From Daryl Turford, photo courtesy of Mudclodbob
Sunnyvale, TX — It wasn’t quite the storybook ending Sam Hafertepe Jr had been looking for but a 2nd place finish with the World of Outlaws (WoO) this past Saturday night at his family’s Lone Star Speedway had the Sunnyvale, Texas native smiling from ear to ear. Hafertepe chased Joey Saldana all feature long but had to settle for 2nd in front of the local crowd.
Sam started out the evening in the Lone Star Speedway #15h by setting the 11th fastest time in warm-ups.
“The car felt pretty good but I didn’t feel like we were making enough miles per hour”, explained Sam. “I had Kory (Miller) and Daryl (Turford) change gears and make some minor adjustments on the car”.
The gear change and adjustments seemed to have a positive effect on the #15h as Sam laid down the 2nd fastest time trial lap to that point. Unfortunately as time trials went on Sam was dropped to 6th fastest overall.
“We were pretty happy with our time trial run”, said Sam. “The track seemed to get faster as time trials went on but we out-timed some pretty good cars so we figured we were in a good situation”.
Sam lined up 3rd for his heat but hit a slick spot on the start and dropped to 5th going into turns 1 and 2. Hafertepe immediately went to the topside of the facility and was able to blast back past Tony Bruce Jr and into 4th. Sam spent the rest of the race chasing down Kraig Kinser but despite being able to close him down he was never able to make an attempt to take the position.
Sam’s strong time trial run resulted in Hafertepe being eligible for a spot in the Crane Cams Dash. As luck would have it Sam’s competitors left him with the precious #1 pill which put Hafertepe on the pole with Joey Saldana on the outside.
The Crane Cams Dash turned out to be a preview of the feature. Hafertepe got the jump when the green flag waved and led the field into turns 1 and 2. Saldana however drove his Kasey Kahne owned sprinter higher into the turn and used the momentum set up a slide job on Sam entering turns 3 and 4. Saldana completed the pass in turn 3 and then Sam attempted to drive back underneath him but didn’t quite have enough momentum to complete the pass. Saldana and Hafertepe set a blistering pace the rest of the way as Sam ended up settling for 2nd and an outside front row starting position for the feature event.
“Joey is just so tough on this type of race track”, said Sam following the Crane Cams Dash. “Our car is pretty good but we need it to be absolutely perfect to have any chance to beat Joey right now because he’s very, very fast tonight”.
The Plumbfast Racing Team went to work at trying to improve the performance of the Lone Star Speedway #15h and Sam rolled out for the feature and a chance to earn his first career WoO feature at his home track in front of his home fans.
Hafertepe again got the jump on Saldana as the duo streaked under the green flag. Sam entered on the bottom of the speedway and gradually slid up the track in an attempt to kill any pass attempt by Saldana. Saldana entered high and again tried to use his momentum to power past Sam.
“I made the right move on the start and did everything you are supposed to do to hold off Joey”, said Sam. “Unfortunately Joey is just so smart and has so much experience that he knows what to do in every situation. He made the right decision and that led to a drag race down the back straightaway”.
Saldana carried a little more momentum into turn 3 and slid up in front of Sam. Hafertepe countered the move by driving low across turn 3 into 4 but nearly met with disaster as the car slid sideways, killing his momentum and giving 3rd place running Steve Kinser a shot at Sam.
“Unfortunately the bottom hadn’t been blown off yet”, explained Sam. “As a result the car got away from me a bit but it was no big deal, I think it looked worse than it actually was”.
Kinser tried to take advantage of the situation and dove under Sam in turns 1 and 2 but Hafertepe was able to counter the move and blast back past Kinser into 2nd.
Saldana, Sam and Kinser set a blistering pace through the opening 22 of the 30 laps. Saldana was clearly the best car in open track but Hafertepe was able to make some moves and closed in on Joey in lapped traffic.
“I was taking some pretty crazy chances there in traffic”, said Sam. “I made some moves I normally wouldn’t make and had to do some pretty wild slide jobs but I wanted this one really bad and I wasn’t going to leave anything on the table”.
Hafertepe was within striking distance of Saldana when the race’s only caution flew on lap 22.
“That yellow killed us”, said Sam. “I didn’t have a chance to beat Joey in open track, if we were going to get him it was going to be in lapped traffic”.
Saldana made a good restart and Sam followed the WoO’s leading feature winner into turn 1. Hafertepe tried desperately to close down on Joey and mount a charge but couldn’t quite track him down and took a career best-tying 2nd place finish.
“The other time we finished 2nd it was to Joey”, said an elated Hafertepe. “It seemed like the same story all over again as we chased him throughout the feature but he again he was just flat out better than us tonight and I have no problem losing to Joey because he deserved to win this race”.
Despite coming so close to winning Sam was still thrilled.
“I don’t know how my guys could have had this car any better for the feature race”, said Sam. “Kory and Daryl busted their butts all week and there was a ton of pressure on our team to perform in this race so to come through like we did makes us really feel good. We are one of the youngest team’s out here but I really think we have one of the best teams anywhere”.
The race was also very important to the team as it was one of the few times that they were able to race in front of Sam’s parents this year.
“I kept telling them to give Joey the black flag”, said Sam’s Mom Lisa jokingly. “We are just so proud of Sam and the guys right now. We worked so hard to put this race on and to see Sammy do as well as he did just made this night so much more special to us”.
The race also meant a lot to Sam’s father.
“It meant so much to me to be able to greet Sam on the front straightaway”, said Sam Sr. “I know he wanted to win this race so much and he did such a great job trying to make it happen. I couldn’t ask for a better effort and I know he’s going to get one of these wins soon”.
Sam and the team will now finally have a chance to relax following one of the busiest schedules that any team has run this season. The team had planned to compete in The Short Track Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas but rain eliminated those plans. As a result Sam’s next race will take place at Lowe’s Motor Speedway as he competes in The World Finals on November 5-7.
The Lone Star WoO race will be Sam’s last race with a 410 in the frame rails of the family owned car as Sam will be behind the wheel of the Pancho’s Racing Products #93 for The World Finals.
“I’m really excited about driving The Pancho’s Racing Products car”, said Sam. “Pancho, Tab and the guys there are first class and are giving me great equipment and I really think that we can put the car up front.”
The final night of The World Finals will be broadcast live on SpeedTV on Saturday evening at 8pm.