Bryan Hulbert – BILLINGS, Mont. (July 25, 2019) Picking up a pair of podium finishes at the Battle at Big Sky Speedway this past weekend, Blake Hahn also added his fourth win of the season with a blink of the eye finish over Sam Hafertepe, Jr. on Saturday night.
“We had a good weekend. One that we really needed because we’ve been struggling since Dirt Cup,” commented Hahn. “I really have to give props to Shane and Jerry at Big Sky Speedway because the track was great both nights. It was nice not having to bolt on new tires every time we hit the track.”
Getting the run from sixth to second to make the redraw on Friday, Hahn took the green from the right of the front row. Slipping to third in traffic in the closing laps, Hahn battled with Scott Bogucki to the drop of the checkered flag.
“The bottom was the better line, but I had to try something at the start to see if I could make it work and we lost a little bit of ground, but we got rolling at the end in traffic. I got right on Scott [Bogucki] and we both were on Sam, but in traffic, neither of us was going to get around him the way he was using cars as picks.”
Again taking off from the front row on Saturday, Hahn chased Roger Crockett through the opening laps with traffic playing to his advantage. Stalked by Hafertepe through most of the race, Blake was able to gap the No. 15h following a Lap 18 red flag, but traffic in the last two laps would allow Sam to get a run coming to the checkered flag.
“It was close. At one point after that red, I kind of wished they had opened it, but I was glad they didn’t. I think we could have easily overthought the car and cost ourselves more by trying to make a good car better, and going the wrong direction. I knew on the restart we were good. Clean air makes a big difference, but traffic we were a little mixed just dealing with the air getting taken off the wing. I didn’t know exactly where I needed to go to hold Sam off, but I was going to go as hard as I could to do it. That last corner, I still really think the bottom may have been the wrong choice, but it worked out.”
Off this coming weekend to get things ready for the My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, Hahn is set to qualify during the Friday program of the 29th annual event. Going into the three-night affair, Hahn’s goal is simply to get better.
“I have struggled so much at Knoxville, it’s frustrating. We have good speed all year, but at Knoxville, we just struggle so my whole mindset going in is to just make the right laps and get locked in. That would be as big to me as winning at this point.”
The 2019 season is Blake Hahn’s 17th year of racing. Starting in Jr. Sprints at the Tulsa Shootout, Hahn has progressed through the ranks with over 90 victories across Micros, Midgets, and Sprint Cars. For continued updates on Blake Hahn Racing, along with his full 2019 lineup, log onto http://www.blakehahnracing.com.
2019 Season to Date:
Events: 35; Wins -4; Top 5 - 17; Top 10 – 22; Top 20 –29;
Coming Up:
August 1-3 – Knoxville Raceway (Knoxville, Iowa) w/Lucas Oil ASCS
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DriveWFX.com, Lucas Oil Products, CSR Garage, Sage Fruit, Co., Speedway Vending, Semi Crazy Truck Wash, JR1, Triple X Race Co., Engler, Smiley’s Racing Products, Hoosier Tire Southwest, Penske Shocks, Maxwell Industries, Best Graphics, Schoenfeld, Rod End Supply, Pizza Express of Oklahoma, and EFH.
- Bryan Hulbert on Jul 25, 2019
- Article Date: 7/25/2019