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Hafertepe Hoping To Change Luck This Weekend

Daryl Turford

Sunnyvale, Texas-It was another weekend of frustration for the Plumbfast Racing Team as they were only able to run 1 of 2 scheduled races (I-55 rained out) and came away from the weekend with a wrecked race car.

The Fusion Energy Boost 15H rolled off the trailer fast at Paducah International Raceway as Sam was 10^th fastest in the 36 car field with a lap of 13.693 in warm ups. The Sunnyvale, TX shoe was able to pick up almost half a second in qualifying and came away with a lap of 13.287 which was 7^th fastest overall.

The team went to work and looked to build on their momentum from time trials in the heat as Sam lined up on the inside of row 2. Unfortunately for Sam any shot he had for making the Dash went out the window when he dropped back to 5^th on the 2^nd lap of the race. Hafertepe then found himself in big trouble as Tom Dickerman took the final transfer spot halfway through. Sam was still running 6^th as the white flag flew but as he and Dickerman entered turns 3 and 4 Sam dug down deep and was able to blast around the topside of the speedway and steal the final transfer spot.

"The car was just really, really loose in the heat", explained Sam. "It was really hard to be consistent and the other guy was staying really consistent on the bottom and not making mistakes. Finally on the last lap I was able to get it together, rip around the top and get him".

Unfortunately Sam's time trial effort just missed giving him a spot in the Dash but it was enough to give him an 11^th place starting spot in the feature. As the green flag dropped Sam found himself falling backwards through the field. On lap 19 disaster struck as Daron Clayton and Paul McMahan got together in from of Sam. Hafertepe had nowhere to go and slammed into the accident ending Sam's night.

"Once again the car just wasn't any good in the feature", said the 3^rd year Outlaw. "I let my guys do what they wanted in terms of a setup and it just didn't really suit my driving style and as a result we struggled. To make matters worse I really got into those guys hard when we wrecked. It was one of the hardest hits I've ever taken and even now a week later my neck still hurts a bit. Fortunately we only tore up some wings and knocked the injection off because it could have been a lot worse".

The Plumbfast Racing Team is as heading into this weekend's action at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, AR and Tri-State Speedway in Haubstadt, IN with guns blazing.

"We've used the time off between races to get a lot more organized", said Sam. "In my 3 years on the Outlaw tour this is probably the most organized and ready my team has ever been. Despite our struggles Chris and Kory are giving me 100% every day and at some point all of this hard work has to turn our luck around".

One of Sam's strongest runs of last year took place at Tri-State as he managed to finish 6^th in the feature event. During Sam's rookie season he was on track for a top 5 run at Riverside when he was taken out by a spinning car. Sam and the Plumbfast Racing Team currently sit 15^th in the World of Outlaws points standings and are looking to use their past success at those venues to vault them further up.

FUSION ENERGY BOOST FAST FACT-Many sprint car fans know about Sam Hafertepe Jr the sprint car racer but not many realize that Sam has also begun to race modifieds in his home state of Texas. In addition to Lone Star Speedway, a modified was also purchased during the off season and when weekends have allowed the Sunnyvale racer has been wheeling the big cars around local tracks. Despite the drastic difference between a sprint car and a modified Sam has been able to find considerable success and in just a short amount of time has been able to put himself in victory lane. Hafertepe was able to capture the preliminary feature for the All State Modified Championships at Devil's Bowl Speedway. As a result of winning Sam found himself on the pole for the finale and dominated, leading every lap on his way to the win by over a straightaway.

"The two cars are very different and require very different driving styles", explained Sam. "There were a lot of rumblings around here about how I wouldn't have enough finesse in these cars to be fast so it was nice to get those wins and silence the critics. I think people really underestimate how much finesse required to drive a winged sprint car around a race track, especially when they go slick and maybe now I've been able to open some eyes".

Support the people who support Sam: Fusion Energy Boost, G-H Plumbing and Smiley's Race Products

Easy guy to talk to. Last year prior to Mandan,ND WoO race, we stopped at his transporter, he was staying at Fairfield Inn in Bismarck(across river from Mandan). Crew had just walked out of Red Lobster next door and they talked to us for 10 minutes, think they would have answered questions for much longer, but we left, didn't want to pester them too much.

Adding $6 trillion of debt in his 1st term and now if 
elected again he wouldn't have to worry about an 
electorate in 2016 so the sky is the limit.And his EPA 
would continue to put the screws to oil drilling and 
mining for coal.Can you say bankruptcy.

i really hope he gets some good luck on his side soon. the guy has had some horrible luck so far.