Victory Lane on Night #1 of the 31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank: Shane Golobic (2nd), Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1st), Lynton Jeffrey (3rd) (Paul Arch Photo)
Shane Golobic is High Point Getter
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 5, 2021) – Sam Hafertepe Jr. couldn’t have chosen his first career win at the Knoxville Raceway any better. The Sunnyvale, Texas native won the 20-lap main event on Night #1 of the 31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank in track record time, earning $3,000 for he and his Hill’s Racing #15 team. Fremont, California’s Shane Golobic was the night’s top point earner heading into Saturday’s championship finale.
Garet Williamson led the feature early on, ahead of Matt Juhl, Hafertepe, Lynton Jeffrey and Blake Hahn. Juhl was all over Williamson and passed him to lead lap two, while Golobic entered the top five from his eight place starting spot.
Hafertepe was in “hot pursuit,” and drove under Williamson for second on lap five. He reeled in Juhl and shot by him low in turn two to lead lap seven.
Jeffrey found his way by Williamson on lap nine for third, and the leaders entered lapped traffic on lap 11. Golobic was gaining speed in the closing laps, grabbing fourth on lap 15.
Juhl slid sideways in turn one on lap 16, saving it but losing three positions. Golobic used a lapped car to pass Jeffrey for second, but Hafertepe was slicing through traffic. His 20-lap run of 5:52.2 broke Justin Henderson’s July 18, 2020 track standard by a full five seconds.
Hafertepe Jr. and Golobic were followed by Jeffrey, Williamson and Juhl. Hahn, Brady Bacon, Jamie Ball, Cory Eliason and Justin Henderson rounded out the top ten. Golobic set quick time over the 43-car field, and Brian Brown, Josh Baughman, Derek Hagar, Ryan Leavitt and Jack Dover were heat race winners. Sammy Swindell claimed the B.
Golobic led the point total with 489, followed by Hafertepe Jr. (480), Henderson (470), Jeffrey (469), Juhl (463), Hahn (462), Williamson (460), Jamie Ball (459) and Bacon (453) (full points below).
“I’ve really got to thank Daryl (Turford) on that one,” said Hafertepe in Victory Lane. “He said this race has been won in the middle, and you might want to try it. We were good, and I tried the middle of one and two one time and ‘Oh my!’ I knew we were going to win this thing. We’ve been close to winning here, and to finally win one…it’s awesome! We’ll be starting (Saturday) a little closer to the front than usual. We just don’t race here enough. We race quite a bit compared to some of the other guys. The (locals) know where they need to be, and we’re playing catchup when we come here. It’s awesome to get a hold on it.”
“It’s all about getting yourself situated for Saturday,” said Golobic, who topped the points. “I think we did our job tonight. It’s a cool little family team out here racing with the big dogs, and we had a lot of speed tonight. I’m really excited to come from eighth to second there on a non-stop deal. It’s something we should be proud of.”
“It’s a good old car,” said Jeffrey of his third place mount. “This is the one we won here last year with. We hadn’t got it out until essentially the last week. I think we were a second place car. We just got hung up on a lapped car, and he didn’t know where he was going. It’s just part of it. You have to choose the right lane, and (Golobic) chose the right lane. We actually made contact, so we were lucky to get here.”
The 31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank continues with Night #2 Friday, August 6! For more information, visit www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or check Knoxville Raceway’s Facebook and Twitter.
31st Annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Night #1 Results
Time Trials, 1. 17W, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA (2), 15.802; 2. 01, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN (3), 16.042; 3. 9, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (11), 16.047; 4. 83H, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD (21), 16.099; 5. 22MM, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD (25), 16.132; 6. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA (27), 16.162; 7. 9M, Ricky Montgomery, Denver, CO (6), 16.243; 8. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (38), 16.282; 9. 5H, Michael Faccinto, Hanford, CA (31), 16.302; 10. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA (7), 16.312; 11. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (13), 16.319; 12. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK (4), 16.324; 13. 83, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA (15), 16.327; 14. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD (20), 16.327; 15. 24W, Garet Williamson, Kingdom City, MO (33), 16.354; 16. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (19), 16.359; 17. 69, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK (24), 16.374; 18. 11, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK (28), 16.374; 19. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA (12), 16.387; 20. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA (42), 16.412; 21. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (32), 16.422; 22. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA (5), 16.440; 23. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR (10), 16.445; 24. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA (16), 16.459; 25. 53D, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE (29), 16.474; 26. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ (43), 16.552; 27. 36, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX (37), 16.564; 28. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (14), 16.584; 29. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE (9), 16.630; 30. 22X, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA (30), 16.709; 31. 2F, Casey Friedrichsen, Odebolt, IA (36), 16.715; 32. 23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA (26), 16.726; 33. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN (23), 16.728; 34. 22S, Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO (34), 16.760; 35. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (35), 16.804; 36. 2, Chase Porter, St. Joseph, MO (18), 16.834; 37. 66, Chase Dunham, Leipsic, OH (17), 16.860; 38. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA (39), 16.865; 39. 86, Elliot Amdahl, Flandreau, SD (22), 16.878; 40. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (41), 17.094; 41. 8M, Kade Morton, Coweta, OK (40), 17.109; DQ (Illegal Tire) 18W, Lorne Wofford, Alamogordo, NM (1); DQ (Illegal Tire) 23, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH (8).
