Hafertepe Takes First Lucas Oil ASCS Win in STN
Opener!
by: Lonnie Wheatley
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 28, 2010) – Sam Hafertepe, Jr.,
picked an opportune time to capture his first career Lucas Oil ASCS
presented by K&N Filters National win by topping the opening night of I-30
Speedway's 23rd Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented
by Hoosier Tires.
Less than two weeks
shy of his 25th birthday, the Sunnyvale, TX, shoe outlasted a
late bid from past Short Track Nationals champion Sammy Swindell to win
Thursday night’s 25-lap preliminary feature atop the high-banked, ¼-mile
clay oval.
And the victory
came at an event that the younger Hafertepe wasn’t sure that he’d be able to
compete in just a few short days ago.
“I’ve gotta thank
my dad for getting us here tonight, we didn’t really have a motor and at the
last minute he kinda surprised me and one showed up at the door,” Hafertepe
explained. “It means a lot to come out and win this race.”
Hafertepe and
Swindell both locked into Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win, $2,300-to-start
STN finale along with Ohio’s Greg Wilson, who took third away from pole
starter Brady Bacon on a lap eleven restart and held the position to the
end.
After taking the
lead away from Bacon on the second round, fourth-starter Hafertepe had the
race well in hand until traffic became a factor in the final half-dozen
circuits.
But, after
Hafertepe biked the Plumb Fast Racing / Lone Star Speedway No. 15 through
the turn one cushion on the 21st circuit, Swindell closed the gap
in short order and moved in for the kill. Swindell slid into the lead in
turns one and two on the 23rd lap, only to have Hafertepe dive
back to the low side and beat Swindell to turn three.
“I left the door
open a little bit for him to come back and he was really trying hard, it
wasn’t worth not finishing,” Swindell explained of the late exchange. “He (Hafertepe)
did a good job, he didn’t lose his cool and he ran some good laps.”
After trading the
point on the 23rd lap, Hafertepe held steady out front over the
final two circuits to secure the win and locked into his third career STN
finale and first since 2007.
“To win races of
this magnitude you’ve gotta put it all out there, if you don’t then you’re
gonna run third,” Hafertepe explained.
While Hafertepe
beat Swindell’s Big Game Tree Stands No. 1 entry to the stripe by a pair of
car-lengths, Wilson brought the No. w20 machine across the stripe in the
show position.
“A lot of fans and
stuff around home are doubting my abilities right now, so it’s neat to come
to a big race like this and run good,” Wilson explained after locking into
his second career STN championship finale. “I can’t say enough about my car
owner Verl Warnimont for standing behind me and we’re building for next year
right now.”
After accumulating
the most passing points through heat race and qualifying race action, Bacon
crossed the stripe fourth in the Tel-Star Communications No. 99 Triple-X,
with Darren Stewart climbing a handful of positions in the Sparks
Construction No. 91 to round out the top five.
Wayne Johnson, who
started to Bacon’s outside on the front row, was sixth in front of Jonathan
Cornell and 14th-starter Tim Shaffer. Two-time and defending STN
champion Tony Bruce, Jr., ran sixth in the early going before settling for
ninth at the stripe.
Brodix Rookie of
the Year contender Channin Tankersley completed the top ten while four-time
STN winner Gary Wright’s 400th career Lucas Oil ASCS National
feature start netted a finish of eleventh after starting 13th.
Current Lucas Oil
ASCS National points leader Jason Johnson averted near disaster in a
qualifying race mishap and then advanced from 17th to 12th
in the main event.
The feature was
interrupted by just a pair of cautions, the first occurring after five laps
when Kyle Hirst got crossed up exiting turn four and collected Eric
Baldaccini and Brian McClelland. McClelland continued while Hirst and
Baldaccini were forced pitside. The second and final caution appeared five
laps later when David Gravel slipped off the track in turn two. Gravel
rejoined the chase.
Jonathan Beason,
Swindell, Mike Hess, Stewart, Bacon, Hirst and Hafertepe topped heat race
action for Thursday night’s 55-car field, with Bacon, W. Johnson, Cornell,
Bruce, Jr., and Jerrod Hull winning the 12-lap qualifying races.
One race shy of a
second ASCS Sooner title, Sean McClelland’s Short Track Nationals came to a
quick halt when the field stacked up at the start of the second heat race
and he was launched into the frontstretch wall. While the car suffered
severe damage, McClelland was uninjured.
The second half of
the 23rd Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by
Hoosier Tires field will take to the track on Friday night, with racing
action set to go green at 7:30 p.m.
23rd
Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Thursday
Night Results:
Heat Races:
First Heat (10
Laps): 1. 36-Jonathan Beason, 2. 4b-Eric Baldaccini, 3. 7h-Lewis Jenkins,
Jr., 4. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 5. 7y-Don Young, 6. 12T-Joe Young, 7. 31-Brandon
Berryman, 8. 69-Larry Howery.
Second Heat (10
Laps): 1. 1s-Sammy Swindell, 2. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 3. 5L-Eric Lutz, 4.
72-Sherman Davis, 5. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 6. W20-Greg Wilson, 7.
