Sam Hafertepe Jr. won Night #2 of the 360 Natoinals (Paul Arch Photo) (Video Highlights from DirtVision.com)
by Bill Wright
KNOXVILLE, Iowa (August 2, 2024) – Sam Hafertepe Jr. led flag to flag to win night #2 of the Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank on Friday at the Knoxville Raceway. The Sunnyvale, Texas native earned $3,000 for his third career prelim win at the 360 Nationals and his fourth overall at Knoxville. Emerson Axsom and Tyler Courtney will make up row one for Saturday’s $20,000 to win finale based on their point totals. (complete lineups below)
Hafertepe started on the pole beside Brian Brown in the 20-lap main event and got the early jump ahead of Brown, Cory Eliason, Jake Bubak and Skylar Prochaska. Tasker Phillips entered the top five on lap two, but Kasey Kahne shot by him on the low side on lap four. Joe Beaver stopped five laps in. Liam Martin was also involved and went pitside. Beaver restarted at the tail.
Hafertepe led Brown, Eliason, Bubak and Kahne back to green. Kahne grabbed fourth, as Hafertepe continued his run up front. Parker Price-Miller came to a stop inside turn four at the halfway point, setting up another restart.
Brown applied pressure on Hafertepe, who came off the bottom to slide into Brown’s line. As the two battled, Eliason closed the gap, and on lap 13, shot by for second. At that point, twelfth running Hank Davis flipped on lap 14, setting a six-lap dash to the checkers.
Hafertepe led from there, with Brown and Eliason exchanging second. Eliason would gain second for good with five to go, and Brown finished third. Bubak, Kahne, Tyler Courtney, Ryan Giles, hard-charger Kerry Madsen, Tasker Phillips and Alex Hill rounded out the top ten. Tyler Groenendyk set quick time over the 53-car field and won his heat. Price-Miller, Colton Hardy, Tanner Thorson and Brown were heat winners. Tyler Lee won the C main, and Madsen claimed the B.
“Brown’s really smart,” said Hafertepe in Victory Lane. “He runs this place all the time and has a lot of laps around here. If I saw a nose, we’d move and play a little defense. You watch these guys all year and the way they run this place. You try to mimic some of the block moves. I felt we were good in some instances, and in some we weren’t. I could put together maybe three laps, and felt like we were really good, and then not so good. The restarts were a challenge. We got a little tight. This is just a testament to our team.”
“I didn’t need that red,” said Eliason. “I felt the longer the runs we had the better we were. Right before that red, I think I got by Brown and was able to get my nose under Sam a couple times. I got him uncomfortable and searching which is what I needed. Clean air is key here especially with the 360. Hat’s off to my guys.”
“It was a decent night for us,” said Brown. “I felt like at points I was a little better than Sam, but he did a good job of moving around and making his car like he should. He’s a professional racecar driver. I felt like I may have given up second trying to win the race, but that’s what we’re here for. I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can go tomorrow.”
Join us Saturday, August 3, for the finale of the 34th Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank. For tickets and more information on the Knoxville Raceway, visit us online at www.KnoxvilleRaceway.com or on Facebook.
