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Bagwell Bags The Prize During ISCARS Season Opener

Topics: Danny Bagwell

Bagwell Bags The Prize During ISCARS Season Opener

Timmy Hutson/ISCARS PR
May 3, 2010

Bagwell crosses the finish line in his new ISCARS DASH Touring Ford Focus. (Photo Dale Roberts)

HICKORY, NC - ISCARS Two-time Series’ Champion Danny Bagwell (Cordova, AL) collected the first race of the 2010 ISCARS DASH Touring, Sanctioned by the American Speed Association (ASA), Saturday night at Hickory Motor Speedway, making it back to back victory lane visits at “Americas Most Famous Short track.”

Although Bagwell is a familiar name and long time veteran in ISCARS DASH Touring, the challenges that he, his team, and the other teams faced throughout the day made for a very interesting event. During the off season, it was announced that the spoiler, which rode on the back of the cars, since their inception, would disappear, and be replaced with a new up to date, sports compact type wing prepared by FNO Racecars. Along with the wings, a new body was unveiled during at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show during the off season, which created buzz and excitement from the time that the haulers entered the facility earlier in the day.

“The overall feel of the car is a lot looser than the past, but with this being our first run with this new car we still have a lot of learning to do,” said Bagwell in victory lane. “I’m proud of our team, and they were determined to face our challenges head-on,” said Bagwell. During qualifying, Bagwell was everything but quick, as electrical issues left his Ford Focus two seconds off the pole speed set by Joey Jones. The top three qualifiers placed a time in the 16 second bracket around the .363 mile semi-banked oval.

Jones, finished the evening out in second, after giving Bagwell tough competition through out the 75 lap event. “I did my best to do everything that I knew how to stay close to Danny, but we had a successful day, a great night, and we will try it again at Dillon Motor Speedway,” Jones said with a smile.

One of the feel good stories of the day was ISCARS Rookie contender Todd Hawke. Wednesday afternoon, Hawke purchased the 2009 championship ISCARS DASH Touring car, to rekindle a hobby that he placed on the shelve ten years ago. Due to the rush of the car purchase, the #38 car entered the track on an open flat bed trailer, equipped with the spoiler. With representatives from FNO Racecars on hand, they were supportive enough to make an mad dash back to their Concord, NC shop, to deliver a wing for the St. Petersburg, VA driver. When qualifying concluded, the #8 earned the outside front row starting position.

“Oh man, that was the most fun that I have had! Considering this is my first time in a race car in ten years. When I hit the wall I thought ‘Oh no, here goes the night’ but I kept battling for those final laps, and here we are! I can’t wait to race this car again,” said Hawke, after scoring a third place finish.

Finishing out the top five were Eric Gerchak and Eddie Collins.

Other Notes:

2010 Car Owner Champion, Brad Queen was among the teams that entered with a new complete body package. He was on a rail running down the leaders when his clutch failed. “We really had something for Jones and Bagwell. I am real excited about how good our car was running. We’ll be ready for them at the next race,” said Queen.

The debut of the Robert Tighe Voodoo Ride Honda was impressive. History was made as the first Honda four cylinder fuel injected stock car qualified fourth and was running well when it was sidelined by a faulty fuel regulator. "I can tell you the car was on a rail and we were very excited about its performance," stated driver Robert Tighe III. "It's new. We know we are blazing a new trail and there will be some bugs to work out. But, I am stoked about this new package!"

Monday Morning Comments:

“I am excited about the new body and I really support the series. That’s why we hustled and worked long hours to get the new body on before the first race,” says Bagwell. Sure, it’s different. But it’ll put all of us back at the same place handling wise. We’ll all have to learn together and that is a real positive step for our series.”

The next event for the ISCARS DASH Touring, will be May 15, 2010 at Dillon Motor Speedway and ASA member track, located in Dillon, SC. Support divisions will include the USAC Ford Focus Midget Series, the East Coast Flat Heads and a couple of Dillon’s local divisions.

For more information on the ISCARS Touring visit the fastest site on the web at www.iscarsonline.com.

ISCARS DASH Touring is sanctioned by the American Speed Association . To learn more of the Daytona Beach, Florida-based Racing Speed Associates or the American Speed Association® including the ASA Member Track program, call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from racetracks and regional tours involved in the American Speed Association®, visit www.asaracing.com.

ASA™, ASA Racing™ and American Speed Association® are trademarks of Racing Speed Associates, LLC. Racing Speed Associates, LLC is not related to or affiliated with ASA Late Model Series, LLC