Dirt Racing
Hafertepe Hands Down Winner
KNOXVILLE, IA (August 5, 2021): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. captured the first night of the 360 Sprint Car Nationals at Knoxville Raceway, besting a field of 43 racers assembled from around the country and from Australia. It was his first career win at the famed oval for the driver from Sunnyvale, TX, and it should put him near the front of the A Main on Saturday night.
After being reminded by one of his crew that many of the races at Knoxville are won from the middle of the track, Hafertepe made it a point to try that groove which had been neglected for most of the night. “I knew we were good, I tried the middle and I said ‘oh, my,’ and I thought that we would win the race.”
Hafertepe did not just win the race, he dominated it. He gave props to his engine builder, Charlie Fisher. “We had to figure out how to get the power to the ground,” Hafertepe said. “It was awesome.”
While he had no threats this night, Hafertepe has had his share of disappointments in past outings at Knoxville. “We don’t race here enough, we’re playing catch-up here every year.” For now, at least, it appears as though it will be the other racers struggling to catch up to him.
Garrett Williamson and Matt Juhl brought the field to the green flag for the start of the twenty lapper. Lynton Jeffrey and current ASCS National Tour points leader Blake Hahn were in row two. Jamie Ball lined up inside of Hafertepe in the third row, with Justin Henderson and Shane Golobic behind them as the last of the inverted cars. Cory Eilason and Brady Bacon were in the fifth row, with Roger Crokett and Matt Moro setting the median for the starting grid.
While Juhl fired frst off turn four, it was Williamson who rolled the inside line in turns one and two to take command on the opening lap. His lead was brief, though, as Juhl came storming back around him to lead lap two. By then, Hafertepe was already up to third, ahead of Jeffrey, Hahn, and Golobic.
Hafertepe used that middle groove to take second on lap three and he had some distance to make up on the leader. It took him a couple of laps to reel in Juhl and they raced side by side for one round before Hafertepe drove by using the middle groove.
Hafertepe began to pull away from Juhl, who continued to pound the cushion. They established comfortable margins while Jeffrey motored along in third.
Juhl’s promising performance came to an end with sixteen laps completed. He got into turn one too hot and a lapped car was in his favored top groove. He had to check up and his car got crosswise in the middle of the corner. Juhl saved the car but he lost several positions.
That moved Jeffrey into second, a good ways behind Hafertepe. In the final laps, however, Golobic was on the charge and he overtook Jeffrey. The pass was not entirely clean and the Australian pilot was quite miffed by the contact.
“It’s a good car,” he said, “I’m disappointed, I think we were a second place car.”
For his part, Golobic was pleased by the outcome and he was not apologetic about how he got to the second spot. “It’s all about getting ourselves situated for Saturday night, and we did that,” he added confidently.
Hafertepe completed the twenty laps in just just under six minutes. The race time was five minutes and 52.214 seconds, to be exact. Golobic was 1.355 seconds behind. Jeffrey was third, ahead of Williamson and Juhl. Hahn, Bacon, Ball, Eliason, and Henderson completed the top ten.
Five heats were spun off very quickly, with the wins going to Brian Brown, Josh Baughman, Ryan Giles, Ryan Leavitt, and Jack Dover. Sammy Swindell took the B Main victory. Golobic turned in the fastest lap in qualifications, with a time of 15.802 seconds.
Finish: Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Shane Golobic, Lynton Jeffrey, Garrett Williamson, Matt Juhl, Blake Hahn, Brady Bacon, Jamie Ball, Cory Eliason, Justin Henderson, Jack Dover, Roger Crockett, Brian Brown, J.J. Hickle, Derek Hagar, Matt Moro, Austin McCarl, Kaleb Johnson, Ryan Giles, Sammy Swindell, Josh Baughman, Calvin Landis, Ryan Leavitt, Kyle Reinhardt.
DNQ: Michael Faccinto, Nathan Mills, Cody Ledger, Riley Goodno, Joe Beaver, Ricky Montgomery, Chase Porter, Christopher Thram, Casey Friedrichsen, Kade Morton, Chase Dunham, Devon Dobie; Elliot Amdahl, Alan Zoutte, Lorne Wofford, Slater Helt, Rob Kubli, Tasker Phillips, Kelby Watt.
PITTSBURGH, PA (May 18, 2024) – Pittsburgh’s Pennsylvania Motor Speedway and Latrobe Speedway are cancelling their Saturday programs because of rain.