34th Annual Xtream Powered by Mediacom Knoxville 360 Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank Night #2 Results
Time Trials, 1. 17, Tyler Groenendyk, Oskaloosa, IA (10), 16.405; 2. 26, Zeb Wise, Angola, IN (9), 16.424; 3. 7BC, Tyler Courtney, Indianapolis, IN (36), 16.466; 4. 2C, Hank Davis, Sand Springs, OK (5), 16.537; 5. 1TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (3), 16.606; 6. 40, Clint Garner, Sioux Falls, SD (13), 16.614; 7. 35, Skylar Prochaska, Lakefield, MN (7), 16.677; 8. 55, Kerry Madsen, St. Mary's, NSW, Aus (21), 16.688; 9. 8, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA (33), 16.701; 10. 15, Ryan Turner, Dunnville, ONT, Can. (4), 16.717; 11. 10, Scott Bogucki, McLaren Vale, SA, Au (22), 16.739; 12. 11M, Brendan Mullen, Grand Forks, ND (2), 16.749; 13. 27B, Jake Bubak, Arvada, CO (12), 16.75; 14. 1, Brenham Crouch, Lubbock, TX (42), 16.757; 15. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO (34), 16.775; 16. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX (47), 16.79; 17. 9, Kasey Kahne, Enumclaw, WA (28), 16.805; 18. 3P, Sawyer Phillips, Pleasantville, IA (19), 16.813; 19. 2M, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA (30), 16.815; 20. 77X, Alex Hill, Six Nations, ONT, Ca (15), 16.861; 21. 69K, Daryn Pittman, Owasso, OK (51), 16.867; 22. 9P, Parker Price-Miller, Kokomo, IN (20), 16.911; 23. 49X, Tim Shaffer, Aliquippa, PA (48), 16.926; 24. 5A, Alex Vande Voort, Knoxville, IA (11), 16.928; 25. 98P, Miles Paulus, Marshall, MO (41), 16.967; 26. 9M, Liam Martin, Binbrook, ONT, Can. (37), 16.974; 27. 27, Carson McCarl, Altoona, IA (35), 16.993; 28. 41, Colton Hardy, Phoenix, AZ (26), 17.007; 29. 88T, Tanner Thorson, Minden, NV (46), 17.019; 30. 47T, Dustin Selvage, Indianola, IA (43), 17.05; 31. 4Z, Dusty Zomer, Brandon, SD (29), 17.055; 32. 7A, Jack Anderson, Newton, IA (18), 17.062; 33. 71, Brady Baker, Alexander, AR (16), 17.108; 34. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA (53), 17.223; 35. 1Z, Justin Zimmerman, Athens, TX (1), 17.226; 36. 48T, Tyler Thompson, Des Moines, IA (8), 17.24; 37. 14T, Brooke Tatnell, Sans Souci, NSW, Aus (27), 17.275; 38. 15D, Andrew Deal, Coney, KS (32), 17.325; 39. 16G, Austyn Gossel, Windsor, CO (31), 17.332; 40. 29, Emilio Hoover, Broken Arrow, OK (23), 17.34; 41. 18, Ryan Roberts, Aurora, NE (50), 17.349; 42. 7, Tyler Lee, Cedar Rapids, IA (45), 17.411; 43. 14, Aidan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA (14), 17.466; 44. 11N, Kasey Jedrezek, Lagrange, OH (40), 17.513; 45. 3R, Russell Potter, Boonville, MO (6), 17.556; 46. 41D, Dan Henning, Columbia, IA (25), 17.595; 47. 13V, Seth Brahmer, Wisner, NE (49), 17.673; 48. 91, Michael Day, Farmersville, TX (38), 17.786; 49. 938, Bradley Fezard, Bonnerdale, AR (52), 18.161; 50. 22W, Aaron Werner, Colman, SD (17), 18.283 / 51. 4C, Tuesday Calderwood, Goodyear, AZ (39), 18.619 52. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA (24), NT; 53. G5H, Josh Higday, Des Moines, IA (44), NT
Heat one (started), 8 Laps, 2:46.2: 1. Tyler Groenendyk (4); 2. Daryn Pittman (2); 3. Liam Martin (1); 4. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3) / 5. Dusty Zomer (7); 6. Clint Garner (5); 7. Ryan Roberts (9); 8. Tyler Thompson (6) / 9. Dan Henning (8) DNS - 10. Scott Bogucki
