SAPULPA, Okla. (November 5, 2016) — The finale of the John Christner Trucking Fall Fling powered by Pizza Express with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network was a show to behold as John Carney II held off a barrage of slide jobs from Sam Hafertepe, Jr. to pick up his second career National Tour Victory.
“Man, I don’t even know what to say right now. That was pretty spectacular from where I was sitting. He gave me a little room, I gave him a little room, and that’s what racing is all about in order to put on a good show for these fans. They’re what this is all about,” said Carney who, along with the $4,000 winner’s purse, also pocketed an extra $1,980 in bonus lap money.
Greeted in Victory Lane by Sam Hafertepe, Jr. with a congratulatory handshake, Hafertepe commented, “How about this guy? That’s a hell of a racer to run the top like he did for 40 laps and barely ever falter. He was wearing me out man, and I wasn’t going to do him dirty. He did a hell of a job and he earned this one for sure.”
Win No. 13 on the season for Carney, the El Paso, Texas native began the 40 lap feature event from the pole with a straightaway long wheel-stand into the lead.
Caution working Lap two, Carney was under pressure from Wayne Johnson and Seth Bergman, but was able to keep the pair at bay with the runner-up spot eventually taken over by Sam Hafertepe, Jr. who utilized a Lap 5 restart.
Pulling the Top Wing into the trunk, Hafertepe kept his Keith Dobbs Motorsports No. 15h pinned to the low line while Carney railed the cushion at both ends of the Creek County Speedway. Patiently pursuing the Lubbock Wrecker Service No. 11x, the door swung wide open for Hafertepe working lap 15 as Carney was all but stopped behind a slower car, but the caution would negate the pass.
Challenging again on the restart, Carney retained the lead. Slowed on Lap 20, it didn’t take long to find traffic once the race resumed. Hooking the left front on the berm, Hafertepe pulled nearly even for the lead several times, but to no avail.
Yellow for the final time with 31 laps complete, the gloves were off as Hafertepe dove for the lead on the restart. Finally taking the top spot on Lap 33 off the fourth turn, Carney returned the slide in kind to retake the point on Lap 34.
Slide for slide, the pair used every inch of real estate they could find with Carney able to beat the No. 15h back to the flag stand. Switching lines to the bottom through the first and second turns in order to scrub off Hafertepe’s momentum, Carney finally got some breathing room in the closing few laps as the margin of victory was 1.109 seconds.
Having worked the second in the early laps, Washington’s Seth Bergman bounced around the top-five most of the race before landing in third for the second night in a row.
“I was just trying to find every piece of real estate I could find out there. I had an awesome hot rod. My guys worked their butts off all weekend and gave me a car we could really compete with. We’ve been out for a month so to come back and get two podiums is a great result.”
Running in the top three at the final restart, and about to pressure both Hafertepe and Carney, the City Vending No. 2c of Wayne Johnson would slip to a fourth place finish as the brakes began fading in and out. Coming from 10th, New Mexico’s Johnny Herrera claimed the fifth spot.
From taking a provisional the night before, Kyle Bellm raced his way into the show and ended his night with a sixth place finish. Kyle also picked up a brand new Lightning Wing after he destroyed his in a crash on Friday night.
Advancing 12 positions after having to race in through a B-Feature, Blake Hahn finished seventh with Alex Sewell climbing eight spots to finish eighth. Combined with his passing on Friday night, Sewell passed the most combined cars on the weekend. This earned the driver of the No. 8 a new Shaver/Wesmar Gear Drive.
Terry Gray was ninth from 14th with Zach Chappell completing the top-ten.
A field of 42 drivers made the call on Saturday night. Heat Races were topped by Dustin Gates, Thomas Kennedy, Jason McDougal, Zach Chappell, and Johnny Herrera. Qualifiers wen to Kyle Bellm, Fred Mattox, and Sean McClelland. The night’s B-Mains went to Matt Covington and Mickey Walker. Provisionals were used by Logan Forler and Brandon Hanks.
Serving as the finale of the 2016 season for the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Red River Region presented by Smiley’s Racing Products, Tennessee’s Brandon Hanks claimed his first ASCS sanctioned championship.
With two nights remaining in the 2016 Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour lineup, the series will make its return of the Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, Ariz. on Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12.
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 Red River
Creek County Speedway – Sapulpa, Okla.
