From Bryan Hulbert
ELDON, Mo. (September 3, 2022) — Adding Lake Ozark Speedway to his list of winning destinations, Blake Hahn broke into Victory Lane at the one-third-mile oval with flag-to-flag coverage of the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network on Night 1 of the Fall Sprint Car and Midget Nationals.
Winning in the tour’s 19th visit to Lake Ozark Speedway, Hahn’s win is career victory No. 18 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network and his second National Tour score of the season.
“The car was really good tonight. It pretty much went anywhere I wanted it to go, and it just feels good to finally come here and get a win with the National Tour. We’ve had some rough nights here, so this is nice,” commented Hahn of the win.
“Glad to be out here and keeping our momentum going we built during Speedweek. We came out of that, won at Lakeside a month ago, and followed that with some decent runs at Knoxville, and tonight, I feel like we were able to build on that, so I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if we can do it again.”
Getting the lead at the start after a quick challenge from Landon Crawley, Hahn was able to run away quickly. Working through a few mid-race cautions and stoppages that positioned slower cars in the lineup, Hahn was stalked by Sam Hafertepe, Jr., who shot from eighth to second by Lap 5.
One final caution on Lap 17, the two aligned bumper to bumper with Hafertepe looking to the hub while Hahn shot to the cushion. Pulling away once again, the Hills Racing No. 15h had his hands full with Joe B. Miller in hot pursuit. To third from 13th, Miller worked numerous lines on Hafertepe with the Texas shoe able to fend off the challenges.
Finding traffic with a pair of laps to run, the slower cars did allow Sam to make up some time, but there was not enough with the Sage Fruit Co. No. 52 streaking to the win with 1.461-seconds to spare.
Hafertepe, in second, would be joined by Joe B. Miller in third for his first career podium run with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
Derek Hagar, who ran up to third through the race’s mid-point, ended up fourth, with Matt Covington in fifth.
Miles Paulus from 14th rolled to sixth, followed by Jordon Mallett from 17th. Jason Martin followed from 20th, with Dylan Westbrook recovering from a trip to the work area on Lap 11 to finish ninth. Landon Crawley ended up tenth.
Saturday Lake Ozark prelim event drew a field of 39 with SCE Gaskets Heat Race wins going to Dylan Postier, Joe B. Miller, Kyle Bellm, Tim Crawley, and Landon Crawley. A pair of BMRS B-Features were topped by Jordon Mallett and Jason Martin. Three drivers run under the previous ASCS Track Record (12.073-seconds, set by Dylan Westbrook), with the new record set by Waco’s Chase Randall at 12.027-seconds.
A tip of the cap is due to the track crew at Lake Ozark Speedway for providing an exception surface after Mother Nature drenched the grounds Thursday afternoon. Having to take some time after Qualifying to right the track, the surface worked out nicely, with teams able to work top and bottom in the features.
Racing continues at Lake Ozark Speedway on Sunday, September 4. Times have been moved up an hour for Sunday. Gates open at 4:00 P.M. with cars on track at 5:30 P.M. (CDT). Racing will begin shortly after. Tickets are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors and military, $10 for youth (6-12), and free for kids five and under. Lake Ozark Speedway is located at 50 Twiggy Lane in Eldon, Mo. Information on the track, including advance ticket sales, can be found at http://www.lakeozarkspeedway.net. On-site camping is available. Call (417) 399-5756 for details.
Fall Sprint Car and Midget Nationals
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by MAVtv
Lake Ozark Speedway
Eldon, Missouri
Saturday, September 3, 2022
The Driver’s Project Group Qualifying
The Drivers Project Qualifying (3 Laps)
1. 23-Seth Bergman, 12.054[3]
2. 55B-Brandon Anderson, 12.454[4]
3. 10P-Dylan Postier, 12.523[2]