Heat two (started), 8 Laps, 2:15.8: 1. Parker Price-Miller (2); 2. Carson McCarl (1); 3. Kasey Kahne (3); 4. Skylar Prochaska (5) / 5. Zeb Wise (6); 6. Jack Anderson (7); 7. Brendan Mullen (4); 8. Brooke Tatnell (8) / 9. Seth Brahmer (10); 10. Tyler Lee (9)
Heat three (started), 8 Laps, NT: 1. Colton Hardy (1); 2. Tyler Courtney (6); 3. Sawyer Phillips (3); 4. Jake Bubak (4) / 5. Tim Shaffer (2); 6. Kerry Madsen (5); 7. Andrew Deal (8); 8. Brady Baker (7) / 9. Michael Day (10); 10. Aidan Zoutte (9);
Heat four (started), 8 Laps, 2:17.7: 1. Tanner Thorson (1); 2. Ryan Giles (3); 3. Cory Eliason (5); 4. Joe Beaver (7) / 5. Alex Vande Voort (2); 6. Brenham Crouch (4); 7. Hank Davis (6); 8. Kasey Jedrezek (9) / 9. Austyn Gossel (8); 10. Bradley Fezard (10)
Heat five (started), 8 Laps, 2:18.3: 1. Brian Brown (4); 2. Alex Hill (1); 3. Tasker Phillips (6); 4. Miles Paulus (2) / 5. Ryan Turner (3); 6. Justin Zimmerman (5); 7. Russell Potter (7); 8. Emilio Hoover (8) / 9. Aaron Werner (9) DNS - 10. Dustin Selvage
C main (started), 10 Laps, 2:59.0: 1. Tyler Lee (2); 2. Seth Brahmer (5); 3. Michael Day (6); 4. Tuesday Calderwood (9) / 5. Austyn Gossel (1); 6. Bradley Fezard (7); 7. Dan Henning (4); 8. Aaron Werner (8); 9. Aidan Zoutte (3) DNS - 10. Scott Bogucki 11. Dustin Selvage 12. Nathan Mills 13. Josh Higday
B main (started), 12 Laps, 3:35.3: 1. Kerry Madsen (4); 2. Hank Davis (2); 3. Tim Shaffer (8); 4. Zeb Wise (1) / 5. Clint Garner (3); 6. Jack Anderson (11); 7. Dusty Zomer (10); 8. Brendan Mullen (6); 9. Brenham Crouch (7); 10. Brooke Tatnell (15); 11. Alex Vande Voort (9); 12. Ryan Turner (5); 13. Emilio Hoover (17); 14. Brady Baker (12); 15. Ryan Roberts (18); 16. Justin Zimmerman (13); 17. Andrew Deal (16); 18. Tyler Thompson (14); 19. Tyler Lee (21); 20. Seth Brahmer (22); 21. Russell Potter (20); 22. Kasey Jedrezek (19); 23. Tuesday Calderwood (24); 24. Michael Day (23)
A main (started), 20 Laps, NT: 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1); 2. Cory Eliason (4); 3. Brian Brown (2); 4. Jake Bubak (3); 5. Kasey Kahne (9); 6. Tyler Courtney (7); 7. Ryan Giles (11); 8. Kerry Madsen (21); 9. Tasker Phillips (6); 10. Alex Hill (12); 11. Carson McCarl (17); 12. Skylar Prochaska (5); 13. Sawyer Phillips (10); 14. Tim Shaffer (23); 15. Zeb Wise (24); 16. Tyler Groenendyk (8); 17. Tanner Thorson (19); 18. Daryn Pittman (13); 19. Colton Hardy (18); 20. Joe Beaver (20); 21. Miles Paulus (15); 22. Hank Davis (22); 23. Parker Price-Miller (14); 24. Liam Martin (16). Lap Leader: Hafertepe Jr. 1-20. Hard-charger: Madsen.
Saturday Lineups
A main
1 27A Emerson Axsom Franklin IN 488
2 7BC Tyler Courtney Indianapolis IN 483
3 8 Cory Eliason Visalia CA 476
4 88 Austin McCarl Altoona IA 476
5 4W Jamie Ball Knoxville IA 473
6 1TZ Tasker Phillips Pleasantville IA 470
7 17 Tyler Groenendyk Oskaloosa IA 470
8 6 Kaleb Johnson Sioux Falls SD 468
9 21 Brian Brown Higginsville MO 468
10 01 Terry McCarl Altoona IA 468
11 24 Kade Higday Knoxville IA 465
12 21T Cole Macedo Lemoore CA 462
13 15H Sam Hafertepe Jr Sunnyvale TX 461
14 27B Jake Bubak Arvada CO 461
15 27H Justin Peck Monrovia IN 461
16 95 Matt Covington Glenpool OK 460
17 87 Aaron Reutzel Clute TX 460
18 26 Zeb Wise Angola IN 458
