Bryan Hulbert - LUBBOCK, Texas (June 12, 2018) Retaking the point's lead with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com, by 42 markers, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. picked up his sixth victory of the season at West Texas Raceway, followed by Hard Charger at Route 66 Motor Speedway.
Sam's second win on the season with the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by Sawblade.com, the West Texas victory came down to the final turn as Seth Bergman charged after the J&J Chassis No. 15h. Splitting the No. 95 of Matt Covington through the final turns, the bottom proved the better line for Hafertepe to secure the win.
"Matt didn't give very much room, and honestly he probably didn't know we were there and that comes down to a lot of times you don't know if it's a guy your racing for position either, so I basically just stuffed it in there and had to run the berm a little bit," commented Sam on the final drive to the finish. "The bottom really was the place to be in three and four, so that made it an easier decision for where I needed to go."
Chasing the lead, the first 17 laps, Sam worked past Travis Rilat on Lap 18 in traffic.
"Travis was running hard. Running a 30 lap feature with the way the track was on tires, I kind of let him run out there and let traffic come into play. I was able to search around and was running the top predominantly, but the bottom started coming in and there actually a strip of rubber in one and two, but we found a few lines that worked."
Rain delayed the following night at Route 66 Motor Speedway, the sixth-place showing in Saturday's third Heat Race meant Sam had his work cut out for him in the A-Feature. Working patiently through the field, Hafertepe advanced 12 positions to sixth.
"The track didn't really widen out, I feel like what happened is the track got really treacherous for some guys in a couple areas so they got really tight and would actually mess up which made for an interesting race where you had to hit your marks. A lot of guys would slip off the bottom, or get too tight on the top, where we were actually pretty good everywhere. The lap times may not show it, but we had one of the fastest cars on the track, but it showed with the number of cars we passed and I don't know, maybe a few more cautions at the end and we might have been up there a little bit more."
Back to tracks that Sam has had a lot of success at, the No. 15h will see competition at Devil's Bowl Speedway on Tuesday, June 12, followed by Lawton Speedway (Lawton, Okla.) on Wednesday, June 13, Creek County Speedway (Sapulpa, Okla.) on Thursday, June 14, and Salina Speedway (Salina, Kan.), on Saturday, June 16.
"We're looking forward to the rest of this week. Any place that Lanny Edwards has owned in the past, I've always seem to run really good there. Creek County, we're looking forward to going there where in the past, we didn't, and Salina, it's been a while since we've been there, but we know what we're getting into there."
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).
2018 Season to Date:
Events: 25; Wins -6 ; Top 5 - 13; Top 10 - 14; Top 15 -18; Top 20 -20;
Coming Up: ASCS Sizzlin' Summer Speedweek
June 12 at Devil's Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, Texas)
June 13 at Lawton Speedway (Lawton, Okla.)
June 14 at Creek County Speedway (Sapulpa, Okla.)
June 16 at Salina Speedway (Salina, Kan.)
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The Sponsors:
Hill's Racing Team, Townline Variety, Heidbreder Foundation Service, Fisher Racing Engines, Super Shox, Cool 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.