8/14/2019
Sam Hafertepe Jr
Podium Finish Shines A Highlight For Hafertepe During Tough Southern Iowa Sprint Week
Bryan Hulbert – KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 14, 2019) The 2019 Southern Iowa Sprint Week was a roller coaster ride for Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Taking in events at Knoxville Raceway and Southern Iowa Speedway, the team struggled to find consistent speed but was still able to mount a crowd-pleasing performance in the Sage Fruit Ultimate Challenge with a second-place finish.
“We didn’t really feel that good in the 360 Nationals. We actually felt like we found something, but we just never were able to capitalize on what we found so we just kept on searching and felt like we had some speed at the Capitani Classic, and we used that at Osky and it felt like we actually figured out some more on the car, but the car just seemed to fade once we got to our qualifying night at the Nationals,” commented Hafertepe of the overall run.
Tenth in his Qualifying night to open up the My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, the run locked Sam into Saturday’s A-Feature, where the end result was a 13th place finish after starting eighth.
“We were better than usual, but we still just didn’t have things figured out. Every time we thought we’d make progress, we’d have to start back where we were, but that’s just part of it.”
Dropping the 410cid bullet between the rails for the Capitani Classic presented by Bell Helmets, the night started off much like before with speed in Qualifying with a time good enough for ninth in Group 2 Qualifying, followed by a Heat Race win. Gridding the field 10th, Hafertepe maintained but slipped back to 12th in the end.
Back in action with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at the Sage Fruit Ultimate Challenge, Hafertepe was able to charge forward from the eighth starting spot. Getting close to Wayne Johnson in the closing laps, Hafertepe ran varying lines as hard as he could in the Hills Racing No. 15h.
“We were just searching for the rubber in one and two, and in order to run the cushion in three and four we had to run really hard and bank off it and you could catch it hard enough, you’d get good drive down the banking to the rubber, and we hit it good and reeled in him in until I overdrove turns one and two. After that, we just didn’t really have a chance.”
Back to Knoxville Raceway for the NOS Energy Drink Knoxville Nationals presented by Casey’s General Store, Sam began the night 17th in Qualifying. Seventh in the second Heat Race, Hafertepe was relegated to the B-Feature where his night ended with a sixth-place finish. Taking on Fridays Hard Knox Night, Hafertepe rolled in with speed at seventh fastest, followed by a fourth-place finish in his Heat Race. Transferring through the B-Feature, Sam was able to move forward from 21st to 17th.
Running to a transfer spot in the C-Feature on Saturday, Hafertepe wouldn’t be able to hold the position to move on.
“We thought we’d be a lot better than what we were, but we struggled. Definitely not pleased with our performance at all,” stated Hafertepe.
“Saturday, we felt like we had the bottom rolling pretty good. Just got to guys as the wrong time and that let a few guys get runs on us on the top and by then, that looked like the place to be, then the bottom cam back in. Just ran the wrong line at the wrong time. We just struggled.”
Taking the weekend off to regroup, the team is back on the road for Riverside International Speedway on Saturday, August 24 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
For continued updates on Sam Hafertepe, Jr. log onto http://www.sam15.com and make sure to find him on Twitter (@samhafertepejr). For news on Hill's Racing Team, log onto https://www.facebook.com/hillsracing/ and on Twitter (@HillsRacingTeam).
2019 Season to Date:
Events: 37; Wins -7 ; Top 5 – 17; Top 10 – 23; Top 20 – 29;
Coming Up:
August 1-3 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa) /w Lucas Oil ASCS
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011628097506
Website: http://www.sam15.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/samhafertepejr
The Sponsors:
Hill’s Racing Team, Townline Variety, Heidbreder Foundation Service, Kiebler & Sons Lawn and Landscaping, Fisher Racing Engines, Super Shox, J&J Chassis, Smiley’s Racing Products, Hoosier Tire, Huggins Cams, Champion Oil, The Sparks Family, Lonestar Speedway, Keizer Wheels, XYZ Machining, Simpson Racing Products, CP-Carrillo, KSE Power Steering, FK Rod Ends, BMRS, Allstar Performance, Saldana Racing Products, Vortex Wings, DMI, Wilwood Brakes, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Hwy. 79 Collision.
Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert