Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Captures ASCS Sprint Car Victory At Caney Valley Speedway

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / ASCS – CANEY, KS – Getting back to Victory Lane in a hurry with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. rallied from seventh to lead the final six laps of Thursday’s SawBlade.com A-Feature at Caney Valley Speedway.

Coming off a rough couple weeks, the win was a much-needed morale boost for the entire team, “My guys worked so hard to get us here, and after getting our ass kicked during the All-Star Speedweek, and Haubstadt last week, we really needed this. For our whole team, for me, it started to feel like we couldn’t do this anymore, and you starting thinking if you need to quit, but no one on this team did, and it really showed tonight.”

Sam’s 49th career victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network; the Thursday showdown was the first race back for the National Tour since the world was turned on its head by COVID-19.

Giving chase while Scott Bogucki and Jordon Mallett battled furiously for the lead the first half of the A-Feature, with the pair trading the top spot for a moment on Lap 9, the Heidbreder Foundation/Hills Racing No. 15h advanced to the runner-up position on Lap 15 after Mallett had to hammer the brakes off the second turn when the field came back to green a lap prior.

Moving around the quarter-mile oval, Hafertepe tried nearly every line around the Caney Valley Speedway. Committed to the top of three and four, the opposite end of the Speedway saw varying lines with Sam finally getting the run off the fourth turn as the field clicked off Lap 25.

“It wasn’t about one and two so much as it was about turns three and four,” stated Sam of his varying lines around the Kansas oval. “The cushion got so far up there, and when it gets like that and gets fluffy, you don’t know how much grip is really up there, but I said the hell with it. We didn’t come here to run second.”

Able to steadily pull away from there, traffic over the final two revolutions was not enough to slow the No. 15h. Scott Bogucki held on for silver, despite losing brakes throughout the final 10-laps trying to keep the car loaded around the bottom groove. Roger Crockett crossed third with Jordon Mallett holding on for fourth. Advancing from eighth, Sean McClelland crossed fifth.

2020 Brodix Rookie of the Year contender, Garet Williamson, was sixth with California’s Justin Sanders putting a show from 18th after missing the scales after his Heat Races relegated him to racing through the second BMRS B-Feature. Battling near the front early on, South Dakota’s Eric Lutz ended up eighth with Blake Hahn going 23rd to ninth after taking a provisional. Canada’s Dylan Westbrook clawed his way to 10th after starting 21st.

Drawing a field if 36 drivers from 10 states and three countries, the Mo-State Construction Clash at Caney Valley Speedway presented by Terry Mattox Promotions saw four SCE Gasket Heat Race wins going to Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Matt Covington, Brandon Anderson, and Scott Bogucki. Heat Race winners also got an extra $50 for Schure Built Suspension. BMRS B-Features were topped by Kyle Clark and Justin Sanders. Three Provisionals were used. Alex Hills and Blake Hahn were based on Lucas Oil ASCS Owner Points, and Avery Goodman was giving an ASCS Sooner Region Provisional.

The next event for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network will be Saturday, June 27, at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. Opening at 5:00 P.M., the action at I-30 Speedway is slated to begin at 7:30 P.M. (CT) and includes IMCA Modifieds, Dixon Road U-Pull-It Factory Stocks, NOW600 Micros, and, Mod-Lites. The event is co-sanctioned with the ASCS Mid-South Region. Admission is $20 for adults with Kids 12 and under free thanks to Camron’s Upholstery.

I-30 Speedway is located on the I-30 Frontage Road, eastbound at Exit 126.

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV and ASCS Sooner Region
Caney Valley Speedway (Caney, Kan.)
Thursday, June 25, 2020

Car Count: 36

SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 2. 24-Garet Williamson[4]; 3. 9-Chase Randall[3]; 4. 37H-Matthew Howard[1]; 5. 20G-Jake Greider[6]; 6. 8-Alex Sewell[7]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn[8]; 8. 1S-Joey Schmidt[5]; 9. 14E-Kyle Bellm[9]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 2. 14-Jordon Mallett[8]; 3. 50Z-Zach Chappell[2]; 4. 7F-Noah Harris[3]; 5. 26M-Fred Mattox[7]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill[5]; 7. 17B-Ryan Bickett[4]; 8. 97-Kevin Cummings[6]; 9. 22X-Riley Goodno[9]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 55B-Brandon Anderson[1]; 2. 1-Sean McClelland[4]; 3. 11-Roger Crockett[8]; 4. 9$-Kyle Clark[2]; 5. 85-Forrest Sutherland[5]; 6. 15D-Andrew Deal[6]; 7. 21P-Robbie Price[7]; 8. 94L-Layne Himebaugh[9]; 9. (DQ) 16A-Justin Sanders[3] No. 16A did not report to scales

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 2. 24D-Danny Sams III[1]; 3. 5-Eric Lutz[7]; 4. 17W-Harli White[9]; 5. J2-John Carney II[2]; 6. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[3]; 7. 03-Joe Wood Jr[6]; 8. 88-Travis Reber[4]; 9. 47-Avery Goodman[8]

BMRS B-Feature (Top 3 from each advance to the A-Feature)

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 9$-Kyle Clark[1]; 2. 85-Forrest Sutherland[2]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[5]; 4. 77X-Alex Hill[4]; 5. J2-John Carney II[3]; 6. 03-Joe Wood Jr[6]; 7. 47-Avery Goodman[9]; 8. 88-Travis Reber[8]; 9. 97-Kevin Cummings[7]; 10. (DNS) 94L-Layne Himebaugh

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 16A-Justin Sanders[8]; 2. 8-Alex Sewell[2]; 3. 21P-Robbie Price[4]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 5. 37H-Matthew Howard[1]; 6. 17B-Ryan Bickett[5]; 7. 14E-Kyle Bellm[7]; 8. 1S-Joey Schmidt[6]; 9. (DNS) 15D-Andrew Deal; 10. (DNS) 22X-Riley Goodno

Sawblade.com A-Feature

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[7]; 2. 28-Scott Bogucki[1]; 3. 11-Roger Crockett[4]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett[2]; 5. 1-Sean McClelland[8]; 6. 24-Garet Williamson[6]; 7. 16A-Justin Sanders[18]; 8. 5-Eric Lutz[3]; 9. 52-Blake Hahn[23]; 10. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[21]; 11. 95-Matt Covington[9]; 12. 17W-Harli White[5]; 13. 24D-Danny Sams III[11]; 14. 20G-Jake Greider[16]; 15. 55B-Brandon Anderson[10]; 16. 9-Chase Randall[12]; 17. 8-Alex Sewell[20]; 18. 50Z-Zach Chappell[13]; 19. 85-Forrest Sutherland[19]; 20. 47-Avery Goodman[25]; 21. 9$-Kyle Clark[17]; 22. 7F-Noah Harris[15]; 23. 26M-Fred Mattox[14]; 24. 21P-Robbie Price[22]; 25. 77X-Alex Hill[24]

Lap Leader(s): Scott Bogucki 1-8; 10-24; Jordon Mallett 9; Sam Hafertepe, Jr, 25-30
Hard Charger: Dylan Westbrook +11
High Point Driver: Jordon Mallett
Provisional(s): Blake Hahn (Points); Alex Hill (Points); Avery Goodman (Regional)