Sam Hafertepe Breaks Through At Knoxville With 360 Nationals Prelim Night Score

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / ASCS – KNOXVILLE, IA – Racing into Victory Lane for the first time on Busch Light First Responders Night at the famed Knoxville Raceway, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. captured the opening checkered flag of the 31st annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank.

Sam’s 57th SawBlade.com A-Feature win with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, his win at the Knoxville Raceway makes him the 149th driver to make the turn into Victory Lane in 360cid competition.

“This one is because of Daryl [Turford]. He’s more in tune watching a race than anyone, and he’s the one that mentioned that a lot of these races are won through the middle, and when I tried it, it went.,” stated Hafertepe.

“We’ve been so close to winning a race here, so to finally win one, it’s awesome. The car was probably the best I’ve ever had here. We’ll see what it does during A-Feature hot laps and see if we can get better, but this is a pretty emotional win for me. Thank you to Miles [Hill]. Without him, none of us would be doing this.”

Chasing the opening six laps from the sixth starting spot, Hafertepe explored the Knoxville Raceway surface, finding the middle groove in the first and second turns. Pulling up on Matt Juhl, the Hills Racing No. 15h pulled even with the Octane Ink No. 09 in the first turn and rolled into the lead down the back straightaway.

Pulling away from the field with traffic looming, the slower cars did little to slow Sam but nearly took Matt Juhl for a ride on Lap 16 with the No. 09 suddenly sideways in the entry of the first turn to avoid running over Ryan Leavitt. Keeping from spinning, the race stayed green, with Juhl recovering in fifth.

Splitting lapped cars through the closing laps, Hafertepe made it to the finish with 1.355-seconds to spare. Using traffic to his advantage, the NOS Energy Drink No. 17w of Shane Golobic made it to second, with Lynton Jeffrey third. Leading the opening lap, Missouri’s Garet Williamson slipped to fourth, with Matt Juhl holding on to round out the top five.

Blake Hahn crossed sixth with Brady Bacon moving up from tenth to seventh. Jamie Ball was eighth with Cory Eliason and Justin Henderson in tenth.

The opening night of the 31st annual My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank saw a 43 car field on hand with SCE Gaskets Heat Race wins going to Brian Brown, Josh Baughman, Derek Hagar, Ryan Leavitt, and Jack Dover. BMRS B-Feature action went to Sammy Swindell.

Racing continues Friday, August 6, with Pits opening at 3:00 P.M. and Hot Laps getting underway at 6:45 P.M. [CDT].

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
Knoxville Raceway [Knoxville, Iowa]
My Place Hotels 360 Knoxville Nationals
Thursday, August 5, 2021

