(Emily Schwanke Photo)
Spence Smithback | October 19, 2024
Few Sprint Car drivers can say they’ve won three Features at the same track in the span of seven days, but Derek Hagar added his name to that short list Friday night at Riverside International Speedway.
Last weekend in the Flip Flop 50 for the United Sprint Car Series, he won the first Feature, was inverted to the rear for the second race and drove back to the front by the checkers.
Less than a week later, with the stars of the American Sprint Car Series National Tour and the ASCS Hurricane Area Super Sprints joining the fold, he got the job done once again on the opening night of the World Short Track Challenge.
“We could do whatever we wanted in that Feature man,” Hagar said. “I could cut the corner, I could float the corner and I could make speed the whole time.”
The unique format for the event meant that the first five rows of the Feature were set by combined points from Qualifying and Heat Races, which resulted in Anton Hernandez starting on the pole in his National Tour debut alongside Sam Hafertepe Jr. in the 25-lap Feature. Hernandez did not get to enjoy much time out front at the start, as Hafertepe powered around his outside and led by three car lengths entering Turn 3 on the first lap.
The first caution was thrown on Lap 2 when Lance Moss collided with the spinning car of Ayden Gatewood. Hafertepe kept the lead on the restart, while Hank Davis made the pass on Hernandez in Turn 3 to take second.
Hafertepe would lead the next several circuits, albeit with Davis breathing down his neck in search of the top spot. Davis’ night started to turn sour when he got into the Turn 4 wall on Lap 8 and climbed the catchfence – he initially kept going but eventually brought the car to the pits to fix the damage.
The issues for Davis may have given Hafertepe some breathing room, but his chance to score his first National Tour win in over two months was erased when he ran into the back of the slowing car of Jordon Mallett on the backstretch, sending the No. 15H up and over.
That incident handed the lead back to Hernandez with 15 to go, but just like the initial start, he didn’t stay long as Hagar blew past him on the outside in Turns 1 and 2.
The final stoppage of the race was for a flip by Brandon Hanks with six to go, but Hagar once again nailed the restart and took the checkers by 1.6 seconds over Dale Howard in second.
Riverside’s track surface has long been known to change in an instant, and Hagar said keeping up with those changes better than anyone else was ultimately what won him the race.
“Racetrack went from muddy to slick real quick,” Hagar said. “Billy and the guys did a real great job this week getting this racetrack prepared for tonight. Not knowing what the racetrack was going to do with 60 cars, last week we had 120 cars here between all the classes. It was muddy early and kind of did the same thing. It went a little further than this as far as being slick.”
Howard completed the sweep of the top two spots by the West Memphis locals. The runner-up effort served as a solid end to the night after teammate Sammy Swindell’s weekend came to an early end due to an engine failure.
“This is mine and Derek’s local track, so we’re kind of favored here,” Howard said. “We’re supposed to do good. Honestly, the two of us being the top two out of 60 cars here, that’s not half bad.”
The highest finishing invader was none other than Kennedale, TX’s Kyle Jones, who charged up from 13th to finish third and claim the Hard Charger Award. While Jones is widely known for his skills behind the wheel of a Midget, his run on Friday night proved he can be equally fast in a Sprint Car.
“All the guys were up [at the top of the track] while I was putting around the bottom and I was able to make room down there,” Jones said. “They were kind of crossing each other up, so I was able to get some good runs down on the bottom. I went up there a little bit but it’s pretty sketchy. Finishing behind some guys that run this place all the time is pretty cool.”
Matt Covington finished fourth to lead the National Tour regulars, while Landon Britt gave his hometown fans a reason to cheer by coming home fifth for his second top five in the last three races.
UP NEXT: The World Short Track Challenge wraps up with a 40-lap, $10,000-to-win event on Saturday night at Riverside International Speedway. Tickets will be available at the gate, but if you can’t make it to the track, catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
Feature: 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar[10]; 2. 47-Dale Howard[8]; 3. 6J-Kyle Jones[13]; 4. 95-Matt Covington[12]; 5. 10L-Landon Britt[5]; 6. 6-Cody Gardner[16]; 7. 5L-Anton Hernandez[1]; 8. 36-Jason Martin[3]; 9. 52-Blake Hahn[15]; 10. 40-Howard Moore[14]; 11. 23-Seth Bergman[11]; 12. 10-Terry Gray[20]; 13. 23L-Lance Moss[9]; 14. 84-Brandon Hanks[17]; 15. 21-Carson Short[19]; 16. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 17. 2C-Hank Davis[6]; 18. 3-Jordon Mallett[18]; 19. 901-Tucker Boulton[7]; 20. 37-Ayden Gatewood[4]
American Sprint Car Series | Spence Smithback | Photo: Emily Schwanke
