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Hafertepe and Rudeen Team Up For Knoxville Nationa

Sam Hafertepe Jr. and The Rudeen Racing Team will be joining forces in an effort to capture victory at The 52nd Annual Knoxville Nationals.

Hafertepe has already found plenty of success in the past with Rudeen as the pair captured a $20,000 to win race at Skagit Speedway against The World of Outlaws (WoO) last year and are slated to start on the front row for the $25,000 to win Skagit Dirt Cup later this year.

"I'm really looking forward to heading out to Knoxville and competing with Kevin and all of the guys," said Sam.

"Every time we hit the track I feel like we are capable of being the fastest car and I feel we can run with anyone."

The familiar blue, black and gold #26 Maxim will feature a fresh Fisher Racing Engine. The partnership could not have come at a better time for Hafertepe who has had a very frustrating season which culminated in him having to miss this year's edition of The Kings Royal following a Friday night crash and lack of equipment.

"To not race The Kings Royal was pretty devastating," said Sam. "We had sold a bunch of equipment when I was hired for The Zemco ride so we were kind of caught in a bad spot when that deal ended. We've been playing catch up ever since and it seems like every time we are about to get caught up we've hurt a motor or torn up a race car. We'd been scratching to get by and finally on the Friday night it caught up with us. We were out of cars and had to watch The Kings Royal from the stands."

"Shane (Anderson) builds a phenomenal race car," explained Sam. "He has a wealth of experience from his time on the road with guys like Donny Schatz and it really shows up in his attention to detail and making everything just right on a race car. We also respect each other enough to listen and communicate with each other like you need to when you are competing at such a high level."

Shane and The Rudeen Team are also looking forward to taking another shot at The Nationals.

"I feel like I'm as prepared and organized as I have ever been," explained Shane. "I feel like we are in a position to go to Knoxville and be really competitive. I feel like this combination give us everything we need to run up front."

Hafertepe has qualified for 2 of the last 3 Knoxville Nationals and feels like he is prepared to run up front this year.

"The Nationals were a very good experience for us last year," recalled Sam. "We ran steadily in the top 10 during the first half of the race but we faded just a little in the second half and ended up 14th. When we qualified in '09 we dropped out early so last year was really our first chance to get a lot of experience in the A Main. You never really get a chance to race on a surface like you do in the A Main at The Nationals so we weren't totally sure what to expect. I feel like we rolled out okay in the first half and stayed okay in the second half while some other teams got better and were able to pass us. This year I feel a lot more prepared, a lot more confident and I know I between my team and Kevin's team we are going to be someone people have to contend with."

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