Car Count: 43

Hoosier Tire Qualifying: [2 cars per set, 2 laps each] 1. 17W, Shane Golobic, Fremont, CA [2], 15.802; 2. 01, Sammy Swindell, Lakeland, TN [3], 16.042; 3. 9, Ryan Giles, Grimes, IA [11], 16.047; 4. 83H, Justin Henderson, Tea, SD [21], 16.099; 5. 22MM, Kaleb Johnson, Sioux Falls, SD [25], 16.132; 6. 17A, Austin McCarl, Altoona, IA [27], 16.162; 7. 9M, Ricky Montgomery, Denver, CO [6], 16.243; 8. 15H, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Sunnyvale, TX [38], 16.282; 9. 5H, Michael Faccinto, Hanford, CA [31], 16.302; 10. 4W, Jamie Ball, Knoxville, IA [7], 16.312; 11. 53, Joe Beaver, Knoxville, IA [13], 16.319; 12. 52, Blake Hahn, Sapulpa, OK [4], 16.324; 13. 83, Lynton Jeffrey, Prairie City, IA [15], 16.327; 14. 09, Matt Juhl, Tea, SD [20], 16.327; 15. 24W, Garet Williamson, Columbia, MO [33], 16.354; 16. 26, Cory Eliason, Visalia, CA [19], 16.359; 17. 69, Brady Bacon, Broken Arrow, OK [24], 16.374; 18. 11, Roger Crockett, Broken Arrow, OK [28], 16.374; 19. 2M, Matt Moro, Polk City, IA [12], 16.387; 20. 63, JJ Hickle, Quilcene, WA [42], 16.412; 21. 21, Brian Brown, Grain Valley, MO [32], 16.422; 22. 70, Calvin Landis, Knoxville, IA [5], 16.44; 23. 9JR, Derek Hagar, Marion, AR [10], 16.445; 24. 22, Ryan Leavitt, Knoxville, IA [16], 16.459; 25. 53D, Jack Dover, Springfield, NE [29], 16.474; 26. 91, Kyle Reinhardt, Neptune City, NJ [43], 16.552; 27. 36, Josh Baughman, Odessa, TX [37], 16.564; 28. 24N, Nathan Mills, Bondurant, IA [14], 16.584; 29. 35L, Cody Ledger, Omaha, NE [9], 16.63; 30. 22X, Riley Goodno, Knoxville, IA [30], 16.709; 31. 2F, Casey Friedrichsen, Odebolt, IA [36], 16.715; 32. 23K, Rob Kubli, Milo, IA [26], 16.726; 33. 24T, Christopher Thram, Sanborn, MN [23], 16.728; 34. 22S, Slater Helt, Harrisonville, MO [34], 16.76; 35. 7TAZ, Tasker Phillips, Pleasantville, IA [35], 16.804; 36. 2, Chase Porter, St. Joseph, MO [18], 16.834; 37. 66, Chase Dunham, Leipsic, OH [17], 16.86; 38. 1K, Kelby Watt, Adel, IA [39], 16.865; 39. 86, Elliot Amdahl, Flandreau, SD [22], 16.878; 40. 33, Alan Zoutte, Knoxville, IA [41], 17.094; 41. 8M, Kade Morton, Coweta, OK [40], 17.109; 42. 18W, Lorne Wofford, Alamogordo, NM [1], 16.747; 43. 23, Devon Dobie, Wapakoneta, OH [8], 16.83;

SCE Gaskets Heat Races [Top 4 to A, remainder to the B]

Heat 1 [8 Laps]: 1. 21-Brian Brown[2]; 2. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[1]; 3. 26-Cory Eliason[3]; 4. 17W-Shane Golobic[6]; 5. 17A-Austin McCarl[5]; 6. 53-Joe Beaver[4]; 7. 2-Chase Porter[8]; 8. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen[7]; 9. 8M-Kade Morton[9]

Heat 2 [8 Laps]: 1. 36-Josh Baughman[1]; 2. 69-Brady Bacon[3]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 4. 70-Calvin Landis[2]; 5. 01-Sammy Swindell[6]; 6. 9M-Ricky Montgomery[5]; 7. 23K-Rob Kubli[7]; 8. 66-Chase Dunham[8]; 9. 18W-Lorne Wofford[9]

Heat 3 [8 Laps]: 1. 9JR-Derek Hagar[2]; 2. 83-Lynton Jeffrey[4]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[3]; 5. 24N-Nathan Mills[1]; 6. 9-Ryan Giles[6]; 7. 24T-Chris Thram[7]; 8. 23-Devon Dobie[9]; 9. 1K-Kelby Watt[8]

Heat 4 [8 Laps]: 1. 22-Ryan Leavitt[2]; 2. 09-Matt Juhl[4]; 3. 83H-Justin Henderson[6]; 4. 2M-Matt Moro[3]; 5. 35L-Cody Ledger[1]; 6. 5H-Michael Faccinto[5]; 7. 22S-Slater Helt[7]; 8. [DNS] 86-Elliot Amdahl

Heat 5 [8 Laps]: 1. 53D-Jack Dover[2]; 2. 63-JJ Hickle[3]; 3. 24W-Garet Williamson[4]; 4. 4W-Jamie Ball[5]; 5. 22MM-Kaleb Johnson[6]; 6. 22X-Riley Goodno[1]; 7. 33-Alan Zoutte[8]; 8. [DNF] 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[7]

BMRS B-Feature [Top 4 advance to the A-Feature]

