(Danny Howk Photo)
(Bill W) October 23, 2017 – Sam Hafertepe Jr. picked up second and third place finishes in a strong showing at last weekend’s Devil’s Bowl Speedway Winternationals near Mesquite, Texas. The Lucas Oil ASCS National Series point leader and defending champion heads to a track he has not fared as well at, Creek County Speedway near Sapulpa, Oklahoma.
In Friday’s prelim, a run from fifth to third in the heat put Sam in the redraw. “It was really heavy the first night,” he says. “It was difficult to pass. I felt that we made the most out of the hand that we were dealt. The balance of our car was a lot better that first night than it was Saturday.”
He would drive from fifth to second in the feature, locking him into Saturday’s finale. “They got the track hard and it dried out right away Saturday,” says Sam. “They brought out the mist truck a few times and kept misting the track. I think they may have misted it a little too much. But saving the track rather than having it rubber up was a good alternative.”
Sam would finish where he started on Saturday, third. “I didn’t feel like we were bad,” he says. “I just felt we were in the wrong spot at the wrong time and didn’t get the job done. We did something in the feature that we normally don’t do. I thought it would get slicker than it did. We just didn’t catch traffic right and we didn’t make the decisions we needed to win.”
The team won at Creek County in 2016, but struggled earlier this year. “We’d like to try and think we’re getting better there,” says Sam. “We’ll try one more time to get better there. We hope we can gain a little on what we’ve had there in the past.”
Sam Online
Website: www.Sam15.com
Twitter: @SamHafertepeJr
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Sam-Hafertepe-Jr-and-The-Plumbfast-Racing-Team/116304711773031?ref=br_tf
Sam’s Weekly Releases
If you’d like to be added to Sam’s e-mail list for weekly releases, e-mail sprntcar@hotmail.com with “Sam” in the Subject Line.
Sam would like to thank Highway 79 Collision Center, the Sparks Family, Kiebler & Sons Lawn and Landscaping, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Champion Oil, NAPA Auto Parts of Franklin and Sherwin Williams, FK Rod Ends, 21R Youth Racing League, Huggins Cams, CP Carrillo, Callie’s, Vortex Wings, Simpson Racing Products, Kinsler Injection, Barnes Oil Systems, DMI, Fisher Racing Engines, Moose Blocks, J&J Auto Racing, KSE, Smiley’s Racing Products, Hoosier Tire, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions.
Photo: (Danny Howk Photo)
Bill W Media
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
Website: www.OpenWheel101.com
Monroe, IA USA