Late model driver Christian Hanger hung it out on the edge and put on a fireworks show on the Friday before the Fourth of July. His strategy rewarded him with a fourth-place finish. It occurred during the DIRTcar Summer Nationals stop at Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky. (For more on the track, read “Paducah International Raceway to Roar Back to Life”.)
“The sparks were flying from my spoiler rubbing the concrete wall,” Hanger, of Winchester, Tennessee, said. “I was resting on the wall, using it to carry me around the track.”
Earlier in the feature, Hanger used the bottom to get around.
“I was circling pretty good early on,” said Hanger. “I think I was in sixth when another driver up top showed me his car’s nose. When a caution came out, I decided to move around. I didn’t know what beating the fence down would be like, but I found it was pretty good.”
Indeed, the wall helped launch him toward the front.
“Once I got up against the wall, I ran it harder and harder every lap,” Hanger said. “The wall kept my car straight. I was running wide-open, and I began passing cars. It played out in my favor.”
Prior to jumping into the super late models two years ago, Hanger raced 604 crate late models for four years. He has championships in the latter class at pair of Tennessee ovals — Duck River Raceway Park in Wheel and the now-defunct Winchester Speedway.
Christian Hanger opened this season with two super late model wins — the Ice Bowl at the Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Alabama, and Winterfest at Duck River Raceway Park.
Hanger plans to return to the DIRTcar Summer Nationals circuit on Thursday, July 7, when he tackles Macon Speedway in Illinois. He’ll follow that series through the weekend.
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
