Hafertepe Wins the 2011 Canadian Sprint Car Nationals

By T.J. Buffenbarger

Ohsweken, ON – (September 17, 2011) – Sam Hafertepe, Jr. waited until Saturday to take the track at Ohsweken Speedway and made the wait worthwhile by winning the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals feature event. Hafertepe passed Jamie Collard on lap 12 and motored away for his first Canadian Nationals championship driving his family owned team. Hafertepe collected $11,000 dollars for his effort.

“I have to thank my crew guy Daryl (Turford) and his Dad Peter for all of their help,” said Hafertepe. “We waited until Saturday to save our equipment for the big show on Saturday, and it paid off for us tonight.”

The outlaw style redraw for the first three rows put Alain Bergeron and Jamie Collard on the front row for the 35-lap feature event. Bergeron moved up the race track at the start and took the lead while Shane Stewart and Hafertepe moved into third and fourth on lap one. Then Stewart, Hafertepe, Steve Poirier, Justin Barger, and Chuck Hebing raged a torrid battle for third spot as Collard worked on closing the gap on Bergeron.

Poirier moved up to third briefly as Colalrd got the break he needed when Bergeron slipped off turn two and allowed him to make up significant distance on lap six. Collard took the lead from Bergeron on lap 10, and Bergeron began to plunge through the field. Collard, Hafertepe, and Poirier raced three wide for the lead through lapped traffic on lap 11 before Hafertepe swept to the lead using the top side of the speedway on lap 12.

At that point Hafertepe, Collard, Poirier, Bergeron, Stewart, and Barger were all within striking distance of the lead until Hafertepe swept around a large group of slower cars on lap 16 to put significant distance between himself and the rest of the field. Collard moved into second position and cleared the slower traffic by lap 20, but Hafertepe had built up a straightaway advantage.

Meanwhile former Canadian Nationals winner Wayne Johnson, who started 24th, was up to seventh spot and on the move. Just as it appeared the race would go non-stop the caution appeared for Scott Kreutter’s slide off turns one and two with 28 laps completed.

Hafertepe had three lapped cars between himself and Collard during the restart. Hafertepe pulled away, but Collard slowly started reeling Hafertepe in using the bottom of the track. Hafertepe changed his racing line slightly and once again pulled away from Collard. Collard then had to worry about Johnson, who was up to third spot and closing quickly.

As Hafertepe crossed the finish line first Johnson swept around Collard by inches to claim second spot. Poirier and Stewart rounded out the top five.

Hafertepe, Kevin Ward, Jr, Barger, Bergeron, Jessica Zemken, and Don Adamczyk, were the fastest drivers in group qualifications. Hafertepe won the Lane Automotive sponsored award fastest driver overall during group qualifications while Poirier won the award sponsored by Bicknell Racing Products for the fastest Canadian driver.

Heat race victories went to Hafertepe, Jared Zimbardi, Collard, Bergeron, Hebing, and Stewart won heat race events. Bryan Howland, Todd Hoddick, and Gregg Dalman won B-Main events. Dain Naida won the Sicard RV Little Feature that gave him the final starting spot in the Canadian Nationals “A” Feature and a $1,000 bonus.

During the sixth group qualification session Bob Crawford flipped in turn one. He was uninjured. During heat race #2 Steve Goldner spun in turn two and Andy Teunessen had nowhere to go and flipped hard in turn two. During the little feature a huge flip on the backstretch took out Adam West, Derek Jonathan, Jesse Costa, Kyle Moffit, Patrick Veigneault,

2011 Canadian Sprint Car Nationals
Ohsweken Speedway – Ohsweken, Ontario
Saturday September 17th, 2011

Group Qualifications:

Time Trial Group #1: 1. 15H – Sam Hafertepe, Jr, 13.682, 2. 51 – Bryan Howland, 14.024, 3. 28fm – Steve Poirier, 14.025, 4. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 14.241, 5. 17 – Jared Horstman, 14.402, 6. 52x – Scott Kreutter, 14.408, 7. 67 – Chris Durand, 14.804, 8. 5 – Keith Dempster, 15.145, 9. 3 – Wayne Ashton. DNS: 10 – Jake Brown , 21 – Matt Lumbert
Time Trial Group #2: 1. 13 – Kevin Ward, Jr., 14.118; 2. 0 – Dave Dykstra, 14.254; 3. 35 Jared Zimbardi, 14.634; 4. 30g – Steve Goldner, 14.768; 5. 30 – Adam West, 14.868; 6. 51L – Lee Ladoucer, 14.906; 7. 31 – Andy Teunessen, 14.961; 8. 15aw – April Wilson, 15.178; 9. 36 – Mike Stelter, 15.215; 10. 99 – Jeff Fraiser, 15.358; 11. 9jr – Tim Zack, 15.552.

