HAGEN WINS IN PERRIS

March 2nd, 2009 - Darren Hagen visited victory lane once again on Saturday night at Perris Auto Speedway, winning the USAC National Midget Car Series feature in the RFMS Racing midget, but he had to do it the hard way! He started the night off qualifying 3rd, but ran into some mechanical issues in his heat race and semi-feature. A power steering fitting broke in his heat race, resulting in a DNF, and a battery cable broke in the semi-feature. So, he had to take a provisional and start at the back of the field in 23rd position. When the green flag dropped, he went on a tear and worked his way through the field with precision, taking the lead on lap 29 and charged on to WIN the 30-lap feature! After the victory, he enthusiastically climbed the fence to give thanks to the cheering fans! The win moves Darren up to 2nd in USAC National Midget Car Points, only 8 points behind Kasey Kahne Racing driver Brad Sweet.

When it was time to start the sprint car feature, Darren was hopeful he would visit victory lane again, but a mechanical failure ended his chances to double up. A bolt on the steering arm broke and caused him to lose steering while going down the backstretch and ended his night early. He is currently tied with Jerry Coons Jr. for 8th in USAC National Sprint Car Points, but only 47 points behind current points leader Cole Whitt. Darren would like to thank Dustin Morgan for the opportunity to drive his sprint car on the west coast swing, and Gary Stanton for the help with the Mopar engine. Please stay tuned to www.darrenhagenracing.com for Darren's 2009 plans for the USAC National Sprint Car Series, as we'll post the latest information as it becomes available.

Frankly, I think the press release about the midget race is too modest. Darren's charge to the front was absolutely thrilling. It was already exciting by the time he got into the top ten, but the rest was just great. That wasn't exactly chopped liver he was blowing by. The announcer said he was running .3 to .4 seconds faster than the leader. If they have a DVD of this race, buy it.

Frank Daigh

Yeah, it may have been too modest. We just didn't want to go overboard in the release I will watch for a copy of the race, since I waited too long to try to log in to watch the video feed. Based on what I've heard from those who saw it, it sounded like one for the highlight reels

Unreal..... that is all I have to say!

As Jim and I stood atop a trailer in turns 2 & 3 with our hearts beating out of our chest, this was without a doubt the most exciting race we have watched in a while.
Darren made some awesome... yet,very clean slides and made them stick..

Congrats on job well done.... :checkered: