MARION, Ark. – Derek Hagar continues to build his confidence each time he enters the River Spirit Expo Center, which hosts the 34th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals Presented by General Tire next week.

This year he will have teammates as Hagar-Proctor Racing is taking a three-car team to the spectacle. Cody Hays races on Monday, Hagar on Tuesday and Timmy Thrash on Friday prior to the event concluding next Saturday.

“I think it’s going to bring some excitement,” Hagar said. “We’ll be busy with three cars. This is Cody’s first time in a midget and Timmy has raced the Chili Bowl in the past. We know what we did last year that worked and we’re going in the right direction. I think it will help all of us to have three cars racing.”

Hagar has posted his career-best performance during the marquee midget event each of the last two years and he heads into this year’s spectacle looking to continue that trend.

“I feel very confident,” he said. “We have good notes from last year. If we didn’t get lapped early in the prelim night I think we would have had a better result going into Saturday.”

After making it to the C-Main on championship night last year, Hagar’s goal this year is to make it all the way to the Saturday night A-Main.

“That’s the key this year; go out and make the show,” he said. “If we can’t lock ourselves into the A Main for Saturday we want to at least get ourselves closer to the front. I don’t think we’re very far off. I’ve been playing with some shocks. I think we have a good baseline and something to work off.”

SPEED SPORT’s Chili Bowl coverage is presented by MyRacePass, the official timing and scoring app of the 2020 Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. Fans can download the MyRacePass app on their phones to follow all the action during the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals. For more information on MyRacePass, visit www.myracepass.com and use the hashtag #GetTheApp on Twitter!