“We can’t get a break,” said SNB Promotions Dennis Bates. “The speedway grounds are too wet after Friday’s storms. We are looking forward to the next Blue Collar Night at the Races on August 10.”
Next Saturday Latrobe Speedway plans the Memorial Day Clash as the Penn Ohio Pro Stocks Touring Series returns to Latrobe. They will be joined by the FASTrak Pro Late Models, the Joe’s Body Shop & Towing Pure Stocks, the Special T Metals LLC Modified 4 Cylinders, and the Marilungo Disposal LLC Strictly Stock 4 Cylinders.
“Heavy overnight rains and saturated grounds have forced us to cancel tonight’s Action Event + RUSH Sportsman Modifieds event,” PPMS said in a statement. “This marks our third consecutive cancelation.”
Next Saturday PPMS plans the Choice for Change Action Event + RUSH Sprint Cars.
They’re not the only ones. Lernerville Speedway was forced to cancel Friday night, which was the third week in-a-row for ‘The Action Track’. The make up date for the BRP Modified Tour portion will be held on July, 26.
MECHANICSBURG, PA (May 17, 2024): Lucas Wolfe had to play defense in the final five laps of the 410 Sprint Car race, but the strategy paid off. He captured his first win of the season at Williams Grove Speedway. But, getting his first career win at the track was Andy Best in the 358 Sprint Cars.
“I did see him (Freddie Rahmer, Jr.), he was beside me, but I had good enough traction coming off turn two, and I got to three ahead of him,” Wolfe said. Rahmer was not done, though. With Wolfe stuck behind a lapped car, Rahmer took to the outside in an unsuccessful attempt to overtake the leader. “I had trouble getting by a lapped car, so I took the ‘all over line,’” Wolfe added. His final defensive maneuver was to crowd Rahmer going down the backstretch with two to go.
Kyle Reinhardt and Wolfe were on the front row under the point average handicapping system employed for this race. Devon Borden and Chad Trout were in row two. Tim Wagaman, Jr. and Rahmer were the final cars subject to the handicap. Row four consisted of Dylan Cisney and Ryan Wilson. Jeff Halligan and Jarrett Cavalet made up row five. The sixth belonged to Logan Wagner and Matt Campbell.
Wolfe got a great start, and he led Reinhardt and company by several car lengths entering turn one. Trout ducked under Reinhardt for second, and Rahmer settled into fourth as the field rounded turn two. Borden, Wagaman, Wilson, Cisney, Campbell, and Halligan followed. As the field began to sort itself out, a light rain began to fall, resulting in a caution on lap two.
After a brief delay, the cars returned to the track to complete the race. Wolfe started on the point, and he maintained the lead when the race went green again. Rahmer moved ahead of Reinhart, but the running order otherwise remained static.
Another caution came on two laps later for the spin by Tony Jackson in turn three. On the ensuing restart, Wolfe led Trout, Rahmer, Reinhardt, Wagaman, and Borden.
Halligan, who was running inside the top ten at the time, spun himself out of contention on lap seven. That turned out to be the final incident of the race.
Wolfe opened up a slight margin over Trout on the restart. Rahmer continued in third, with Wagaman and Borden now running ahead of Reinhardt.
Soon after the halfway signal, Rahmer began to challenge Trout for second. Trout was able to stay ahead of the current points leader for a couple of laps, but he lost the position in turn one when he got over the cushion with fifteen laps complete.
Rahmer then began to close in on Wolfe. By lap twenty, Rahmer was stalking the leader. Rahmer tried the inside line, but Wolfe won the drag race to turn three to preserve his dwindling lead.
Wolfe caught up to a lapper soon thereafter, but he could not make the pass to earn some breathing room. Rahmer came charging back, this time to the outside. Wolfe moved up the track on the backstretch with two to go, and Rahmer had to burp the throttle a bit. That allowed Wolfe to scoot away by a car length or two.
Wolfe maintained the advantage to the checkered flag. Rahmer was a close second, followed by Wagaman, Trout, and Campbell. Campbell’s strong stretch run earned him the hard charger award. Borden, Reinhardt, Wagner, Justin Whittal, and Cisney completed the top ten.
Reinhardt, Wolfe, and Borden captured the heat wins. Ryan Taylor prevailed in the B Main. The evening’s fastest qualifier was Wagaman, who toured the speedway in 16.609 seconds.
Andy Best romped to an easy win in the nightcap for the 358 Sprinters. “It was a really good piece,” he said with a sigh of relief. “We struggled the last three weeks, we were a lapped car. We just threw things at it,” the Delaware pilot explained.
