Toledo Speedway

White Lake, Michigan - July 21st, 2009 - Andrew Hagen has made quite a name for himself within the racing community with an impressive start to his oval racing career driving for Brad Keselowski Racing's Super Late Model team. With only four races under his belt, he has managed to consistently improve and has led for a total of 106 laps, which amounts to 28% of all laps he has raced this season.

In his first appearance at Auto City Speedway in May the Australian finished sixth, showing he was a true top ten competitor straight away. He backed this up by leading 42 laps and finally finishing fourth at Auto City Speedway on July 3^rd, in his first ever 150-lap event.

On July 17^th Hagen returned to the high speed 1/2mile Toledo Speedway in Ohio, for Round 3 of the Allegiant Air/Late Model Gold Cup. Armed with more experience and more confidence in himself and the car Hagen finished second and lead the most laps in what has been his best showing to date. The podium finish did not come easy however as his run was plagued with a variety of setbacks including punctured tires, radio problems and slow lapped traffic. 

The day started out with a punctured tire which forced the rookie driver to qualify with only three new tires and one used.  Despite the loss of grip Hagen still managed to qualify the #00 Brad Keselowski Racing Super Late Model on the ninth position with a lap of 15.418s.  Due to the inversion system used in the Late Model Category, the top nine qualifying order was reversed, putting the 23 year old on the pole for the race. Hagen held the lead at the green flag and in a dominant performance pulled out a large gap to the field before a caution on lap 22. At the restart he once again drove away from the field negotiating lapped traffic as a seasoned veteran.  After the lap 29 caution the #00 BKR car began experiencing radio issues, leaving Hagen without a spotter or communication for the remainder of the race.  He maintained his focus and the lead of the race holding off the hard charging and highly experienced driver of the #72 Late Model who spent most of the race on Hagen's rear bumper but could not find his way around the young Australian. After leading 64 of the 75 scheduled laps Hagen was held up by lapped traffic causing him to lose the lead and leaving him within only a few laps of capturing his first victory.  The second place result is his best after only four starts.

Andrew Hagen on his second place finish:

"It feels incredible to have posted such good results this early in the season. We knew coming into this category that it would be difficult and a long road to success, but with the knowledge and guidance of Brad Keselowski and my crew chief Ron Keselowski it has made the transition much easier for me. All of our results have been earned; we have overcome problems in qualifying and in all of our races to post those finishing positions. As I continue to improve and gain more seat time, I know that first win is just around the corner."

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