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:13.8: 1. Brian Brown (2); 2. Kyle Reinhardt (1); 3. Cory Eliason (3); 4. Shane Golobic (6) / 5. Austin McCarl (5); 6. Joe Beaver (4); 7. Chase Porter (8); 8. Casey Friedrichsen (7); 9. Kade Morton (9)
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:14.0: 1. Josh Baughman (1); 2. Brady Bacon (3); 3. Blake Hahn (4); 4. Calvin Landis (2) / 5. Sammy Swindell (6); 6. Ricky Montgomery (5); 7. Rob Kubli (7); 8. Chase Dunham (8); 9. Lorne Wofford (9)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Derek Hagar (2); 2. Lynton Jeffrey (4); 3. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5); 4. Roger Crockett (3) / 5. Nathan Mills (1); 6. Ryan Giles (6); 7. Christopher Thram (7); 8. Devon Dobie (9); 9. Kelby Watt (8)
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.3: 1. Ryan Leavitt (2); 2. Matt Juhl (4); 3. Justin Henderson (6); 4. Matt Moro (3) / 5. Cody Ledger (1); 6. Michael Faccinto (5); 7. Slater Helt (7) DNS - 8. Elliot Amdahl
Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.4: 1. Jack Dover (2); 2. JJ Hickle (3); 3. Garet Williamson (4); 4. Jamie Ball (5) / 5. Kaleb Johnson (6); 6. Riley Goodno (1); 7. Alan Zoutte (8); 8. Tasker Phillips (7)
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:25.8: 1. Sammy Swindell (1); 2. Ryan Giles (2); 3. Austin McCarl (4); 4. Kaleb Johnson (3) / 5. Michael Faccinto (6); 6. Nathan Mills (8); 7. Cody Ledger (9); 8. Riley Goodno (10); 9. Joe Beaver (7); 10. Ricky Montgomery (5); 11. Chase Porter (16); 12. Christopher Thram (13); 13. Casey Friedrichsen (11); 14. Kade Morton (21); 15. Chase Dunham (15); 16. Devon Dobie (20); 17. Elliot Amdahl (18); 18. Alan Zoutte (17); 19. Lorne Wofford (23); 20. Slater Helt (14); 21. Rob Kubli (12) DNS - 22. Tasker Phillips; 23. Kelby Watt
A main (started), 20 Laps, 5:52.2 (NTR): 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (6); 2. Shane Golobic (8); 3. Lynton Jeffrey (3); 4. Garet Williamson (1); 5. Matt Juhl (2); 6. Blake Hahn (4); 7. Brady Bacon (10); 8. Jamie Ball (5); 9. Cory Eliason (9); 10. Justin Henderson (7); 11. Jack Dover (18); 12. Roger Crockett (11); 13. Brian Brown (14); 14. JJ Hickle (13); 15. Derek Hagar (16); 16. Matt Moro (12); 17. Austin McCarl (23); 18. Kaleb Johnson (24); 19. Ryan Giles (22); 20. Sammy Swindell (21); 21. Josh Baughman (20); 22. Calvin Landis (15); 23. Ryan Leavitt (17); 24. Kyle Reinhardt (19). Lap Leaders: Williamson 1, Juhl 2-6, Hafertepe Jr. 7-20. Hard-charger: Dover.
Points After Night #1
1 17W Shane Golobic 489
2 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr. 480
3 83H Justin Henderson 470
4 83 Lynton Jeffrey 469
5 09 Matt Juhl 463
6 52 Blake Hahn 462
7 24W Garet Williamson 460
8 4W Jamie Ball 459
9 69 Brady Bacon 453
10 26 Cory Eliason 448
11 01 Sammy Swindell 448
12 17A Austin McCarl 446
13 22MM Kaleb Johnson 446
14 9 Ryan Giles 445
15 21 Brian Brown 436
16 11 Roger Crockett 435
17 63 JJ Hickle 433
18 53D Jack Dover 432
19 9JR Derek Hagar 428
20 2M Matt Moro 425
21 5H Michael Faccinto 411
22 22 Ryan Leavitt 410
23 36 Josh Baughman 408
24 70 Calvin Landis 407
25 9M Ricky Montgomery 405
26 91 Kyle Reinhardt 401
27 53 Joe Beaver 399
28 24N Nathan Mills 374
29 35L Cody Ledger 370
30 22X Riley Goodno 363
31 24T Christopher Thram 346
32 2F Casey Friedrichsen 345
33 2 Chase Porter 342
34 23K Rob Kubli 330
35 66 Chase Dunham 329
36 22S Slater Helt 328
37 86 Elliot Amdahl 321
38 8M Kade Morton 320
39 33 Alan Zoutte 320
40 7TAZ Tasker Phillips 319
41 23 Devon Dobie 315
42 18W Lorne Wofford 308
43 1K Kelby Watt 308