Sam Hafertepe Jr. Opens Season With Top Fives Against All Star Circuit Of Champions

Story By: BRYAN HULBERT / HILL’S RACING – SYLVANIA, GA – Seeing off-season hustle become success was Sam Hafertepe, Jr.’s reward this past weekend as the Heidbreder Foundation / Hills Racing No. 15h rolled to a pair of top-five finishes, including a weekend high podium run, against the All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 at Screven Motor Speedway.

A long time return to the Georgia oval, Sam’s opening effort saw him crack off a time good enough for seventh fastest before winning his Heat and Dash. Positioned on the right of the front row, a snag in traffic during the Friday opener relegated Sam to a fifth-place finish.

“We had a really good car in clean air and when we got to traffic, I just made a wrong decision and tried to go around when I should have slid the guy and when I did, I got tight and blew through the cushion and lost two spots there, then trying to get back underway cost myself two more but after that we maintained,” explained Hafertepe.

Coming back Saturday, the Texas shoe was eighth fastest to start the night off with his Heat and Dash results setting him third in the A-Feature. Holding the position to the end, Hafertepe trailed Aaron Reutzel and Kyle Reinhardt to the finish.

“It’s a different feel than running 360’s and going into the second night I felt like I had a good idea of what direction we needed to go, and for the most part, I feel like we fixed the issues we were having, stated Sam. “During the A-Feature, early on like Sheldon was running the top and a few guys middle and bottom, so you had to move around a little bit, but by the end of the race, it cleaned a line around the bottom and started taking a little rubber.”

Running a mixture of events during the 2021 season, Sam next outing will be at Volusia Speedway Park with the All Star Circuit of Champions presented by Mobil 1 on February 2 and 3, then with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Cars on February 5, 6, and 7.