From Inside Line Promotions
Tucson, AZ — (March 11, 2014) — The trip west for Sam Hafertepe Jr. was anything but lucky.
Piloting a Buffalo Wild Wings sponsored car for Blazin’ Racing, Hafertepe Jr. ran into bad luck after bad luck during the World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series events at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas and at Tucson International Raceway last week.
“In all honesty we didn’t get to finish one race,” he said. “We broke a right front steering arm in Vegas the first night. The second night (in Las Vegas) we got disqualified for work area procedure. At Tucson, we blew a rear end in the feature. Really it was just a bunch of mechanical woes.”
Hafertepe Jr. qualified 13th quickest and placed fourth in his heat race to open the FVP Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track at Las Vegas last Wednesday. That locked him into the feature starting 15th and after working toward the top 10 during the first half of the main event, Hafertepe Jr. ended in the pits with the steering problem and a 22nd-place result.
On Thursday, Hafertepe Jr. timed in eighth quickest and finished fourth in his heat race to lock into the main event. He started 16th in the feature and while attempting to go to the work area to fix an issue, an official deemed Hafertepe Jr. was going too fast and he was parked for the remainder of the event. Hafertepe Jr. ended with an 18th-place finish.
The team hauled to Arizona for the NAPA Wildcat Shootout on Saturday and after qualifying 21st quickest, Hafertepe Jr. placed seventh in his heat race. He then rallied to finish sixth in the Last Chance Showdown to earn the final transfer to the 25-lap main event, which he started 23 rd.
However, his night finished early once again as a rear end problem forced him to the infield with a 24th-place result.
“We just never could get jelling on everything,” he said. “I’ve decided to switch directions and I’ll be back in my family car for a while.”
Hafertepe Jr. will run the next few weeks in his car – beginning this Friday at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas, and Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, with the ASCS Gulf South Region – before plans to hook up with another team in the near future.
QUICK RESULTS –
March 5 – The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas – Qualifying: 13; Heat race: 4 (1); Feature: 22 (15).
March 6 – The Dirt Track at Las Vegas in Las Vegas – Qualifying: 8; Heat race: 4 (3); Feature: 18 (16).
March 8 – Tucson International Raceway in Tucson, Ariz. – Qualifying: 21; Heat race: 7 (7); B Main: 6 (4); Feature: 24 (23).
SEASON STATS –
12 races, 0 wins, 0 top fives, 1 top 10, 3 top 15s, 4 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Friday at Golden Triangle Raceway Park in Beaumont, Texas, and Saturday at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, with the ASCS Gulf South Region
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.Sam15.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/