Hahn sweeps Grizzly Nationals

Blake Hahn and a bear. (Bryan Hulbert Photo)

Blake Hahn and a bear.  (Bryan Hulbert Photo)
Blake Hahn and a bear. (Bryan Hulbert Photo)
From Bryan Hulbert

Belgrade, MT — (July 9, 2016) — One win deserves another, as Blake Hahn made it a perfect weekend with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, leading flag to flag in Saturday’s championship event to complete the sweep of the Randash Auto Center Grizzly Nationals at the Gallatin Speedway.
Greeted for the second time in Victory Lane by Adam the Grizzly Bear, the win is Hahn’s fifth podium appearance of the season and third career victory with the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.

A wing walk with ‘Shooter McGavin’ flair, Hahn summarized the weekend’s events in nearly speechless terms, saying simply “wow, just wow” of his first weekend sweep with the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network. The back-to-back wins also moved Hahn from fifth to third in driver standings.

“I’ve got to thank my Dad and Dalton. They’ve had this car dialed in the last couple weeks, we just hadn’t had luck on our side but it feels good to be here in Victory Lane. It really makes the hard work worthwhile but like I said yesterday, I have to thank all these fans for coming out and supporting us.”

Jumping to the lead though the first two turns, the battle for second saw Sam Hafertepe, Jr. trading slide jobs with Wayne Johnson over the opening laps with Sam gaining the upper hand. In a case of Déjà vu, Hafertepe again chased the Lucas Oil / CSR Garage No. 52 around the Montana quarter-mile.

Caution on the third round, the leaders rolled the cushion with Hahn already pulling his advantage. With the tail of the field rapidly approaching, the fastest line began to shift down the track. With traffic in play before Lap 10, rubber began setting in; making lapped traffic a challenge as cars would fan out off the turns, effectively blocking the leader’s advance. Despite the challenge, Hahn was still able to pull away from the Keith Dobbs Motorsports No. 15h.

Opening his advantage to over five seconds, the caution flew again on Lap 24 for Johnny Herrera who lost a tire while running seventh. Herrera’s crew was able to change the tire before the field returned to green.

Caution again on Lap 27, a single lapped car sat between Hahn and Hafertepe. Clearing the slower machine, Hafertepe ran valiantly, but would come up short as the No. 15h crossed 1.750 seconds behind Hahn’s No. 52.

“The key for Blake tonight was getting out front early, and when he got in the rubber, he took off and I knew once it laid rubber, we were just going to conserve our tires. He was running pretty hard, and if he popped one, that would put us in the lead so I was trying to race smart and make good decisions on the racecar and it worked out. We finished the race and didn’t pop a tire,” commented Hafertepe of his 14th podium appearance of the season.

Making it an identical podium to Friday night, Matt Covington grabbed the third spot on the closing lap as Wayne Johnson shredded his right rear on the white flag lap.

With tread to spare, Covington commented that he was just taking it as easy as possible to conserve his tires, “I went really conservative, especially when I saw a couple guys popping tires. I figured I was next because the car was getting really heavy on that right side a couple times on the restarts.”

“I really wanted that one. Maybe had there been a little more to lean on those first couple of laps, then I could have gotten out front and found the rubber, but it just wasn’t meant to be tonight but anytime you can finish on the podium, it’s a great deal.”

From 12th, Seth Bergman rolled to a fourth place finish. After returning to the racing surface from the work area with six laps to run, Johnny Herrera laid waste to his Hoosiers, coming from the back of the field in a haze of blue smoke to complete the top-five.

South Dakota’s D.J. Brink came from 11th to sixth with Skylar Gee seventh. Trever Kirkland crossed eighth with David Hoiness coming from 17th to ninth. Early, Hoiness charged from 11th to win the night’s B-Main. Despite the shredded tire on the right rear of the City Vending No. 2c, Wayne Johnson brought home is 14th top-ten finish of the season.

Three Heat Races were topped by Aaron Reutzel, Wayne Johnson, and Johnny Herrera. The B-Main went to David Hoiness. A Promoter’s Provisional was awarded to Josh Ostermiller.

The Lucas Oil ASCS presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network returns to action on Friday, July 22 an Saturday, July 23 with the “Rushmore Rumble” at Black Hills Speedway in Rapid City, S.D.

For continued updates on the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.

Race Results:

ASCS National / ASCS Frontier
Gallatin Speedway – Belgrade, Mont.
Grizzly Nationals
Saturday, July 9, 2016

Car Count: 27
Event Count: 29

ButlerBuilt Heat Races (8 Laps, Top 12 in Passing Point advance to the A-Main)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 87-Aaron Reutzel[2]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 3. 98-Joe Ramaker[6]; 4. 75-D.J. Brink[8]; 5. 14-Ben Holmberg[1]; 6. 77-Damon McCune[5]; 7. 7-Mike Sires[4]; 8. (DNF) 27DD-David Hoiness[7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson[4]; 2. 2JR-Kelly Miller[3]; 3. 37-Trever Kirkland[6]; 4. 1-Bill Boyce[7]; 5. 38B-Bryan Brown[5]; 6. 2-Shad Peterson[1]; 7. 35M-Cody Masse[2]; (DNS) 12-Josh Ostermiller

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 2. 15-James Sires[1]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee[6]; 4. 0J-Jeremy McCune[3]; 5. 00-Roger Cummings[4]; 6. 74U-Chauncey Filler[5]; 7. 4-Adam Speckman[7]

BMRS B-Feature(s) (12 laps, top 6 advance to the A-Feature)

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 27DD-David Hoiness[11]; 2. 38B-Bryan Brown[1]; 3. 77-Damon McCune[4]; 4. 4-Adam Speckman[6]; 5. 00-Roger Cummings[2]; 6. 14-Ben Holmberg[3]; 7. 12-Josh Ostermiller[9]; 8. 2-Shad Peterson[7]; 9. 7-Mike Sires[8]; 10. 35M-Cody Masse[10]; 11. (DNF) 74U-Chauncey Filler[5]

Protect the Harvest A-Feature (30 Laps)

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[12]; 5. 45X-Johnny Herrera[6]; 6. 75-D.J. Brink[11]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee[10]; 8. 37-Trever Kirkland[9]; 9. 27DD-David Hoiness[17]; 10. 2C-Wayne Johnson[5]; 11. 98-Joe Ramaker[8]; 12. 1-Bill Boyce[14]; 13. 12-Josh Ostermiller[23]; 14. 0J-Jeremy McCune[16]; 15. 38B-Bryan Brown[18]; 16. 14-Ben Holmberg[22]; 17. 00-Roger Cummings[21]; 18. 4-Adam Speckman[20]; 19. (DNF) 2L-Logan Forler[4]; 20. (DNF) 15-James Sires[15]; 21. (DNF) 87-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 22. (DNF) 2JR-Kelly Miller[13]; 23. (DNF) 77-Damon McCune[19]

Lap Leader(s): Blake Hahn 1-30
FSR High Point Driver: Wayne Johnson
Hard Charger: Josh Ostermiller +10
Provisional(s): Josh Ostermiller (Promoter)