14m-Jordon Mallett, 8. 1m-Sean McClelland.
Third Heat (10
Laps): 1. 18h-Mike Hess, 2. 89g-David Gravel, 3. 1p-Curtis Evans, 4.
71-Channin Tankersley, 5. 8x-Chris Williams, 6. 165-Haley Arnold, 7.
8tw-Kent Lewis, Jr., 8. 1b-Tim Law.
Fourth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 91-Darren Stewart, 2. 46-Jan Howard, 3. 41-Jason Johnson, 4.
18b-Tony Bruce, Jr., 5. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 6. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 7.
11m-Justin Melton, 8. 11c-Dakota Carroll.
Fifth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 3. 74e-Claud Estes, 4.
3s-John Carney II, 5. 5r-Jerod Roller, 6. 1x-Gary Taylor, 7. 22y-Dennis
Yoakam, 8. 8h-Joey Moughan.
Sixth Heat (10
Laps): 1. 6h-Kyle Hirst, 2. 16a-Koty Adams, 3. 27-Andy Shouse, 4. 87m-Brian
McClelland, 5. 16n-Anthony Nicholson, 6. 4s-Tommy Snellgrove, 7. 9g-Jared
Georges, 8. 76-John Ricketts.
Seventh Heat (10
Laps): 1. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 3. 9x-Gary Wright,
4. 83-Tim Shaffer, 5. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 6. 0-Jason Martin, 7. 9h-Derek
Hagar.
Qualifying Races – Winner from Each Qualifier Locked into "A"
Main; Balance of 20-car Feature Field comprised of Top 15 Overall Points
Accumulated Through Heats & Qualifiers (Feature Lined up according to total
points)
First Qualifier (12
Laps): 1. 99-Brady Bacon, 2. W20-Greg Wilson, 3. 83-Tim Shaffer, 4. 4b-Eric
Baldaccini, 5. 7h-Lewis Jenkins, Jr., 6. 1p-Curtis Evans, 7. 14m-Jordon
Mallett, 8. 69-Larry Howery, 9. 36-Jonathan Beason, 10. 18h-Mike Hess, 11.
31-Brandon Berryman.
Second Qualifier
(12 Laps): 1. 77x-Wayne Johnson, 2. 03-Joe Wood, Jr., 3. 6h-Kyle Hirst, 4.
91-Darren Stewart, 5. 0-Jason Martin, 6. 11m-Justin Melton, 7. 16a-Koty
Adams, 8. 9g-Jared Georges, 9. 5L-Eric Lutz, 10. 1b-Tim Law, 11. 7y-Don
Young.
Third Qualifier (12
Laps): 1. 28-Jonathan Cornell, 2. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3. 89g-David
Gravel, 4. 21T-Ray Allen Kulhanek, 5. 16n-Anthony Nicholson, 6. 41-Jason
Johnson, 7. 0c-Preston Peebles II, 8. 5r-Jerod Roller, 9. 72-Sherman Davis,
10. 11c-Dakota Carroll, 11. 9h-Derek Hagar.
Fourth Qualifier
(12 Laps): 1. 18b-Tony Bruce, Jr., 2. 87m-Brian McClelland, 3. 71-Channin
Tankersley, 4. 74e-Claud Estes, 5. 46-Jan Howard, 6. 1x-Gary Taylor, 7.
27-Andy Shouse, 8. 26m-Marshall Skinner, 9. 165-Haley Arnold, 10. 22y-Dennis
Yoakam, 11. 76-John Ricketts.
Fifth Qualifier (12
Laps): 1. 12h-Jerrod Hull, 2. 1s-Sammy Swindell, 3. 87r-Aaron Reutzel, 4.
9x-Gary Wright, 5. 3s-John Carney II, 6. 12T-Joe Young, 7. 8x-Chris
Williams, 8. 8tw-Kent Lewis, Jr., 9. 8h-Joey Moughan, 10. 4s-Tommy
Snellgrove. DNS: 1m-Sean McClelland.
“A” Feature – Top 3
Finishers Locked into Saturday night’s $15,000 to win STN Finale.
A Feature (25 Laps
– Starting position in parentheses): 1. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (4), 2.
1s-Sammy Swindell (3), 3. W20-Greg Wilson (8), 4. 99-Brady Bacon (1), 5.
91-Darren Stewart (10), 6. 77x-Wayne Johnson (2), 7. 28-Jonathan Cornell
(5), 8. 83-Tim Shaffer (14), 9. 18b-Tony Bruce, Jr. (7), 10. 71-Channin
Tankersley (12), 11. 9x-Gary Wright (13), 12. 41-Jason Johnson (17), 13.
87r-Aaron Reutzel (16), 14. 12h-Jerrod Hull (15), 15. 03-Joe Wood, Jr. (18),
16. 74e-Claud Estes (6), 17. 87m-Brian McClelland (20), 18. 89g-David Gravel
(11), 19. 6h-Kyle Hirst (9), 20. 4b-Eric Baldaccini (19).
Lap Leaders: Brady
Bacon 1, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 2-25.
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