Time Trial Group #3: 1. 32 – Justin Barger, 14.321; 2. 7x – Jamie Collard, 14.336; 3. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 14.501; 4. 49 – Todd Hoddock, 14.665; 5. 42w – Rick Wilson, 14.771; 6. 11 – Jamie Turner, 14.812; 7. 10x – Jeff Cook, 14.825; 8. 81 – Derek Jonathan, 14.865; 9. 24k – Devon Caron, 15.885; 10. 38 – Brad Knab, 15.011; 11. 52 – Jesse Costa, 15.421.

Time Trial Group #4: 1. 8 – Alain Bergeron, 14.127; 2. 17J – Lance Yonge, 14.379; 3. 71 – Travis Cunningham, 14.420; 4. 89 – Robbie Stillwaggon, 14.514; 5. 3w – Brett Mann, 14.723; 6. 98 – Paul Pekkonen, 14.821; 7. 7 – Kyle Moffit, 14.920; 8. 67c – Steve Collins, 15.103; 9. 80 – Chris Steele, 15.420; 10. 45x – Doug Banks, 15.798. DNS: 84 – Tyler Rand

Time Trial Group #5: 1. 1z – Jessica Zemken, 14.488; 2. 45 – Chuck Hebing, 14.515; 3. 22H – Randy Hannagan, 14.540; 4. 33 – Shawn Donath, 14.569; 5. 07x – Dain Naida, 14.741; 6. 25 – Michael Parent, 14.874; 7. 5c – Conner Mahoney, 15.197; 8. 27H – Tom Huppunen, 15.305; 9. 25H – Paul Habeck, 15.628; 10. 5m – Brad Malloy, 16.034. DNS: 90 – James Evans

Time Trial Group #6: 1. 21a – Don Adamczyk, 14.403; 2. 14 – Kyle Sauder, 14.512; 3. 3g – Shane Stewart, 14.557; 4. 77x – Wayne Johnson, 14.613; 5. 87 – Jason Barney, 14.690; 6. 55v – Patrick Vigneault, 14.732; 7. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 14.902; 8. 52L – Daniel Lampron, 14.944; 9. 55x – Kirk Cheney, 15.931; 10. 10c – Bob Crawford, NT.

XYZ Machining Heat Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. 15h – Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 28fm – Steve Poirier, 3. 52x – Scott Kreutter, 4. 51 – Bryan Howland, 5. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 6. 17 – Jared Horstman, 7. 67 – Chris Durand, 8. 3- Wayne Ashton, 9. 10 – Jake Brown, 10. 5 – Keith Dempster, 11. 21 – Matt Lumbert (First three finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

Slade Shock Technology Heat Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. 35 – Jared Zimbardi, 2. 13 – Kevin Ward, Jr., 3. 0 – Dave Dykstra, 4. 30 – Adam West, 5. 51L – Lee Ladoucer, 6. 36 – Mike Stelter, 7. 15aw – April Wilson, 8. 99 – Jeff Fraiser, 9. 30G – Steve Goldner, 10. 31 – Andy Teunessen. DNS: 9jr – Tim Zack (First three finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

O’Nells Café Heat Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. 7x – Jamie Collard, 2. 32 – Justin Barger, 3. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 4. 49 – Todd Hoddick, 5. 10x – Jeff Cook, 6. 42w – Rick Wilson, 7. 11 – Jamie Turner, 8. 24k – Devin Caron, 9. 81 – Derek Jonathan, 10. 52 – Jesse Costa, 11. 38 – Brad Knab. (First three finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

Rocket Headers Heat Race #4 (10 Laps): 1. 8B – Alain Bergeron, 2. 71 – Travis Cunningham, 3. 3w – Brett Mann, 4. 67c – Steve Collins, 5. 17J – Lance Yonge, 6. 80 – Chris Steele, 7. 45x – Doug Banks, 8. 98 – Paul Pekkonen, 9. 7 – Kyle Moffit, 10. 89 – Robbie Stillwaggon. DNS: 84 – Tyler Rand (First three finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

Engler Machine and Tool Heat Race #5 (10 Laps): 1. 45 – Chuck Hebing, 2. 22H – Randy Hannagan, 3. 33 – Shawn Donath, 4. 07x – Dain Naida, 5. 1z – Jessica Zemken, 6. 27h – Tom Huppunen, 7. 25 – Michael Parent, 8. 25h – Paul Habeck, 9. 5m – Brad Malloy, 10. 5c – Conor Mahoney. DNS: 90 – James Evans (First three finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

BS&B Radiator Heat Race #6 (10 Laps): 1. 3g – Shane Stewart, 2. 21A – Don Adamczyk, 3. 87 – Jason Barney, 4. 55V – Patrick Vigneault, 6. 52L – Daniel Lampron, 7. 55x – Kirk Cheney 9. 14 – Kyle Sauder, 10. 77x – Wayne Johnson. (First three finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

