(Image Credit: Ben Thrasher)
Bryan Hulbert – PEORIA, Ariz. (March 2, 2020) Taking advantage of a break in his schedule to test and tune before returning to the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. dropped into Canyon Speedway Park with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network and walked away with his first victory of the 2020 season.
On what went into the weekend and getting the car better, Sam stated, “We changed a lot on our shocks. Just got off our program that we’d been running over the winter trying to get us better in the 410cid deal, and we thought we were going the right way but clearly, we weren’t. I feel like that's part of what hurt us down in Florida where we were good when the track had little grip but killed us in the slick so we change some valving back around so that was half the reason we came down here. We really needed some more time to get the car right. In the 360cid deal, we know how the car needs to feel so once we got that feeling back, we knew we were back where we needed to be.”
Making laps Thursday, the team was able to get the car much closer when Friday went green. While the result didn’t show the speed, Hafertepe had climbed from 16th to seventh before a broken nose wing sent the Townline Variety No. 15h around. With the track progressing to the bottom, Sam made the call to head to the pits.
“I knocked the front wing down around Lap 2 and it actually got going pretty good. I got to about seventh and the wing started flipping up on me and when it did, it was pulling the frontend off the ground and going into turn-three, I couldn’t see and just get over the cushion. After that, it was game over.
Earning the sixth starting spot in Saturday’s A-Feature, Hafertepe rolled to second through the first two turns, and the lead a lap later. Held up by a slower car, that allowed California’s Justin Sanders to take the spot away, but that same slower car delivered the lead back a few laps later. With both cars getting tight in the closing laps, the race for the win came down to the final set of turns with Sam ending Sanders by 0.116 seconds.
“When Justin got by me, I thought it was over but he opened his entry up into three. I don’t know why, but it did give us a line to make a run out of it if he did miss on the exit, and he did. He got tight like I did on the exit of two. If he’d stuck the bottom of three and four, it was his race, but the way it worked, he was a sitting duck.”
Looking forward to his next outing, Sam will follow the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network into California this weekend to continue testing his car, but also provide advice and guidance to Alex Hill.
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).
2020 Season to Date:
Events: 10; Wins -1; Top 5 – 1; Top 10 – 4; Top 20 – 5;
Coming Up:
March 6, 2020 – Merced Speedway (Merced, Cali.) with Lucas Oil ASCS
March 7, 2020 – Placerville Speedway (Placerville, Cali.) with Lucas Oil ASCS
March 8, 2020 – Petaluma Speedway (Petaluma, Cali.) with Lucas Oil ASCS
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Online:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100011628097506
Website: http://www.sam15.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/samhafertepejr
The Sponsors:
Hill’s Racing Team, Townline Variety, Heidbreder Foundation Service, Kiebler & Sons Lawn and Landscaping, Fisher Racing Engines, Super Shox, J&J 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.
- Bryan Hulbert on Mar 03, 2020
- Article Date: 3/3/2020