Best had a prime starting spot for the twenty lapper, outside row one. On the pole was Logan Rumsey. In the second row were Derek Locke and Steve Owings. The third row paired Sam Miller and Joe Timmins. Chase Gutshall and Tyler Rutherford made up row four. Behind them were Justin Foster and Dwight Leppo. Wyatt Hinkle and Kyle Spence occupied row six.
Best hopped out to the early lead, with Locke, Owings, Rumsey, Gutshall, and Leppo in tow. As Best drove away from the field with ease, the first five remained in order, but the second five were battling for positions.
Best’s lead was erased when the red flag came out for the spectacular crash by Miller at the entry to turn three. He was not hurt, but his car was demolished.
Best picked right up again after the stoppage. He completed the remaining ten laps with Locke giving chase. Owings, Gutshall, and Rumsey were the first five finishers. Next in line were Hinkle, Spence, Doug Hammaker, Leppo, and Adam Carberry.
Rumsey, Best, and Locke scored the heat wins. Carberry claimed the B Main, which put him into position to be the hard charger.
Next week, Williams Grove Speedway will present the John Trone Tribute race, with a hefty $10,039 going to the winner of the 410 Sprints. The PASS IMCA 305 Sprints will provide support. Fireworks will also be included. The merry month of May will close with a 410 and 358 Sprint Car doubleheader. The 410s will pay $8,000 to the winner. Extra money will be on the line for the 358s as well, with $2,500 on the winner’s nose from a purse that will exceed $12,000. The first Friday in June will be fan appreciation night. The 410s will be joined by the USAC East Coast Sprints with 5Gs going to the winner of the Bill Gallagher Memorial.
FRANKLIN, PA (May 15, 2024): After a delayed, but highly successful opening event featuring the FAST on Dirt Sprint Cars, Tri City Raceway Park will be ready to present its second show of the season on Sunday, May 19. The program will consist of five exciting divisions, and the high speed thrills will start at 6 p.m.
“We were extremely happy with the support and encouragement of the racers and the fans for our first program,” Josh Shiffer said. “We learned some things that will make future events better and we will be ready to incorporate new ideas as we move forward,” the track’s new owner added.
Two time and defending track champion, A.J. Flick, served notice last Sunday that he is prepared to compete for a third consecutive title in the Krill Recycling 410 Sprint Cars. He romped to the win against the touring series and he will compete against the best that Western PA has to offer this week.
In the 21st Century Energy Group 358 Modifieds, Chad Reitz took his Ford powered car to victory lane. He held off the Chevrolet contingent, which was led by young Hayden Holden and veteran Steve Slater. They will be back to give the Bowtie fans something to cheer about.
There was a banner field in the Hovis Auto & Truck Supply Pro Stocks last week, too. Regional star Chris Schneider took the top prize, but the question on everybody’s mind is whether he will be back for a second crack at the fast half mile. Even if Schneider does not participate this week, top runners like Tim Bish, Hunter Exley, Josh Seippel, Rod Laskey, Pat Fielding, and many more will battle for top honors.
Matt Urey kicked off his title defense with a win in the 4 Your Car Connection Mini Stocks. He made a late race pass to take the victory away from Dillon Morrison, who was driving a nearly identical Honda. They will face a dozen or more challengers.
Joining the fun will be the Old Skool Kool Tour vintage racers.
Pit gates will swing open at 2 p.m., and spectators can grab their favorite seats starting at 4 p.m. Practice sessions will begin at 5 p.m. and the races will start at 6 p.m.
The adult admission price will be $15. Seniors (ages 62 and up), students (ages 11 to 16), and military will be admitted for $13, all with proper I.D. The children (ages 10 and under) will be admitted for free. Pit passes will be $35, with the exception of children ages two and under, who will be admitted to the pits for $15.
If you cannot make it to Tri City Raceway Park this weekend, plan to come out Memorial Day weekend for the first appearance of the BRP Modified Tour. The 305 Sprint Cars, Pro Stocks, Mini Stocks, and Vintage racers will also be on the May 26 card.
Remember that you will need to check the Facebook page, Tri City Raceway Park, for current information. The former website is not updated and will soon be replaced.
Tri-City Raceway Park is located just a few miles north of Franklin, PA, at 3430 State Route 417 in Oakland Township. Professional auto racing will be presented in a family friendly atmosphere most Sunday evenings from May through Labor Day weekend.
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