Grisdale Racing Products B-Main #1 (12 Laps): 1. 51 – Bryan Howland, 2. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 3. 52L – Lee Ladouceur, 4. 36 – Mike Stelter, 5. 17 – Jared Horstman, 6. 30 – Adam West, 7. 30G – Steve Goldner, 8. 67 – Chris Durand, 8. 15aw – April Wilson, 9. 3 – Wayne Ahston, 10. 99 – Jef Frasier, 11. 9jr – Tim Zack, 12. 5 – Keith Dempter, 13. 10 – Jake Brown, 14. 21 – Matt Lumbert. DNS: 31 – Andy Teunessen.

Wiseco B-Main #2 (12 Laps): 1. 49 – Todd Hoddick, 2. 10x – Jeff Cook, 3. 17J – Lance Yonge, 4. 42w – Rick Wilson, 5. 89 – Robbie Stillwaggon, 6. 24k – Devin Caron, 7. 7 – Kyle Moffit, 8. 67c – Steve Collins, 9. 38 – Brad Knab, 10. 81- Derek Jonathan, 11. 52 – Jesse Costa, 12. 80 – Chris Steele, 13. 11 – Jamie Turner, 14. 45x – Doug Banks. DNS: 98 – Paul Pekkonen

Best Western Cairn Croft B-Main #3 (12 Laps): 1. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 2. 77x – Wayne Johnson, 3. 07x – Dain Naida, 4. 1z – Jessica Zemken, 5. 25 – Michael Parent, 6. 27H – Tom Huppunen, 7. 14 – Kyle Sauder, 8. 52L – Daniel Lampron, 9. 25H – Paul Habeck, 10. 5m – Brad Malloy, 11. 10C – Bob Crawford, 12. 5C – Conor Mahoney, 13. 55x – Kirk Cheney, 14. 55v – Patrick Vigneault. (First two finishers transferred to the “A” Feature)

Sicard R.V. Little Feature (15 Laps): 1. 07x – Dain Naida, 2. 25 – Michael Parent, 3. 42w – Rick Wilson, 4. 27H – Tom Huppunen, 5. 25 – Paul Habeck, 6. 52L – Daniel Lampron, 7. 5 – Keith Dempster, 8. 51L – Lee Ladouceur, 9. 30G – Steve Goldner, 10. 5m – Brad Malloy, 11. 38 – Brad Knab, 12. 5C – Conor Mahoney, 13. 15aw – April Wilson, 14. 67 – Chris Durand, 15. 36 – Mike Stelter, 16. 55 – Kirk Cheney, 17. 11 – Jamie Turner, 18. 9jr – Tim Zack, 19. 99 – Jeff Fraiser, 20. 3 – Wayne Ashton, 21. 7 – Kyle Moffit, 22. 30 – Adam West, 23. 52 – Jesse Costa, 24. 55 – Patrick Vigneault, 25. 67c – Steve Collins, 26. 81 – Derek Jonathan, 27. 10 – Jake Brown, 28. 21 – Matt Lumbert. DNS: 10 – Jake Brown, 21 – Matt Lumbert, 31 – Andy Teunessen, 45x – Doug Banks, 80 – Chris Steele, 84 – Tyler Rand, 90 – Curtis Evans, 98 – Paul Pekkonen (Winner transferred to the “A” Feature)

“A” Feature (35 Laps): 1. 15h – Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 77x – Wayne Johnson, 3. 28fm – Steve Poirier, 4. 28fm – Steve Poirier, 5. 3g – Shane Stewart, 6. 32 – Justin Barger, 7. 22H – Randy Hannagan, 8. 13 – Kevin Ward, Jr., 9. 2m – Dustin Daggett, 10. 14H – Jim Huppunen, 11. 51 – Bryan Howland, 12. 49t – Gregg Dalman, 13. 45 – Chuck Hebing, 14. 8 – Alain Bergeron, 15. 33 – Shawn Donath, 16. 1z – Jessica Zemken, 17. 14 – Kyle Sauder, 18. 35 – Jared Zimbardi, 19. 17 – Jared Horstman, 20. 71 – Travis Cunningham, 21. 21A – Don Adamcyzk, 22. 49 – Todd Hoddick, 23. 17J – Lance Yonge, 24. 3W – Brett Mann, 25. 98 – Robbie Stillwaggon, 26. 10X – Jeff Cook, 27. 87 – Jason Barney, 28. 52x – Daniel Lampron, 29. 07x – Dain Naida, 30. 0 – Dave Dykstra.

Lap Leaders: Bergeron 1-9, Collard, 10-11, Hafertepe, 12-35