WINCHESTER, Ind.  — Darren Hagen remained perfect at Winchester Speedway this year, passing teammate Cole Whitt with a slide job on a restart and pulling away to win the 30-night Thursday Night Thunder feature at the half-mile asphalt oval.
“I had faith in it (the car) to stick on that slide job,” said Hagen, who has won both USAC National Sprint Car Series events at Winchester this season. “It was a little crazy, but my teammate gave me enough room.”
Hagen praised his teammate.
“He is a heck of a race-car driver,” said Hagen. “…I have learned stuff from him this year already and he has learned stuff from me. We drive a lot alike. We are on the gas. We try to get it done. It is a great opportunity to be his teammate.”
Hagen, who chased the USAC points championships the last couple of years, told his crew when the season began he wanted to only chase victories.
“If we win a championship, we win a championship,” said Hagen. “Right now, I just want to win races and have that feeling of winning more and more.”
Whatever the case, Hagen has Winchester Speedway figured out. Part of that help came from NASCAR driver Ryan Newman, himself a good racer on the high banks. When Hagen first moved to the Midwest, he sought Newman’s advice.
“He told me to drive it up the hill, turn it and drive it back down the hill,” said Hagen. “If you do that, you will be fine. If you don’t do that, you will be hanging on your whole life.”
Part of Hagen’s race strategy was to lay back and let others wear out their tires and equipment. When the race was halted for an accident and only nine laps remained, he decided it was time to make his move.
Whitt inherited the lead after USAC officials did not allow early leader Brian Gerster to restart following a red flag for an accident because he had oil leaking from his car’s rear end.
Whitt conceded he may have added a little to his tire-wear problem battling to pass Gerster, but noted also his car was loose throughout the race.
“I think that may have wore it out a little bit,” said Whitt. “But as soon as it started getting loose, it just started getting worse and worse each lap. We were happy to hang on for second. Anything we can do to bring the team home one-two.”
It was also the fourth-straight victory for the Kunz Motorsports team at Winchester.
The race was halted on the 22nd lap when Jacob Wilson and Tracy Hines got together on the frontstretch as they battled for fourth, causing Hines to flip his Tony Stewart Racing entry upside-down. He slid though the first turn with sparks flying and came to rest at the bottom of the track. The accident eliminated several cars, including Hines, Wilson, Damion Gardner, Dakoda Armstrong, Aaron Pierce and Brady Bacon.
Toby Alfrey won the 20-lap KOIL Thunder Roadster feature.
The summary:
Qualifications: 1. Chris Windom, Kunz 67x, 14.233; 2. Tracy Hines, Stewart 21, 14.257; 3. Brad Sweet, Kahne 9, 14.291; 4. Darren Hagen, Kunz 67, 14.313; 5. Cole Whitt, Kunz 67k, 14.354; 6. Brian Gerster, Davis/Gerster 27, 14.472; 7. Jerry Coons, Jr., Dynamics 69, 14.495; 8. Brady Bacon, Kahne 99, 14.522; 9. Dakoda Armstrong, C & A 7a, 14.559; 10. Jacob Wilson, Wilson 07, 14.575; 11. Dave Darland, Pace 44, 14.604; 12. Levi Jones, Stewart 20, 14.656; 13. Jesse Hockett, VKCC 75, 14.665; 14. Chad Boat, Boat 30, 14.680; 15. Bobby Santos III, Santos 98s, 14.840; 16. Brian Tyler, Ram 50m, 14.879; 17. Aaron Pierce, Pierce 26, 14.884; 18. Eric Gordon, Bowman 51, 14.895; 19. Mike Murgoitio, Murgoitio 80, 14.904; 20. Damion Gardner, Leffler 71, 14.951; 21. Shane Cottle, Contos 4, 15.029; 22. Rex Norris III, Norris 63, 15.863.
First Heat (10 laps): Coons, Windom, Wilson, Murgoitio, Hagen, Tyler, Hockett, Norris.
Second Heat (10 laps): Darland, Pierce, Boat, Whitt, Bacon, Hines, Gardner.
Third Heat (10 laps): Gerster, Jones, Santos, Cottle, Sweet, Armstrong, Gordon.
Feature (30 laps): Hagen, Whitt, Coons, Darland, Jones, Gordon, Sweet, Murgoitio, Santos, Cottle, Windom, Hockett, Gerster, Hines, Wilson, Bacon, Armstrong, Pierce, Gardner, Norris, Boat, Tyler.