By Bryan Hulbert
Jeff Bylsma photo
JACKSON, Minn. (September 2, 2017) Parking his Hwy. 79 Collision No. 15h in Victory Lane for the 13th time in 2017 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. came out on top of a torrid battle with Tim Kaeding for Saturday’s $10,000 Fall Classic payday at the Jackson Motorplex.
“It just got a little dirty up where he [Tim Kaeding] was running and being the leader in that situation, he had it all to lose. It’s hard because he ran a hell of a first half to this race. He drove a good race at the end too, just didn’t know where the track was going and when you’re running second, you can move around and that’s what we were doing,” said Hafertepe of the race with the Lunstra Motorsports No. 3.
With the first start called back, the restart went to Tim Kaeding who outran Matt Covington into the first two turns. Taking second from the T&L Foundry No. 95 through the third and fourth turns, Hafertepe focused his attention on running down the Dammer Trucking No. 3.
Slowed on Lap 10, the start was called off as Eric Lutz rolled to a stop. Single file to the green, the leaders hammered the cushion of the Jackson Motorplex to find traffic in only a couple of laps. Held up by slower traffic with a half straightaway advantage, the back bumper of Kaeding’s No. 3 was directly in front of Hafertepe in a matter of seconds.
Using lapped cars as picks, the pair began trading slide jobs at both ends of the Jackson Motorplex with Kaeding holding the point at the start/finish line each time before the caution blinked on with 15 laps complete for Scott Winters who stopped on the front stretch. Slowed on Lap 17 for Lee Goos, the green flew with Hafertepe stuck to Tim Kaeding’s back bumper.
Tracking Kaeding through the first and second turns, Hafertepe drove the middle groove into turn three. Trail braking the No. 15h up the track with a big head of steam, Hafertepe left little room for error as Kaeding’s run on the cushion nearly ended on the wall as the No. 3 hopped the curb.
Nearly giving up second, but able to recover, Kaeding would have one last shot at Sam with a Lap 20 restart, but Sam Hafertepe, Jr. would not be denied his 28th career Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour victory.
Tim Kaeding’s runner-up finish was his sixth career podium finish with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour with Thomas Kennedy parking his No. 21k on the podium for the first time in his career. Racing back and forth with Matt Covington just over half of the race, then Seth Bergman through the final laps, Oklahoma’s Wayne Johnson rolled to fourth from seventh with Seth Bergman holding on to finish fifth.
Matt Covington ended up second with Johnny Herrera in tow. Skylar Gee eighth was tailed by Lee Grosz and Blake Hahn to round out the top-ten after starting 16th.
A field of 33 drivers was on hand for the Jackson Motorplex Fall Classic. Four Heat Races were topped by Seth Bergman, Tim Kaeding, Thomas Kennedy, and Kaley Gharst. The night’s B-Main was won by Scott Winters. One provisional was used by A.J. Moeller for BDS Motorsports. At the start of the night’s racing program, the Jackson ASCS 360 Nationals was announced for Labor Day Weekend 2018. The dates are August 31, 2018, through September 2, 2018. More details on the event will be released as soon as they are finalized.
The Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network is in action again on Saturday, September 16 at Duck River Raceway Park in Shelbyville, Tenn. For continued updates on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the seven regional tours that make up the over 150 dates across the ASCS Nation in 2017, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
Jackson Motorplex – Jackson, Minn.
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Car Count: 33
Event Count: 33
Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, [2]; 2. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [4]; 3. 95-Matt Covington, [8]; 4. 17-Lee Goos Jr, [3]; 5. 14X-Jody Rosenboom, [5]; 6. 75-Brandon Halverson, [6]; 7. 1A-John Anderson, [1]; 8. 7-Mike Sires, [7]; (DNS) 84-Scott Bogucki,
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Tim Kaeding, [1]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [5]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee, [6]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn, [3]; 5. 35-Skylar Prochaska, [8]; 6. 17W-Harli White, [4]; 7. 12L-John Lambertz, [7]; 8. 1-A.J. Moeller, [2]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [1]; 2. 4J-Lee Grosz, [2]; 3. 40-Clint Garner, [4]; 4. 2H-Bill Boles, [3]; 5. 23W-Scott Winters, [6]; 6. 5T-Mark Toews, [8]; 7. 13JM-Jordan Martens, [7]; 8. 14-Ben Holmberg, [5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 7K-Kaley Gharst, [1]; 2. 6-Eric Lutz, [2]; 3. 2-Derrik Lusk, [4]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [8]; 5. 11X-Gregg Bakker, [5]; 6. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [7]; 7. 10J-Justin Jacobsma, [3]; 8. 86-Donovan Peterson, [6]
BMRS B-Main (Top 6 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 23W-Scott Winters, [2]; 2. 14X-Jody Rosenboom, [4]; 3. 11X-Gregg Bakker, [5]; 4. 2H-Bill Boles, [1]; 5. 17W-Harli White, [8]; 6. 13JM-Jordan Martens, [10]; 7. 5T-Mark Toews, [3]; 8. 12L-John Lambertz, [9]; 9. 10J-Justin Jacobsma, [11]; 10. 1-A.J. Moeller, [16]; 11. 86-Donovan Peterson, [14]; 12. 1A-John Anderson, [13]; 13. 7-Mike Sires, [12]; 14. 14-Ben Holmberg, [15]; 15. (DNF) 87-Aaron Reutzel, [6]; 16. (DNF) 75-Brandon Halverson, [7]; (DNS) 84-Scott Bogucki,
Protect the Harvest A-Feature:
A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [4]; 2. 3-Tim Kaeding, [1]; 3. 21K-Thomas Kennedy, [3]; 4. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [7]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman, [8]; 6. 95-Matt Covington, [2]; 7. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [9]; 8. 99-Skylar Gee, [6]; 9. 4J-Lee Grosz, [10]; 10. 52-Blake Hahn, [16]; 11. 35-Skylar Prochaska, [14]; 12. 14X-Jody Rosenboom, [18]; 13. 7K-Kaley Gharst, [5]; 14. 17W-Harli White, [21]; 15. 11X-Gregg Bakker, [19]; 16. 2-Derrik Lusk, [13]; 17. 40-Clint Garner, [12]; 18. 13JM-Jordan Martens, [22]; 19. (DNF) 2H-Bill Boles, [20]; 20. (DNF) 17-Lee Goos Jr, [15]; 21. (DNF) 23W-Scott Winters, [17]; 22. (DNF) 6-Eric Lutz, [11]; 23. (DNF) 1-A.J. Moeller, [23]
Lap Leader(s): Tim Kaeding 1-17; Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 18-25
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Harli White +7
FSR High Point Driver: Matt Covington
Provisional(s): A.J. Moeller (BDS)