19 55 Kerry Madsen Knoxville IA 457
20 35 Skylar Prochaska Lakefield MN 457
B main
21 9 Kasey Kahne Enumclaw WA 454
22 2KS Chase Randall Waco TX 453
23 22X Riley Goodno Knoxville IA 451
24 2M Ryan Giles Grimes IA 449
25 77X Alex Hill Six Nations ON 441
26 23 Seth Bergman Snohomish WA 437
27 3P Sawyer Phillips Pleasantville IA 436
28 2C Hank Davis Sand Springs OK 434
29 64 Hunter Schuerenberg Sikeston MO 432
30 09 Matt Juhl Tea SD 430
31 27 Carson McCarl Altoona IA 425
32 4G Cole Garner Sioux Falls SD 425
33 4 Cameron Martin Ankeny IA 424
34 69K Daryn Pittman Owasso OK 423
35 23W Garet Williamson Columbia MO 422
36 55B Brandon Anderson Glenpool OK 420
37 49X Tim Shaffer Aliquippa PA 418
38 40 Clint Garner Sioux Falls SD 417
39 9P Parker Price Miller Kokomo IN 414
40 70 Calvin Landis Knoxville IA 413
C main
41 18T Tanner Holmes Jacksonville OR 412
42 88T Tanner Thorson Broken Arrow OK 412
43 41 Colton Hardy Phoenix AZ 410
44 8H Jacob Hughes Hartford SD 407
45 36 Jason Martin Liberal KS 403
46 98P Miles Paulus Marshall MO 403
47 9M Liam Martin Binbrook ON 398
48 15 Ryan Turner Dunnville ON 398
49 52 Blake Hahn Sapulpa OK 397
50 11M Brendan Mullen Grand Forks ND 396
51 4J Chase Johnson Penngrove CA 395
52 22 Ryan Leavitt Knoxville IA 393
53 1 Brenham Crouch Lubbock TX 393
54 53 Joe Beaver Knoxville IA 387
55 87X Shone Evans Scotland ON 382
56 86 Timothy Smith Rocheport MO 378
57 5A Alex Vande Voort Knoxville IA 372
58 4Z Dusty Zomer Brandon SD 366
59 7A Jack Anderson Newton IA 363
60 99 Tony Rost Utica NE 359
D main
61 63 J.J. Hickle Quilcene WA 358
62 7B Ben Brown Marshall MO 352
63 2JR Kelly Miller Stirling AB 349
64 44 Chris Martin Ankeny IA 344
65 14T Brooke Tatnell San Souci NSW 339
66 71 Brady Baker Alexander AR 339
67 48 Danny Dietrich Gettysburg PA 337
68 1Z Justin Zimmerman Athens TX 337
69 10 Scott Bogucki Mclaren Vale SA 335
70 23M Lance Moss Cherryville NC 334
71 29 Emilio Hoover Broken Arrow OK 327
72 J2 John Carney II El Paso TX 326
73 15D Andrew Deal Caney KS 326
74 48T Tyler Thompson Des Moines IA 325
75 18 Ryan Roberts Aurora NE 324
76 10B Landon Britt Memphis TN 323
77 33 Alan Zoutte Knoxville IA 321
78 47 Brant O'Banion Worthing SD 315
79 55X Chase Brown Yutan NE 313
80 2J Zach Blurton Quinter KS 312
E main
81 20T Corey Timmerman Carmen IL 309
82 7 Tyler Lee Cedar Rapids IA 305
83 3R Russell Potter Boonville MO 304
84 83 Kurt Mueller Reynolds IL 303
85 11N Kasey Jedrzejek Lagrange OH 301
86 27W Weston Olson Warren MN 300
87 17B Ryan Bickett Ramona SD 297
88 13V Seth Brahmer Wisner NE 296
89 47T Dustin Selvage Indianola IA 295
90 16G Austyn Gossel Windsor CO 292
91 91 Michael Day Farmersville TX 286
92 45X Kyler Johnson Quinter KS 279
93 41D Dan Henning Columbia IA 274
94 14 Aidan Zoutte Knoxville IA 273
95 38 Logan Alexander Lacona IA 272
96 6G Bryan Gossel Windsor CO 272
97 8X Micah Slendy Sioux Falls SD 267
98 938 Bradley Fezard Bonnerdale AR 267
99 22W Aaron Werner Colman SD 264
100 88E Terry Easum Broken Arrow OK 259
101 T4 Tyler Graves Chariton IA 258
102 4C Tuesday Calderwood Goodyear AZ 256
103 17N Nathan Anderson Newton IA 232
104 1A John Anderson Des Moines IA 224
105 G5H Josh Higday Des Moines IA 223
106 24N Nathan Mills Bondurant IA 216
107 G5 Gage Pulkrabek East Grand Forks MN 213