Flat Left Front Not Enough To Stop Hafertepe At I-30 Speedway With Lucas Oil ASCS

Bryan Hulbert – LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (June 27, 2020) Even with a flat left front tire over the final four laps on Saturday's SawBlade.com A-Feature, it was not enough to slow Sam Hafertepe, Jr. as the driver of the Hills Racing/Heidbreder Foundation No. 15h led start to finish with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at I-30 Speedway.

"I just got a little too greedy," chuckled Hafertepe over the flat front tire. "I did that with about four laps to go, and I just started being careful, so it didn't dig in."

Hafertepe's third career victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at the Arkansas quarter-mile, the win is Sam's 50th overall with the National Tour since 2010.

Fending off numerous restart attempts at the lead by Mississippi's Dale Howard, the No. 15h used the final 15 lap green flag run to stretch his advantage to 2.747 seconds. Battling with Roger Crockett over the last half of the Feature, the pair went side by side several times as Howard held off the No. 11. Blake Hahn grabbed third on Lap 26 after Dale and Roger nearly made contact. Blake was able to hold on to complete the night's podium after starting seventh on the grid. Roger Crockett ended up fourth with Jordan Mallett, from 11th, taking the fifth position on the closing lap.

Moving up six positions, Missouri's Garet Williamson ended up sixth with Cody Gardner seventh. Having to race through the first BMRS B-Feature, after being disqualified during his Qualifier for rough driving, Howard Moore rebounded to eighth after starting 19th. Having fallen out the top ten late in the A-Feature, Matt Covington came back to finish ninth with Chase Randall posting his first top ten of the season against the National Tour.

The 76th event at I-30 Speedway since 1993 with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network; the Saturday showdown drew a field of 42 drivers from 10 states and three countries. SCE Gaskets Heat Races were topped by John Carney II, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Brad Bowden, Howard Moore, and Zach Pringle. Hoosier Tire Qualifiers went to Justin Sanders, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., and Roger Crockett. A pair of BMRS B-Features were topped by Tim Crawley and Dylan Westbrook. Provisional were utilized by Harli White and Robbie Price based on National Tour Owner Points. A Regional Provisional was used by Joseph Miller.

The next event for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network is slated for Saturday, July 11 at Riverside International Speedway in West Memphis, Ark. Live coverage is available for those who cannot make the trip on http://www.racinboys.com.

For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2020, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV and ASCS Mid-South Region
I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, Ark.)
Saturday, June 27, 2020

Car Count: 42

SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 30 in Passing Points advance to Qualifiers)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. J2-John Carney II[2]; 2. 16A-Justin Sanders[1]; 3. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 4. 24D-Danny Sams III[4]; 5. 14-Jordon Mallett[7]; 6. 24W-Jeffrey West Jr[3]; 7. 21P-Robbie Price[9]; 8. 5-Eric Lutz[8]; 9. 0-Mike Vaculik[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 2. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[1]; 3. G6-Cody Gardner[5]; 4. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 5. 21B-Brandon Hinkle[3]; 6. 88-Travis Reber[7]; 7. 69-Jamey Mooney[8]; 8. 27J-Joseph Poe Jr[9]; 9. 99-Blake Jenkins[4]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 2-Brad Bowden[2]; 2. 77X-Alex Hill[3]; 3. 47-Dale Howard[7]; 4. 9-Chase Randall[6]; 5. 1X-Tim Crawley[5]; 6. 13-Chase Howard[4]; 7. 30-Joseph Miller[1]; 8. 1S-Joey Schmidt[8]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Howard Moore[4]; 2. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[3]; 3. 24-Garet Williamson[5]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[6]; 5. 55B-Brandon Anderson[7]; 6. 17B-Ryan Bickett[1]; 7. 8X-Tony Higgins[8]; 8. X-Charlie Louden[2]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 8Z-Zach Pringle[1]; 2. 14E-Kyle Bellm[6]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 4. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[2]; 5. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[5]; 6. 11B-Tyler Horn[3]; 7. 23B-Keith Ainsworth[8]; 8. 17W-Harli White[7]

Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)

Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16A-Justin Sanders[2]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 3. J2-John Carney II[5]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett[7]; 5. 8Z-Zach Pringle[4]; 6. 88-Travis Reber[9]; 7. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[8]; 8. 69-Jamey Mooney[10]; 9. 28-Scott Bogucki[3]; 10. (DQ) 3-Howard Moore[6] ***Moore DQ'd for rough driving.

Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[5]; 2. 9-Chase Randall[1]; 3. G6-Cody Gardner[3]; 4. 14E-Kyle Bellm[6]; 5. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[2]; 6. 1X-Tim Crawley[8]; 7. 55B-Brandon Anderson[7]; 8. 77X-Alex Hill[4]; 9. 8X-Tony Higgins[10]; 10. 21B-Brandon Hinkle[9]

Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett[1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[2]; 3. 47-Dale Howard[6]; 4. 24-Garet Williamson[3]; 5. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[4]; 6. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[8]; 7. 24D-Danny Sams III[7]; 8. 23B-Keith Ainsworth[10]; 9. 21P-Robbie Price[9]; 10. 2-Brad Bowden[5]

BMRS B-Feature (Top 3 from each advance to the A-Feature)

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 1X-Tim Crawley[1]; 2. 3-Howard Moore[2]; 3. 5-Eric Lutz[8]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 5. 30-Joseph Miller[9]; 6. 11B-Tyler Horn[7]; 7. 0-Mike Vaculik[10]; 8. (DNF) 24D-Danny Sams III[4]; 9. (DNF) 55B-Brandon Anderson[3]; 10. (DNF) 23B-Keith Ainsworth[6]; 11. (DNS) 1S-Joey Schmidt; 12. (DNS) 8X-Tony Higgins; 13. (DNS) 13-Chase Howard ***Bogucki docked two spots at the finish for advancing before the cone.

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[1]; 2. 24W-Jeffrey West Jr[8]; 3. 99-Blake Jenkins[13]; 4. 77X-Alex Hill[2]; 5. 17W-Harli White[11]; 6. 69-Jamey Mooney[5]; 7. 17B-Ryan Bickett[9]; 8. 21B-Brandon Hinkle[7]; 9. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[3]; 10. 27J-Joseph Poe Jr[10]; 11. 21P-Robbie Price[6]; 12. 2-Brad Bowden[4]; 13. X-Charlie Louden[12]

Sawblade.com A-Feature

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 47-Dale Howard[2]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[6]; 5. 14-Jordon Mallett[11]; 6. 24-Garet Williamson[12]; 7. G6-Cody Gardner[8]; 8. 3-Howard Moore[19]; 9. 95-Matt Covington[9]; 10. 9-Chase Randall[10]; 11. 1X-Tim Crawley[17]; 12. 8Z-Zach Pringle[13]; 13. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[14]; 14. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[18]; 15. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[15]; 16. 99-Blake Jenkins[22]; 17. 24W-Jeffrey West Jr[20]; 18. 5-Eric Lutz[21]; 19. 30-Joseph Miller[25]; 20. (DNF) 17W-Harli White[23]; 21. (DNF) 16A-Justin Sanders[5]; 22. (DNF) 88-Travis Reber[16]; 23. (DNF) 14E-Kyle Bellm[3]; 24. (DNF) J2-John Carney II[4]; 25. (DNF) 21P-Robbie Price[24]

Lap Leader(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-30
Hard Charger: Howard Moore +11
High Point Driver: Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
Provisional(s): Harli White (Points); Robbie Price (Points); Joseph Miller (Regional)

Driver Point Standings (Top 15): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 733; 2. Roger Crockett 684; 3. Jordon Mallett 661; 4. Matt Covington 633; 5. Harli White 620; 6. Blake Hahn 616; 7. Dylan Westbrook 611; 8. Scott Bogucki 607; 9. Justin Sanders 578; 10. Garet Williamson 504; 11. Chase Randall 497; 12. John Carney II 681; 13. Robbie Price 479; 14. Alex Hill 460; 15. Danny Sams III 458

2020 A-Feature Winner(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – 3 (2/29 – Canyon Speedway Park; 6/25 – Caney Valley Speedway; 6/27 – I-30 Speedway); Matt Covington - 1 (2/28 - Canyon Speedway Park); Brad Sweet – 1 (3/6 – Merced Speedway); Andy Forsberg – 1 (3/8 – Petaluma Speedway);

ASCS Online:

American Sprint Car Series: http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs (@lucasoilascs)
Instagram: LucasOilASCS
Video Broadcast: http://www.racinboys.com
Live-Scoring (Where Applicable): MRP Live