Sam at Devil's Bowl Speedway (Serena Dalhamer Photo)
(Bill W) March 22, 2016 – After injuries limited his 2015 season, Sam Hafertepe Jr. finished the year strong. With the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series slate officially kicking off last weekend in his home state of Texas, the Sunnyvale native was more than ready to get going. The Keith Dobbs owned #15H was fast all weekend, with the capper being a third place run at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite on Saturday.
Things started on Thursday at Heart O’ Texas Speedway. Sam would start outside row one for his heat. “They changed the start line on us,” he says. “It’s more towards the exit of turn four, almost until we’re on the straightaway. The starts are really weird right now, but luckily we got the jump on the start. That’s really important at Waco. We were able to do that and win the heat race.”
The draw would see him start eighth in the feature. “We were quick,” says Sam. “We got to third there pretty early. We diced our way through some guys. We were running a solid third. Johnny (Herrera) pretty much had the field covered. We were able to track down second (Parker Price-Miller), but he and a lapped car got together unfortunately.”
Sam would sustain damage as well. “Whatever fell off their car knocked our left front wheel off,” he says. “We had to go to the work area and get that fixed. We got another wheel put on, but we could only get two studs tight. Over a period of a few laps, that wheel came off and ended our night. It was one of those deals where we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing you can do about it.”
Friday night was a wash at Devil’s Bowl, turning that event into a one-night show on Saturday. “We drew 71, which is the worst pill you can draw,” says Sam. “Knowing how Devil’s Bowl can get in the heat…it’s so locked down and hard to pass. We were able to get a really good start to be honest. We had some really good cars in front of us. To get to sixth was good enough to put us in the invert for the Qualifier.”
The new heat/qualifier system put Sam on the pole for his Qualifier, and he made the most of it. “It’s a good deal if you make the invert, but if we had passed one less car in the heat, we would have been stuck in the back of the Qualifier,” he admits. “That would have been tough. We were lucky enough to start up front, and the car was really good. We made some changes after the heat, and it was a bit of testing for the feature. The car was handling like it needed to, and we used that knowledge for the feature.”
Lining up outside row four for the main event, Sam began his surge forward right away. “The outside line was the place to be on the starts,” he says. “The top became pretty dominant. The bottom line was worn out. We jumped right up to fifth on the start. The outside row went well, and it was tough for those cars to get off the bottom. I thought when the green fell, we had a car capable of winning the race.”
Things went well while the race went green, but cautions slowed progress. “We were running well, and then there were several cautions,” says Sam. “We had some (tire) bleeders sticking on us pretty badly. On the restarts, we got really tight. We really got to where we couldn’t maneuver like we wanted. We were still able to pass some guys, but when it came to getting to Wayne (Johnson) and Seth (Bergman), we were just too tight.”
He would checker third. “If you told me before we started that we’d draw the worst pill in the pot at Devil’s Bowl and still run third…I’d take that all day every day,” says Sam. “But we’ve made a lot of laps there, and it kind of paid off last weekend. It’s like a home track to me.”
The series has two more Texas dates this weekend. On Friday, the Cotton Bowl Speedway in Paige plays host, before the group moves to Bronco Raceway Park near Cleveland on Saturday. “I’ve never been to Bronco,” says Sam. “It’s definitely going to be a surprise for me, but I think we’ll adapt pretty well. I’m sure we’ll do o.k. We’ve been to Cotton Bowl a couple of times, and we’ve learned a lot. Our 360 car is really operating well. We have a lot of confidence going in this weekend.”
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Sam would like to thank Highway 79 Collision Center, the Sparks Family, Kiebler & Sons Lawn and Landscaping, Keizer Aluminum Wheels and Champion Oil.
Photo: Sam races at Devil’s Bowl (Serena Dalhamer Photo)
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