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Sam Hafertepe Jr. Charges Through Field Twice For

[b Sam Hafertepe Jr. Charges Through Field Twice For Top 10 At Millstream]

[i Daryl Turford]

Sunnyvale, Texas-A weekend filled with rain was salvaged as Sam Hafertepe Jr and the Plumbfast Racing Team raced this past Sunday night at Millstream Speedway in Findlay, Ohio. The team tried racing first at Oshkosh Speedway in Wisconsin on Friday night then Rice Lake Speedway Saturday night. Both nights were rained out resulting in the team making the long, 10 ½ hour, over night tow to Millstream.
Friday night in Oshkosh saw Sam go out late in time trials and time in 3rd out of the 38 IRA sprints that had signed into the pits. Following time trials the skies opened up and the night was lost. Saturday night the IRA and Sam invaded Rice Lake Speedway where Sam is the current 1-lap track record holder. Unfortunately persistent drizzle cancelled the night’s events before they even started.
Sunday was cloudless and afforded Sam and the Plumbfast Racing Team their first chance to race that weekend.
Warm-ups did not go well for Sam as he took a rock off the helmet.
“I caught a rock in the early laps of warm-ups”, explained Sam. “It rocked me pretty good and left me with a nice bruise on my chin but that stuff happens all of the time”.
The heat race did not go well for Sam and the team. Hafertepe was running 3rd in the heat which would have locked him into the outside of the front row for the feature when the car came to an abrupt stop in turns 3 and 4.
“We had a fuel pump go bad on us”, explained Sam. “It really sucks because it put us behind the 8-ball for the rest of the night and cost us a front row spot in a race that I think that we were fast enough to win”.
Sam patiently worked his way up to 2nd to safely transfer out of the B Main.
Hafertepe lined the Maxim-Fisher #15H up 17th on the grid but would not stay there long. As all of the other drivers worked the top in the opening laps Sam dove straight for the bottom and started tearing through the field. In just 2 laps Sam charged from 17th to 8th and looked like he had a shot at the win.
At roughly the halfway point Sam had worked his way into a battle for 4th with Brandon Wimmer and Phil Gressman. Entering turn 3 Sam had a huge run on Gressman but the Ohioan got off the gas more than Sam had anticipated. Phil also ran a different line than he had the lap before. Sam had to take desperate measures to avoid contact between the pair that resulted in him spinning the car.
“I probably should have backed off a bit heading into the turn”, said Sam. “I had a really good run though and I didn’t want to kill it because I thought I could get Phil there if I made the turn”.
Hafertepe restarted at the back of the pack and patiently worked his way back into 10th place before the checkers.
“We’ll take it”, Sam said following the race. “10th wasn’t what we wanted but given what happened, where we started and how fast we were I don’t think we can complain too much. I don’t think we had quite enough car to win from the back but if we’d have held that front row starting position that slipped through our grasp I think anyone would have had a tough time beating us”.
The team is now at Kear’s Speed Shop in Tiffin, Ohio preparing for a 3-race weekend with the All Star Circuit of Champions beginning at Lernerville Speedway on Friday.
“Lernerville is one of my favourite tracks to race at”, said the 2007 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year. “I love going there and any time we do I feel like no matter who we are racing, we can win”.
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