Sam Hafertepe Jr. and The Plumbfast Racing Team had a decent Florida Speedweeks racing with The All Star Circuit of Champions (ASCoC) and World of Outlaws (WoO) at Bubba Raceway Park and Volusia Speedway.
The Sunnyvale, Texas racer had a disappointing season opener with The ASCoC at Bubba Raceway as engine problems hampered The Lone Star Speedway #15H Maxim in time trials before it eventually ended their evening in the heat race.
The following night Sam timed in 21st fastest and transferred safely through his heat in 4th to earn a starting position in the feature event.
Early on in the feature event Sam made his way forward from deep in the field rising as high as 13th from his 10th row starting position. Unfortunately the track began to take rubber and as a consequence the handling went away causing Sam to drop back through the field before eventually ending up 17th in the final rundown.
"We experimented a lot with the setup tonight," explained Sam. "We tried some things and I was really able to move forward through the field but once the track took rubber the car became a handful and the car got pretty tough to drive."
Unfortunately both ASCoC races at Volusia Raceway rained out but fortunately for the teams all 3 nights with The WoO were able to be run.
Sam laid down the 7th best lap in time trials for The Outlaws season opener and transferred safely through his heat to lock into the feature in the 14th.
The opening lap of the feature was a disaster for Sam as the car pushed on both ends of the track and dropped him out of the top 20 on the opening lap.
"The right rear air pressure wasn't where we wanted it to be when the green flag dropped and the car was awful on the opening lap," explained Sam. "Fortunately the air pressure came up right away and when it did the car got faster and faster."
As the feature wore on Sam began working his way back up through the field but 2 days of rain had made the track lock down tacky and fast which made passing difficult.
"We got going pretty good there in the feature and started moving forward," said Sam. "It was just tough to get through because you could only really pass people when they slipped up but we were able to get back through there and we were still going forward at the end."
Sam made a last lap pass attempt going into turn 1 on Joey Saldana but the veteran shut the door on him and left Sam with a 13th place finish.
The following evening was a letdown for the team as Sam suffered engine troubles while taking the green flag in time trials.
"We broke a rocker as we were coming to the green," explained Sam. "We didn't hurt the motor badly or anything but it kept us from completing a time trial lap. We're trying to race intelligently in terms of finances this year and since we were going to be buried we didn't want to put wear and tear on our equipment so rather than try to dig out from last all night we figured it was smarter to go ahead and load up to get ready for the final night."
Sam was once again able to lay down a solid lap in time trials during the finale which was fast time when he went out but faster and faster track conditions resulted in Hafertepe ultimately ending up 8th quick.
Hafertepe got off to a slow start in his heat due to a stumbling motor but as the race wore on Sam effectively chose his lines and transferred easily into the A Main event in the 16th starting position.
Sam was able to steadily work his way forward through the field utilizing the bottom in turns 1 and 2 and both the top and bottom in turns 3 and 4. An aggressive late-race pass put Sam into the top 10 when the red flag flew with 3 laps to go.
The restart was a disaster for Sam as the handling went away in the final 3 laps and he dropped to a 13th place finish at the checkers.
"I'm not really sure what happened," said Sam. "On the restart we got really tight in the first turn and then we got really loose in 3 and 4 and we started blowing the tires off of it. I think we may have sealed the right rear tire over or something because we didn't make any changes to the car under the red and the handling just completely went away."
Sam has now flown back to Texas and will be making his 305 debut for Ricky Stapleton this weekend Kennedale Speedway Park.
"During the offseason we sold off our 360 to focus on racing 410s," said Sam. "Fortunately Ricky gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to drive his car in selected 360 shows. I jumped at the chance and the team also has a 305 and wondered if I wanted to give it a try this weekend in Kennedale. I didn't have anything scheduled so we'll give it a go this weekend and see what we can do."
Sam would like to thank the following supporters: Lone Star Speedway, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Smiley's Racing Products, Fisher Racing Engines, Maxim Chassis, Pro Shocks by OC Shocks, Fire-Down Graphics, Butlerbuilt, Vortex Wings, Kear's Speed Shop, Pancho's Racing Products, GPC, Torco Racing Oil, Simpson Racing Products
Check out Sam on the web at: www.sam15.com
Follow Sam on Twitter: @samhafertepejr
Join The Sam Hafertepe Jr. Group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/35945374969
- Admin Account on Feb 22, 2013
- Article Date: 2/22/2013