankersley (4), 4. 39-Brad Bowden (3), 5. 14-Jordon Mallett (5), 6. 22g-Riley Goodno (6), 7. 94-Jeff Swindell (8), 8. 21p-Robbie Price (7), 9. 50z-Zach Chappell (9), 10. 44b-Scott Bogucki (14), 11. 99-Blake Jenkins (12), 12. 58-Cody Dow (13), 13. X-Charlie Louden (10), 14. 44h-Ronny Howard (11), 15. 45-Monty Ferreira (15). DNS: 21a-Koty Adams.
Second “B” Feature (12 Laps): 1. 22-Sean McClelland (1), 2. 12h-Tony Bruce, Jr. (2), 3. 9$-Kyle Clark (6), 4. 26-Marshall Skinner (5), 5. 84-Brandon Hanks (4), 6. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (8), 7. 1x-Tim Crawley (14), 8. 6-Dustin Gates (7), 9. 67-Hayden Martin (13), 10. 52-Blake Hahn (3), 11. 12w-Dale Wester (12), 12. 13c-Chase Howard (9), 13. 0-Eric Baldaccini (10), 14. 38-Rick Pringle (11). DNS: 11x-Avery Goodman, 1s-Joey Schmidt.
“A” Feature
A Feature (25 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 9jr-Derek Hagar (2), 2. J2-John Carney II (1), 3. 47-Dale Howard (3), 4. 23b-Seth Bergman (5), 5. 17w-Harli White (6), 6. W20-Greg Wilson (7), 7. 16p-Justin Peck (9), 8. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (8), 9. D6-Cody Gardner (11), 10. 7-Justin Henderson (13, 11. 21s-Carson Short (12), 12. 14k-Kyle Bellm (15), 13. 17T-Channin Tankersley (19), 14. 9$-Kyle Clark (20), 15. 44m-Chris Martin (17), 16. 15J-Jeremy Middleton (10), 17. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (4), 18. 3-Howard Moore (14), 19. 12h-Tony Bruce, Jr. (18), 20. 22-Sean McClelland (16).
Lap Leaders: Derek Hagar 1-25.