Sam Hafertepe Jr. Wins Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals Preliminary ASCS Sprint A-Main

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / ASCS – MESQUITE, TX – Picking up his eighth win of the season with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. also made it eight career National Tour triumphs at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway Friday night.

Winning the 47th Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals opener the second year in a row, Hafertepe led start-to-finish behind the wheel of the Hills Racing No. 15h. The win also moves Sam to third on the all-time win list with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, passing Wayne Johnson with his 55th career triumph.

“Every time we come to the Bowl, we want to win. This place means a lot to me just because I have so many family and friends around here, and with COVID this year, we really haven’t been able to race here, so it was good to come back and win,” stated Sam.

“I was actually a little nervous with the car coming into the night. We wrecked at Short Track, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect tonight. We’re still dialing it in, but we got it rolling really good in the Feature, and honestly, was one of the better cars I’ve had to roll the cushion here.”

Fending off early charges from Jack Dover and cautions throughout the night’s 25-lap affair, Sam pulled the field by 3.643-seconds when all was said and done. Making it to second after a caution working Lap 16, Scott Bogucki made a hair raising pass on Jack Dover and Justin Sanders through the third and fourth turn to get the position, and also made himself the night’s Hard Charger.

Dover held on for third, with Blake Hahn moving up to fourth after falling back early on. Justin Sanders slipped to fifth.

Knocking on the door of a top-five finish several times, John Carney II settled for sixth with Jordon Mallett seventh. Running fourth the until Lap 13, Harli White ended up eighth with Matt Covington making several do or die moves to advance from 16th to ninth. Colorado’s Jake Bubak completed the top ten.

The 47th Devil’s Bowl Winter Nationals concludes on Saturday, October 17, with IMCA RaceSaver Sprint Cars, USRA Limited Modifieds, and Texas Winged Modifieds joining the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series.

Devil’s Bowl Speedway is located at 1711 Lawson Rd. in Mesquite, Texas. Admission is $25 with Seniors, Military, and Kids 13-15 admitted for only $10. Children 12 and under are free into the grandstands.

Race Results:

ASCS National Tour | ASCS Lone Star Region
Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Mesquite, Texas)
47th Winter Nationals (Night 1)
Friday, October 16, 2020

Car Count: 39

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

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 53-Jack Dover[2]; 2. 77X-Alex Hill[1]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 4. 24D-Danny Sams III[6]; 5. 2X-Tucker Doughty[4]; 6. 8-Devon Borden[7]; 7. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[5]; 8. (DNS) 17G-Channin Tankersley

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 4-Austin Mundie[1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 3. 1S-Joey Schmidt[2]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[3]; 5. 1J-Danny Jennings[8]; 6. 55B-Brandon Anderson[6]; 7. (DNF) 48-Cody Stacy[7]; 8. (DNF) 11A-Austin O’Neal[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 44-Chris Martin[2]; 2. 9-Chase Randall[1]; 3. 74B-Jake Bubak[4]; 4. 24-Garet Williamson[6]; 5. 72-Chris Tarrant[5]; 6. 20G-Jake Greider[7]; 7. 12-Brandon Howle[3]; 8. (DNS) 33-Mike Merrell

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 14-Jordon Mallett[3]; 2. 17W-Harli White[4]; 3. 11X-John Carney II[5]; 4. 88-Travis Reber[2]; 5. 21P-Robbie Price[6]; 6. 45X-Johnny Herrera[7]; 7. 17B-Ryan Bickett[8]; 8. 82C-Christian Kinnisen[1]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[2]; 2. 16A-Justin Sanders[6]; 3. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 4. 22X-Steven Shebester[3]; 5. 45-Martin Edwards[4]; 6. 19-Colby Thornhill[7]; 7. (DNF) 6M-Blake Mallory[1]

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

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett[2]; 2. 2X-Tucker Doughty[3]; 3. 45-Martin Edwards[5]; 4. 88-Travis Reber[4]; 5. 20G-Jake Greider[6]; 6. 17B-Ryan Bickett[8]; 7. 19-Colby Thornhill[7]; 8. (DNF) 1S-Joey Schmidt[1]; 9. (DNF) 47X-Dylan Westbrook[9]; 10. (DNF) 33-Mike Merrell[10]; 11. (DNS) 6M-Blake Mallory; 12. (DNS) 17G-Channin Tankersley

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 21P-Robbie Price[3]; 2. 24D-Danny Sams III[1]; 3. 45X-Johnny Herrera[6]; 4. 22X-Steven Shebester[2]; 5. 55B-Brandon Anderson[7]; 6. 8-Devon Borden[5]; 7. 82C-Christian Kinnisen[10]; 8. 12-Brandon Howle[9]; 9. (DNF) 72-Chris Tarrant[4]; 10. (DNF) 48-Cody Stacy[8]; 11. (DNS) 11A-Austin O’Neal

Sawblade.com A-Feature

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 28-Scott Bogucki[10]; 3. 53-Jack Dover[2]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 5. 16A-Justin Sanders[4]; 6. 11X-John Carney II[9]; 7. 14-Jordon Mallett[3]; 8. 17W-Harli White[5]; 9. 95-Matt Covington[16]; 10. 74B-Jake Bubak[13]; 11. 2X-Tucker Doughty[19]; 12. 11-Roger Crockett[17]; 13. 44-Chris Martin[8]; 14. 24D-Danny Sams III[20]; 15. 9-Chase Randall[12]; 16. 24-Garet Williamson[14]; 17. 17B-Ryan Bickett[24]; 18. 4-Austin Mundie[6]; 19. 48-Cody Stacy[25]; 20. 45-Martin Edwards[21]; 21. 77X-Alex Hill[11]; 22. 1J-Danny Jennings[15]; 23. 21P-Robbie Price[18]; 24. 45X-Johnny Herrera[22]; 25. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[23]

Lap Leader(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr, 1-25
Hard Charger: Scott Bogucki +8
High Point Driver: Justin Sanders
Provisional(s): Dylan Westbrook (Points); Ryan Bickett (Points); Cody Stacy (Regional)