B Feature [12 Laps]: 1. 01-Sammy Swindell[1]; 2. 9-Ryan Giles[2]; 3. 17A-Austin McCarl[4]; 4. 22MM-Kaleb Johnson[3]; 5. 5H-Michael Faccinto[6]; 6. 24N-Nathan Mills[8]; 7. 35L-Cody Ledger[9]; 8. 22X-Riley Goodno[10]; 9. 53-Joe Beaver[7]; 10. 9M-Ricky Montgomery[5]; 11. 2-Chase Porter[16]; 12. 24T-Chris Thram[13]; 13. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen[11]; 14. 8M-Kade Morton[22]; 15. 66-Chase Dunham[17]; 16. 23-Devon Dobie[20]; 17. 86-Elliot Amdahl[18]; 18. 33-Alan Zoutte[19]; 19. [DNF] 18W-Lorne Wofford[23]; 20. [DNF] 22S-Slater Helt[14]; 21. [DNF] 23K-Rob Kubli[12]; 22. [DNF] 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips[15]; 23. [DNF] 1K-Kelby Watt[21]

Sawblade.com A-Feature

A Feature [20 Laps]: 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[6]; 2. 17W-Shane Golobic[8]; 3. 83-Lynton Jeffrey[3]; 4. 24W-Garet Williamson[1]; 5. 09-Matt Juhl[2]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 7. 69-Brady Bacon[10]; 8. 4W-Jamie Ball[5]; 9. 26-Cory Eliason[9]; 10. 83H-Justin Henderson[7]; 11. 53D-Jack Dover[18]; 12. 11-Roger Crockett[11]; 13. 21-Brian Brown[14]; 14. 63-JJ Hickle[13]; 15. 9JR-Derek Hagar[16]; 16. 2M-Matt Moro[12]; 17. 17A-Austin McCarl[23]; 18. 22MM-Kaleb Johnson[24]; 19. 9-Ryan Giles[22]; 20. 01-Sammy Swindell[21]; 21. 36-Josh Baughman[20]; 22. 70-Calvin Landis[15]; 23. 22-Ryan Leavitt[17]; 24. 91-Kyle Reinhardt[19]

Lap Leader[s]: Garet Williamson 1; Matt Juhl 2-6; Sam Hafertepe, Jr, 7-20
Hard Charger: Jack Dover +7
High Point Driver: N/A
Provisional[s]: N/A

Event Points As of 8/5/2021

1. 17W-Shane Golobic-489
2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.-480
3. 83H-Justin Henderson-470
4. 83-Lynton Jeffrey-469
5. 09-Matt Juhl-463
6. 52-Blake Hahn-462
7. 24W-Garet Williamson-460
8. 4W-Jamie Ball-459
9. 69-Brady Bacon-453
10. 26-Cory Eliason-448
11. 1-Sammy Swindell-448
12. 17A-Austin McCarl-446
13. 22MM-Kaleb Johnson-446
14. 9-Ryan Giles-445
15. 21-Brian Brown-436
16. 11-Roger Crockett-435
17. 63-JJ Hickle-433
18. 53D-Jack Dover-432
19. 9JR-Derek Hagar-428
20. 2M-Matt Moro-425
21. 5H-Michael Faccinto-411
22. 22-Ryan Leavitt-410
23. 36-Josh Baughman-408
24. 70-Calvin Landis-407
25. 9M-Ricky Montgomery-405
26. 91-Kyle Reinhardt-401
27. 53-Joe Beaver-399
28. 24N-Nathan Mills-374
29. 35L-Cody Ledger-370
30. 22X-Riley Goodno-363
31. 24T-Christopher Thram-346
32. 2F-Casey Friedrichsen-345
33. 2-Chase Porter-342
34. 23K-Rob Kubli-330
35. 66-Chase Dunham-329
36. 22S-Slater Helt-328
37. 86-Elliot Amdahl-321
38. 8M-Kade Morton-320
39. 33-Alan Zoutte-320
40. 7TAZ-Tasker Phillips-319
41. 23-Devon Dobie-315
42. 18W-Lorne Wofford-308
43. 1K-Kelby Watt-308