Sam Hafertepe Jr. put yet another exclamation point on what has been the best season of his career by qualifying for his second career Knoxville Nationals and earning a 14th place finish this past weekend at Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa. Hafertepe did not shy away from performing on the biggest stage in sprint car racing as he turned in a dazzling charge Wednesday night to finish 6th before starting 11th in the Saturday finale.
A weak draw threatened to set Hafertepe and The Plumbfast Racing Team back on Wednesday night. Sam was one of the last cars to qualify in a session that saw the track drastically slowing. Despite the odds stacked against him Hafertepe gutted it out and laid down the 7th fastest lap of the night.
“It was really hard to keep the car on the bottom in the turns,” explained Sam. “I actually missed the exit on both ends on my first lap but fortunately I was able to put it all together on the second lap or we would have been in big trouble.”
An 8 car invert greeted the Sunnyvale, Texas native in his heat race and as a result Sam would grid 7th in the most intense and important heat race of the season. Tyler Walker jumped the berm in turns 1 and 2 on the start and as a result Sam’s bottom line became clogged up and Sam exited turn 2 in 8th. Hafertepe would pass Wade Nygaard and set his sights on Shane Stewart. Hafertepe worked his way past Stewart with 2 laps remaining only to have Stewart return the favor and slide Sam back on the final lap as Sam finished a disappointing 7th and would have to qualify for the A Main out of the B Main.
The Lone Star Speedway Maxim-Fisher #15h started 2nd in the B Main but Sam soon slipped to 3rd behind Fred Rahmer and Tim Shaffer. Hafertepe was running comfortably in 3rd when he decided to change his line. Sam began running the top 2 cars down and impressively drove past Shaffer and then Rahmer for the lead before checking out and scoring a decisive win.
Sam lined up for his preliminary night A Main in the 21st position and used the bottom on the opening lap to vault into the 15thposition. Hafertepe then hit the cushion and began charging through the field. Sam quickly entered the top 10 and with just 2 laps remaining found himself on the rear bumper of Steve Kinser when the yellow flag flew.
“I was pretty sure we were faster than Steve and probably Shane,” said Sam. “I’d actually outrun Shane all feature long but I got hung up on a restart earlier and he made a nice pass to get by me but I really felt if I made a good restart we could run at least 4th.”
Unfortunately for Sam things didn’t go quite as he planned.
“We got a great restart and I had a fantastic run off turn 2,” recalled Sam. “I was pretty sure I could slide my way to 4th and then the motor stuttered. We were starting to run out of fuel.”
Hafertepe brought the fuel starved motor home 6th and was able to score the 11th highest point total of the week to earn a spot in his second career Knoxville Nationals A Main event.
“This means a lot to my team and I,” said Sam. “We’ve been waiting for this race all year and preparing for it so to know that after a disastrous year like last year that we can bounce back and put it in the show solidly says a lot about us.”
Following an opening lap flip by Austin McCarl Sam was able to get a great start to the 50 lap A Main as he drove by both Danny Heskin and Fred Rahmer on the opening lap.
“We were really good during the early laps,” explained Sam. “I was able to pass a few cars and run a few more down and then we started to get tighter and tighter. I was able to maintain my spot on long green flag runs but on restarts it was really hard to get going and set sail and as a result I lost a few more positions.”
The previously planned fuel stop allowed teams five minutes to make whatever changes to the car teams wanted. Sam opted to go with none.
“I felt like the car was just starting to come in and that we would be fairly strong over the second half of the race.” He explained.
The restart was once again unkind but Sam soon settled into a nice pace and began to track down some of the cars that had passed him. The late stages of the race saw Sam overtake local hero Terry McCarl before Sam started stalking “The King of The Outlaws” Steve Kinser.
Sam worked high and low and with 2 laps remaining he was able to make the pass on Steve on the low side in turns 3 and 4 for 13th. Hafertepe dove low on the final corner to block a possible slide job from Kinser only to have Stevie Smith blast past him on the final corner as Sam crossed the line in 14th.
“I wouldn’t say I’m pleased with how we ran in the feature but I’m certainly satisfied,” said Sam following the race. “We had the car good but not great and in a race like this with the best drivers bringing their best stuff you really need to be spot on if you want to run up front. I feel like if we gain a little more experience we’re going to get a lot better in this race and I have no doubt that one day if we keep doing what we’re doing we’re going to run up front in this race.”
Sam and The Plumbfast Racing Team have now towed to Keizer Aluminum Wheels where they will prepare for an upcoming 3 race week at Fargo, Grand Forks and Husets as well as the 3rd Annual Keizer Wheels Golf Tournament.
“We’re just going to relax here with Wade Huisman (Owner of Keizer Aluminum Wheels) and get ready for Fargo,” said Sam. “We’re going to go there on kill and hopefully we’ll grab a trophy or two while we’re out there.”
Sam would like to thank the following supporters: Plumbfast Mechanical, Lone Star Speedway, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Pancho's Racing Products, Kear's Speed Shop, PPM Titanium Products, GPC Race Products, Butlerbuilt, Infinity Shocks, DMI, Finish Line Machining, Torco Racing Oils, Smiley's Racing Products, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Vortex Wings, AFCO Racing Shocks, Simpson Racing Products, Quick Sand Express Inc.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO SAM'S PRESS RELEASE LIST PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE TO: [email protected]