J.C.T Fall Fling – Night 2
Saturday, November 5, 2016
Car Count: 42
ButlerBuilt Heat Races (Top 30 in Race Passing Points advance to Qualifiers on a 24 car invert)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Dustin Gates[1]; 2. 14K-Kyle Bellm[3]; 3. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 4. 9$-Kyle Clark[2]; 5. 53-Brett Wilson[4]; 6. 97-Kevin Cummings[7]; 7. 44-Jared Sewell[8]; 8. 10X-Kevin Brewer[6]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 82-Thomas Kennedy[5]; 2. 87F-Sean McClelland[1]; 3. 7M-Chance Morton[4]; 4. 58-Gary Floyd[2]; 5. 11W-Joe Wood Jr[3]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 7. 85-Forrest Sutherland[6]; 8. 84-Brandon Hanks[8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11M-Jason McDougal[4]; 2. 55-Johnny Kent[1]; 3. 26M-Fred Mattox[3]; 4. 2-Mickey Walker[6]; 5. 24L-Layne Himebaugh[7]; 6. 8-Alex Sewell[5]; 7. 35-Rick Wright Jr[2]; 8. 20G-Jake Greider[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 50Z-Zach Chappell[6]; 2. 11AM-Mike Goodman[2]; 3. 8M-Kade Morton[4]; 4. 95-Matt Covington[7]; 5. 05M-Charles McManus[5]; 6. 54-Will Scribner[1]; 7. 22T-Frank Taft[3]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[3]; 2. 17B-Ryan Bickett[2]; 3. 10-Terry Gray[7]; 4. 23X-Jimmy Taylor[5]; 5. 92-Waylon Weaver[1]; 6. (DNF) 7H-Brian Gramm[6]; 7. (DNF) 0J-Jeremy McCune[4]
Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 12 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. 14K-Kyle Bellm[4]; 2. 55-Johnny Kent[2]; 3. 2-Mickey Walker[1]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera[5]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn[9]; 6. 50Z-Zach Chappell[6]; 7. 24L-Layne Himebaugh[7]; 8. 7H-Brian Gramm[10]; 9. 05M-Charles McManus[8]; 10. (DNF) 11AM-Mike Goodman[3]
Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26M-Fred Mattox[1]; 2. 82-Thomas Kennedy[6]; 3. 17B-Ryan Bickett[3]; 4. 8-Alex Sewell[10]; 5. 10-Terry Gray[5]; 6. 53-Brett Wilson[8]; 7. 11W-Joe Wood Jr[9]; 8. 9$-Kyle Clark[7]; 9. 2L-Logan Forler[4]; 10. (DNF) 7M-Chance Morton[2]
Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 87F-Sean McClelland[3]; 2. 11M-Jason McDougal[6]; 3. 8M-Kade Morton[2]; 4. 23X-Jimmy Taylor[1]; 5. 17-Dustin Gates[5]; 6. 97-Kevin Cummings[8]; 7. 95-Matt Covington[4]; 8. 92-Waylon Weaver[9]; 9. 44-Jared Sewell[10]; 10. (DNF) 58-Gary Floyd[7]
BMRS B-Features (Top 3 finishers transfer to the tail of the A-Feature)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[2]; 3. 11W-Joe Wood Jr[5]; 4. 7H-Brian Gramm[6]; 5. 92-Waylon Weaver[7]; 6. 84-Brandon Hanks[12]; 7. 35-Rick Wright Jr[13]; 8. 97-Kevin Cummings[4]; 9. 0J-Jeremy McCune[11]; 10. 44-Jared Sewell[9]; 11. 54-Will Scribner[10]; 12. (DNF) 17-Dustin Gates[1]; 13. (DNF) 11AM-Mike Goodman[8]
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 2-Mickey Walker[1]; 2. 53-Brett Wilson[3]; 3. 24L-Layne Himebaugh[4]; 4. 9$-Kyle Clark[6]; 5. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 6. 7M-Chance Morton[8]; 7. 05M-Charles McManus[7]; 8. 20G-Jake Greider[12]; 9. 10X-Kevin Brewer[13]; 10. 23X-Jimmy Taylor[2]; 11. 85-Forrest Sutherland[10]; 12. 22T-Frank Taft[11]; 13. (DNF) 58-Gary Floyd[9]
Protect the Harvest A-Feature
A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 11X-John Carney II[1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 3. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 4. 2C-Wayne Johnson[2]; 5. 45X-Johnny Herrera[9]; 6. 14K-Kyle Bellm[7]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn[19]; 8. 8-Alex Sewell[16]; 9. 10-Terry Gray[14]; 10. 50Z-Zach Chappell[10]; 11. 95-Matt Covington[17]; 12. 8M-Kade Morton[15]; 13. 87F-Sean McClelland[8]; 14. 84-Brandon Hanks[24]; 15. 24L-Layne Himebaugh[22]; 16. 2-Mickey Walker[18]; 17. 17B-Ryan Bickett[13]; 18. 26M-Fred Mattox[11]; 19. 53-Brett Wilson[20]; 20. (DNF) 82-Thomas Kennedy[5]; 21. (DNF) 55-Johnny Kent[12]; 22. (DNF) 11W-Joe Wood Jr[21]; 23. (DNF) 11M-Jason McDougal[6]; 24. (DNF) 2L-Logan Forler[23]
Lap Leader(s): John Carney II 1-32, 34-40; Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 33;
FSR High Point Driver: Thomas Kennedy
Hard Charger: Blake Hahn +12
Provisional(s): Logan Forler; Brandon Hanks (Regional)
2016 ASCS National Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 4,833; 2. Johnny Herrera 4,593; 3. Wayne Johnson 4,388; 4. Blake Hahn 4,233; 5. Matt Covington 4,132; 6. Logan Forler 4,039; 7. Aaron Reutzel 3,756; 8. Seth Bergman 3,740; 9. Josh Baughman 2,968; 10. Kyle Bellm 2,958;