HAGEN WINS LAST LAP THRILLER, ANDERSON HIGHEST AMONG STARS DRIVERS AT GRUNDY

Morris, IL--- Riverside, CA native Darren Hagen made what fans called “The greatest move Grundy has seen in years”, with his last lap pass on the outside of turn 2 beating Tracy Hines to take the Inaugural “Freedom 50” USAC/STARS feature at Grundy County Speedway. Hagan started 3rd on the night and after an early restart accidentally hit the kill switch on his RFMS Liberty Village/Beast/Esslinger powered midget. That brought out another caution which sent him to the tail of the field. Hagen eagerly and quickly worked his way back up to the front where he made a gutsy move on the high side. For those that do not know, Grundy County has been known to not be so kind to drivers that try and take the high line in the corners but Hagen made it stick. Hagen went on to say “It was either third or first. I told myself that if I go outside and it works, I win. If not, then it’s third place.”

Many of the drivers from the D’Arcy GMC STARS series competed in the 50 lap event as well. STARS points leader Jimmy Anderson finished highest among all STARS drivers with his 7th place finish in his Packard Transport/Beast/Mopar. Anderson qualified the night in 12th position and had a battery failure in the heat race that forced him to run the semi. He went on to take the semi victory and started from the 11th spot in the main event. Darren Hagen wasn’t the only one to make an exciting move in the race, Anderson made a three-wide pass coming out of turn 4 to take sixth spot right around the half way point. 2009 track champion, Aaron Andruskevitch, racing out of the Domark stable, was the highest qualifier for the STARS regulars with a 14.476 second lap that put him sixth. A mechanical failure in the semi ended his night. Patrick Wilda Jr., Rich Corson and Billy Hulbert finished a respective 11, 12 and 13. Corson finished second in his heat race, leading all but the final lap, missing the victory by a half a car length. Terry Ahern went on to finish in the 17th position. Week 2 winner, Brad Greenup ran into some bad luck in the feature that ended his night early. He was involved in a restart incident that took himself and Travis Young out of competition. Mike Wallace also competed Saturday but met with the turn 4 wall in the heat race after collecting moisture on his tire.

STARS will have a week off this week, July 9th, and will be back in action on July 16th. The race has been titled “Christmas in July” and will feature the Make Your Mark Foundation, benefitting the Mark Stahley Toy Drive. As always, gates open at 5 p.m. with the first race beginning at 6:30