(Portsmouth,
NH - April 18, 2004) -- Katie Hagar of Nobleboro, ME won the season opening race for the
New England Allison Legacy Series at White Mountain Motorsports Park in N. Woodstock, NH
Saturday afternoon April 17th.
A high school senior At Lincoln Academy, Katie finished third in the 2003 NEALS points
race, and she was looking to get off to a good start for 2004. However, the car was very
tight during practice and didn't improve in the heat race. The team made some adjustments,
but they didn't want to go to far and loosen it up too much and make the car worse.
Starting eighth in the 35-lap feature, Katie moved quickly into the top four. But she had
to pit after she was hit from behind when the field checked because of a false start. The
car was OK, and she returned to the back of pack without losing a lap.
The car was still tight and didn't want to stay on the bottom of the track. Katie tried
different lines and found that the car liked the outside. She moved to the high line and
by lap 25 had worked her way to the leaders while avoiding a rash of yellows for spins. On
lap 29 she took the lead with a move around the outside between turns one and two. But
another yellow on lap 32 brought the field back together. On the restart, they were
bunched together and went three wide into turn three with Katie in the middle, but she
kept her foot in the gas and didn't back down. She pulled away over the last two laps to
take the first race of the season and the point's lead.
Katie and the NEALS cars will be at Speedway 95 outside Bangor in Hermon, ME next Sunday
afternoon April 25th, as part of the big Pro All Stars Series 150 lap Super Late Model -
Pro Stock race. |
