Sam Hafertepe Jr. and The Plumbfast Racing Team stormed to their first victory of the season this past Friday evening in ASCS Gulf South Regional action at Golden Triangle Raceway Park. The win which paid $3,000 was Sam's first of what he hopes will be many in 2011.
Sam's road to the victory was not an easy one as he drew the 44 pill and had to start 7th in his heat race. Hafertepe was in the first heat and despite a tacky and narrow track Sam was able to move forward to the 2nd position to earn the most passing points on the evening.
"We got a really good start which was important," explained Sam. "I was able to get up to 3rd in the first set of corners and slide a guy for 2nd a few laps later but by then the leader had a straightaway on us so I just made steady laps and made sure we held our position."
The top 8 drivers in passing points re-drew and again the draw was not kind as the draw saw Sam forced to line up from the 8th starting position.
"Following the draw I really wasn't sure we were going to be able to get it done," said Sam. "You just can't put a guy like Sean McClelland on the pole and assume you're just going to go out and beat him from 8th. The track was just so tacky and narrow that I didn't think we'd have time and up to that point I really wasn't sure if we were good enough."
Sam was able to move up to 6th on the start but really wasn't making up a lot of ground early. An early race red allowed Sam to talk things out with his crew.
"I asked Daryl where we needed to be and he didn't seem really sure," said Sam. "We just really didn't look good high or low on the track so he said that there was no pressure from behind me so I could search until I found something without worrying about being passed."
Sam was able to make a quick move on the restart to move into 5th before another red stopped the field again.
"We still really hadn't found anything up to that point," recalled Sam. "I had been working on 4th and 5th but I knew up front the top 3 cars were going to be a lot more difficult to pass."
The race would go caution free following the restart and again Sam was able to make a pass and move into 4th coming to the green.
Hafertepe began to search all over the track as he tracked down Kevin Ramey for 3rd. Sam used the bottom side of the speedway and after a brief battle Hafertepe was able to work his way around him.
From that point on Sam moved up on the speedway and began running the top harder and harder. Just past the halfway point Sam moved in on McClelland for 2nd.
"Shawn was really hooked up on the bottom," said Sam. "When I was down there running his line he was getting away from me so I really didn't have a choice other than to move up high."
The race was around 20 laps old when Hafertepe was able to use a lap car to get around McClelland and set his sights immediately on race leader Wayne Johnson. Hafertepe used traffic to his advantage again to work his way past Johnson and into the lead.
"I really think Wayne and Sean had better cars," stated Sam. "However both of them were really fast on the bottom which was fine in open track but lapped traffic was another story though and most of it was on the bottom so when those two hit it they were bottled up while I was able to run where I was better. I was really able to use the traffic to my advantage so when we finally got to it and I was able to clear Wayne it was smooth sailing from there on out. Without the traffic I don't think we'd have passed Sean or Wayne."
The final laps saw Sam stretch out his lead impressively as he raced his way to his first win of the season.
"That win was really important for my confidence," said Sam. "When you race with The Outlaws every night and you see guys like Kinser, Saldana, Meyers and Schatz doing what they do you sometimes question if you can even drive one of these things. You start to wonder if it's just you. So to come out here, make no mistakes and take a car that really wasn't supposed to win and win means a lot to me. It reminds me that I still know what I'm doing behind the wheel and enforces that I can get it done."
The win was also a statement.
"So many people are underestimate how tough it is on The Outlaw tour," said Sam. "Last week in our weekly release we had people trashing us for being happy with three straight 6ths with The Outlaws. I don't think people understand how tough that is. You run 6th against those guys one night and you were good enough to beat anybody else in the country that night. You were basically 6th best in the world. I've been doing that for 4 years now. I've been running 5th through 15th night in night out with these guys and you just don't get the respect you deserve for it from the average fan. So this year we're just going to going to go out race anywhere and everywhere, try to win as much money and as many races as we can and maybe people will see just how tough we've become."
Sam's "True outlaw" schedule will see him race at his family's track this Saturday night against The ASCS Lone Star region.
"I really love being able to race at Lone Star Speedway," said Sam. "My family has put their heart and soul into the track and it would mean so much for me to get a win there. Sometimes it's hard because on race day I spend so much time preparing the track and I don't really get to focus on the car like I want to but I think I've shown I can handle the situation and I really believe that we should land in victory lane this weekend."
Sam would like to thank the following supporters: Plumbfast Mechanical, Lone Star Speedway, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Pancho's Racing Products, Kear's Speed Shop, PPM Titanium Products, GPC Race Products, Butlerbuilt, Infinity Shocks, DMI, Finish Line Machining, Torco Racing Oils, Smiley's Racing Products, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Vortex Wings, AFCO Racing Shocks, Simpson Racing Products, Quick Sand Express Inc.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO SAM'S PRESS RELEASE LIST PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE TO: sam15press@gmail.com
- administrator on Mar 10, 2011
- Article Date: 3/10/2011