Harli White Holds Off Sam Hafertepe Jr. At I-30 Speedway For First Career ASCS Win

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / ASCS – LITTLE ROCK, AR – A long Winter paid off more than many can imagine on Friday night in Little Rock, Ark. as a wild series of passes over the course of the closing lap at I-30 Speedway saw Oklahoma’s Harli White pick up her first career ASCS sanctioned victory in a multi-regional showdown between the ASCS Lone Star, Mid-South, and Sooner Regions.

Going green from the fourth starting spot, in a car prepared by Johnny Herrera, the No. 17w rode in the show position for several laps before taking advantage of an early restart to grab second. Building momentum, the No. 17w raced past Joseph Miller on Lap 9 to take over the top spot.

Brought to a stop for the flipped No. 26m of Fred Mattox a couple of laps after taking the lead, White wasted little time in building a comfortable buffer over the field, but as the No. 17w worked the backmarkers with less than five laps to go, a pair of ASCS veterans were stalking with Sam Hafertepe, Jr., from 13th, and seventh starting Wayne Johnson working to Harli’s back bumper.

Down to the final two circuits, Hafertepe rode the cushion with Johnson patiently around the hub of the Arkansas quarter-mile. With momentum on the top shelf, Hafertepe rolled off the fourth turn with a clear path to the lead as the white flag flew. Taking the No. 15h back to the top of turns one and two, however, Sam biked to the right-side tires, allowing Harli to retake the lead.

Point straight off the second turn, Hafertepe railed the cushion of turns three and four, but the run was not enough as White let her Life of Hope Ministries No. 17w drift to the wall off the fourth turn to block the high side charge.

While not able to clear for the lead, Hafertepe as able to retake the runner-up spot on the final lap with Wayne Johnson holding onto third. Gaining 11 spots, Howard Moore finished fourth with Dakota Gains in fifth. Charlie Louden advanced six spots with Seth Bergman crossing seventh. Canada’s Dylan Westbrook was eighth with Ernie Ainsworth and Jordon Mallett making up the top-ten.

With a field of 33 on hand, the showdown between the ASCS Lone Star, Mid-South, and Sooner Regions continues Saturday, March 30 with races getting underway at 7:00 P.M. (CT). Admission is $20 for the grandstands with kids 6-12 getting in for $1 with paid adult. Kids five and younger get in free.

Race Results

ASCS Lone Star, Mid-South, and Sooner Regions
I-30 Speedway – Little Rock, Ark.
Friday, March 29, 2019
Car Count: 33

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 8Z-Zach Pringle, [1]; 2. 12X-Tony Bruce Jr, [2]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [5]; 4. 40-Howard Moore, [4]; 5. 23X-Grady Chandler, [3]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn, [8]; 7. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [7]; 8. 33C-Casey Carter, [6]; 9. 3B-Chris Banja, [9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White, [1]; 2. 2-Joseph Miller, [6]; 3. X-Charlie Louden, [4]; 4. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [5]; 5. 22-Sean McClelland, [7]; 6. 76-Zane Lawrence, [3]; 7. 21K-Kevin Hinkle, [8]; 8. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, [2]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [1]; 2. 38-Rick Pringle, [2]; 3. 1X-Tim Crawley, [6]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett, [4]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [8]; 6. 26M-Fred Mattox, [5]; 7. 21B-Brandon Hinkle, [3]; 8. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, [7]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. D6-Dakota Gaines, [1]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [3]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman, [5]; 4. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [2]; 5. 99-Blake Jenkins, [8]; 6. 9$-Kyle Clark, [4]; 7. 84-Brandon Hanks, [7]; 8. 77X-Alex Hill, [6]

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 40-Howard Moore, [2]; 2. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [1]; 3. 23X-Grady Chandler, [4]; 4. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [3]; 5. 84-Brandon Hanks, [7]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill, [9]; 7. 76-Zane Lawrence, [6]; 8. 21K-Kevin Hinkle, [5]; 9. 4-Tommy Snellgrove, [8]; 10. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, [10]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 14-Jordon Mallett, [2]; 2. 22-Sean McClelland, [1]; 3. 26M-Fred Mattox, [4]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn, [3]; 5. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [6]; 6. 9$-Kyle Clark, [5]; 7. 33C-Casey Carter, [8]; 8. 21B-Brandon Hinkle, [7]; 9. 3B-Chris Banja, [9]

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White, [4]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [13]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [7]; 4. 40-Howard Moore, [15]; 5. D6-Dakota Gaines, [2]; 6. X-Charlie Louden, [12]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman, [9]; 8. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [3]; 9. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [6]; 10. 14-Jordon Mallett, [16]; 11. 1X-Tim Crawley, [8]; 12. 8Z-Zach Pringle, [5]; 13. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [17]; 14. 23X-Grady Chandler, [19]; 15. 2-Joseph Miller, [1]; 16. 99-Blake Jenkins, [14]; 17. 26M-Fred Mattox, [20]; 18. 12X-Tony Bruce Jr, [10]; 19. 38-Rick Pringle, [11]; 20. 22-Sean McClelland, [18]