Sam Hafertepe Jr. won with ASCS Saturday at 81 Speedway (Emily Schwanke Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
Sam Hafertepe Jr.’s first three wins of the season on the American Sprint Car Series National Tour came consecutively in June, and history repeated itself Saturday night. The five-time Series champion led every lap at 81 Speedway en route to his third-straight Feature win and sixth of the season.
“I came to play tonight,” Hafertepe said. “I did a lot better job tonight as a race car driver, and our car was spot on in Qualifying, and right there in that Feature I think we had a really good piece.”
The Feature began in the exact same fashion as it did 24 hours prior at Lakeside Speedway: with Hafertepe and Seth Bergman sharing the front row. And just like he did the night prior, Hafertepe rode the top lane on the opening lap to take the lead while Bergman fell to fourth after being passed by Landon Britt and Roger Crockett.
When the first caution flew nine laps in for the stopped car of Bradley Fezard, Hafertepe’s lead was nearly a straightaway in length over Matt Covington, who charged from sixth to second early in the race. The stoppage put Covington on Hafertepe’s bumper when the race resumed, but he was unable to do anything more than watch Hafertepe drive away once more.
Issues for Andrew Deal on the restart gave the field another chance at Hafertepe, but another strong jump allowed the No. 15H to hold onto the top spot.
Ten laps later, Danny Wood slowed on the backstretch to force the third yellow of the race. The field was unable to capitalize though, as Hafertepe was already out of range exiting Turn 2 after the restart.
Slower traffic presented one final obstacle for Hafertepe in the final five laps, but he maneuvered through the field with ease and cruised to the checkered flag 1.5 seconds ahead of Covington.
Hafertepe has been consistently praised by his fellow competitors for his speed in traffic, and that expertise was on full display in the closing stages of the race.
“At the beginning of the year, I was blaming all the lap cars for our problems, and it’s my job as a seasoned veteran to figure it out,” Hafertepe said. “I had to quit pointing the finger, it’s my job to get through them. Once I changed that mindset, we’ve done a lot better, I’ve been doing a lot better job in the race car, and we’ve been winning a lot of races.”
Hafertepe’s night began with his sixth overall Quick Time in Qualifying, a total that is six times higher than any other driver in the field.
“It really does help,” Hafertepe said regarding the impact of a strong Qualifying run on the rest of the night. “Anytime you can kind of relax a little in the Heat Race and not have a lot of pressure to win the Heat, I think that really helps you just focus on your car throughout the whole night.”
Covington’s runner-up effort was his fourth-straight top-two finish in Wichita after a win in 2022 and two second-place runs last year.
“We had a winning car, the only problem was Sam did too,” Covington said. “We needed the lap traffic to mix things up, and it was there, and I just never had the opening that I needed. I think that’s what it was going to take for us to win the race.”
Crockett’s first National Tour start since 2022 ended in third place, a remarkable result considering he decided to make the trip just hours before the event.
“Went and got coffee this morning, and Seth Bergman called to ask me about bringing a car to vinyl on Monday,” Crockett said. “He’s like ‘the weather looks pretty good,’ so we turned around, rolled home. We just changed the turbo on our truck last night, my wife and I, so we had to put water in it and everything. We had no intention of racing today.”
Sam Hafertepe Jr., Matt Covington and Roger Crockett made up the podium Saturday night at 81 Speedway (Emily Schwanke Photo)Hank Davis came home fourth to collect his fourth top five in a row in National Tour action, while Landon Britt finished fifth for his best run since Dodge City Raceway Park on June 1.
The Hard Charger Award went to Michael Day, who drove from the rear of the field up to 15th in the 30-lap affair.
UP NEXT: The premiere event on the 360 Sprint Car calendar lies ahead for the ASCS National Tour in the Xtream powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, Aug. 1-3 at Knoxville Raceway. Click here to purchase tickets and find additional event information.
Can’t make it to the track? Catch every lap live on DIRTVision.
Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 3. 11-Roger Crockett[4]; 4. 2C-Hank Davis[7]; 5. 10-Landon Britt[3]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[5]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman[2]; 8. 55B-Brandon Anderson[10]; 9. 22M-Rees Moran[9]; 10. 36-Jason Martin[15]; 11. 26M-Fred Mattox[14]; 12. 45X-Kyler Johnson[11]; 13. 88-Terry Easum[16]; 14. 2J-Zach Blurton[13]; 15. 91-Michael Day[21]; 16. 31-Casey Wills[18]; 17. 6G-Bryan Gossel[20]; 18. 16G-Austyn Gossel[19]; 19. 55-Danny Wood[12]; 20. 15D-Andrew Deal[8]; 21. 938-Bradley Fezard[17]