Hafertepe Earns Third In Park City Cup / Air Capital Shootout With NCRA

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / HILLS RACING – PARK CITY, KS – Sam Hafertepe, Jr. rolled to 81-Speedway to get a few more test laps out of his Cool Chassis with the Hills Racing Team No. 15h and, despite a lackluster racing surface, ended the weekend third in the Park City Cup/Air Capital Shootout with NCRA.

“We went there to test some things out, but with the track the way it was we really couldn’t do a lot of testing because the surface was so poor, but we did figure a few things out. We really did feel like we had the best car in the feature, but just couldn’t get to the front like we needed too,” commented Hafertepe of the weekend.

Making his way through twin Heat Races on Friday, the 25-lap preliminary feature ended with Hafertepe crossing sixth. Returning Saturday, Sam found himself starting seventh in a very stacked Heat Race.

“We made some gains from the first night to the second night, and got some balance in the car,” commented Sam. “We had a pretty stacked Heat Race and I feel like we flexed some muscle coming from seventh to third in a race that had Swindell, McCarl, Dover, and Pittman.”

Gridding Saturday’s feature fifth, Sam moved to fourth on the start as everyone chase Blake Hahn. Slipping by Wayne Johnson for third on Lap 12, Sam made several attempts at the runner-up spot but was not able to clear the No. 45x of Johnny Herrera before the checkered flag fell.

“Even with the third-place finish, it paid pretty well, but with a car that was that good, you really want to win. Still, it’s a good way to start the team and that’s really our main approach is to get the team going on the right foot with a little money in the bank account. If you can do that, it makes the whole season a lot easier.”

Shifting gears to the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com, the Heidbreder Foundation No. 15h will return to the Texas Motor Speedway Dirt Track on Friday, April 6 and Saturday, April 7 at Tony Stewart presents the Vankor Texas Sprint Car Nationals where Sam has four wins to his credit, including the sweep of the event in 2017.

“With what we’ve learned at Devil’s Bowl, and even this past weekend, I feel like we’re going to be as good as we have been in the past,” stated Hafertepe, “There’s going to be a lot of good teams down there this weekend, and really, if there is anyone I’m watching it’s Swindell. They seem to have their stuff rolling the best right now out of anyone that I’ve seen but I think we’re close to where we need to be, but even then with Texas, you never really know where you’re at until they drop the green.”

Both nights of racing get underway at 7:30 P.M. (CT).