4. 1XX-Brad Ryun, 12.594[6]
5. 4-Evan Martin, 12.603[5]
6. 86-Timothy Smith, 12.607[1]
7. 12M-Greg Merritt, 13.022[7]
8. 18X-Nathan Ryun, 13.876[8]
The Drivers Project Qualifying 2 (3 Laps)
1. 9-Chase Randall, 12.027[7]
2. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 12.489[2]
3. 10-Landon Britt, 12.521[3]
4. 51B-Joe B Miller, 12.757[4]
5. 73-Samuel Wagner, 13.092[1]
6. 31-Casey Wills, 13.202[8]
7. 00-Broc Elliott, 13.361[5]
8. 12X-Brennon Blair, 13.662[6]
The Drivers Project Qualifying 3 (3 Laps)
1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 12.043[4]
2. 95-Matt Covington, 12.509[1]
3. 45X-Kyler Johnson, 12.558[7]
4. 14E-Kyle Bellm, 12.648[2]
5. 47-Dale Howard, 12.801[8]
6. 0-Jake Griffin, 13.043[3]
7. 1JR-Steven Russell, 13.485[6]
8. 32D-Daryn Langford, 14.168[5]
The Drivers Project Qualifying 4 (3 Laps)
1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 12.151[7]
2. 52-Blake Hahn, 12.376[5]
3. 21-Gunner Ramey, 12.521[6]
4. 1X-Tim Crawley, 12.629[4]
5. 14-Jordon Mallett, 12.772[2]
6. 77-Jack Wagner, 12.844[3]
7. 17B-Ryan Bickett, 13.044[1]
8. 24-Jeffrey West Jr, 13.130[8]
The Drivers Project Qualifying 5 (3 Laps)
1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 12.493[7]
2. 98P-Miles Paulus, 12.702[3]
3. 187-Landon Crawley, 12.792[5]
4. 97-Scotty Milan, 12.903[6]
5. 36-Jason Martin, 12.912[4]
6. 7C-Chris Morgan, 12.972[2]
7. 7B-Ben Brown, 12.989[1]
SCE Gaskets Heat Race #Races (Top 16 in combined Qualifying/Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
SCE Gaskets Heat Race #1 (8 Laps)
1. 10P-Dylan Postier[2]
2. 55B-Brandon Anderson[3]
3. 23-Seth Bergman[4]
4. 1XX-Brad Ryun[1]
5. 86-Timothy Smith[6]
6. 4-Evan Martin[5]
7. 12M-Greg Merritt[7]
DNS: 18X-Nathan Ryun
SCE Gaskets Heat Race #2 (8 Laps)
1. 51B-Joe B Miller[1]
2. 9JR-Derek Hagar[3]
3. 10-Landon Britt[2]
4. 9-Chase Randall[4]
5. 31-Casey Wills[6]
6. 00-Broc Elliott[7]
7. 73-Samuel Wagner[5]
8. 12X-Brennon Blair[8]
SCE Gaskets Heat Race #3 (8 Laps)
1. 14E-Kyle Bellm[1]
2. 95-Matt Covington[3]
3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]
4. 45X-Kyler Johnson[2]
5. 47-Dale Howard[5]
6. 1JR-Steven Russell[7]
7. 0-Jake Griffin[6]
8. 32D-Daryn Langford[8]
SCE Gaskets Heat Race #4 (8 Laps)
1. 1X-Tim Crawley[1]
2. 52-Blake Hahn[3]
3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[4]
4. 14-Jordon Mallett[5]
5. 21-Gunner Ramey[2]
6. 17B-Ryan Bickett[7]
7. 24-Jeffrey West Jr[8]
8. 77-Jack Wagner[6]
SCE Gaskets Heat Race #5 (8 Laps)
1. 187-Landon Crawley[2]
2. 2C-Wayne Johnson[4]
3. 98P-Miles Paulus[3]
4. 36-Jason Martin[5]
5. 7B-Ben Brown[6]
6. 97-Scotty Milan[1]
7. 7C-Chris Morgan[7]
BMRS B-Features (Top 3 from each advance)
BMRS B-Main 1 (12 Laps)
1. 14-Jordon Mallett[1]
2. 45X-Kyler Johnson[2]
3. 21-Gunner Ramey[5]
4. 31-Casey Wills[3]
5. 97-Scotty Milan[8]
6. 73-Samuel Wagner[10]
7. 12M-Greg Merritt[9]
8. 4-Evan Martin[7]
9. 7B-Ben Brown[4]
10. 00-Broc Elliott[6]
11. 32D-Daryn Langford[11]
12. 18X-Nathan Ryun[12]
BMRS B-Main 2 (12 Laps)
1. 36-Jason Martin[1]
2. 47-Dale Howard[4]
3. 86-Timothy Smith[2]
4. 1XX-Brad Ryun[3]
5. 17B-Ryan Bickett[5]
6. 24-Jeffrey West Jr[7]
7. 1JR-Steven Russell[6]
8. 0-Jake Griffin[9]
9. 12X-Brennon Blair[10]
10. 77-Jack Wagner[11]
11. 7C-Chris Morgan[8]
A-Feature
Lucas Oil A-Main (25 Laps)
1. 52-Blake Hahn[1]
2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]
3. 51B-Joe B Miller[13]
4. 9JR-Derek Hagar[6]
5. 95-Matt Covington[7]
6. 98P-Miles Paulus[14]
7. 14-Jordon Mallett[17]
8. 36-Jason Martin[18]
9. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[10]
10. 187-Landon Crawley[2]
11. 47-Dale Howard[20]
12. 10P-Dylan Postier[3]
13. 45X-Kyler Johnson[19]
14. 17B-Ryan Bickett[23]
15. 1X-Tim Crawley[11]
16. 10-Landon Britt[16]
17. 55B-Brandon Anderson[5]
18. 2C-Wayne Johnson[4]
19. 23-Seth Bergman[9]
20. 9-Chase Randall[15]
21. 21-Gunner Ramey[21]
22. 14E-Kyle Bellm[12]
23. 86-Timothy Smith[22]
Lap Leader(s): Blake Hahn 1-25
Hard Charger: Joe B. Miller +10
Quick Time: Chase Randall 12.027-seconds (NTR)
High Point Driver: Wayne Johnson
Provisional(s): Ryan Bickett (Points)