Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Smokes The Field At Smoky Mountain Speedway

MARYVILLE, Tenn. (August 26, 2017) Adding his name to the record books at Smoky Mountain Speedway, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. picked up his 12th Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network victory, and 14th overall ASCS win on the 2017 season.

Chasing Wayne Johnson on the start, the Outlaw Wings No. 2c rolled the cushion to open up Saturday's feature event. Caution on Lap 2 for Michael Miller who slammed the wall in turn-one, Johnson was stopped on the front stretch to swap out the transponder before going green but was able to retain his spot.

Able to hold off the charge of Hafertepe through the first and second turns, it took a couple laps before Johnson was able to build some breathing room. Running down traffic with a half straightaway advantage over the Keith Dobbs Motorsports No. 15H, the slower cars began playing to the advantage of Hafertepe. Closing to Wayne's tail tank on Lap 12, Sam worked the bottom side of the speedway with the line paying off a lap later.

"Wayne got me on the start, and track position was important. I kept looking at the bottom and I knew it was going to come around, and it came in perfect when we got to those lapped cars that I was able to manipulate the bottom," commented Hafertepe of the pass for the lead that netted him his 27th career National Tour score. "After we found the right place to run, I don't think anyone had anything else for us."

Moving to the lead, Hafertepe quickly built his advantage as Blake Hahn also worked the inside line to take over second. Still contending with slower cars while running third, slower traffic would be the end of Wayne Johnson's night on Lap 16 as the No. 2c ended up flipping into the wall in the first and second turns. Wayne was unharmed.

With Blake Hahn and Matt Covington now in pursuit on the restart, neither were able to get the run on Hafertepe as Aaron Reutzel came into the mix for the third spot. Trading the spot several times, both drivers were having to contend with failed nose wings, with Aaron able to roll the wing forward to put the car back in balance and gain the advantage on Lap 23.

Going green the remainder of the feature event, Hafertepe found slower traffic in the closing laps. Bringing Hahn from a half straightaway disadvantage to only a hand full of car lengths, time was out for Hahn to get a run as Hafertepe won by 0.914 seconds.

Blake Hahn was joined on the podium by Aaron Reutzel with Johnny Herrera moving forward from ninth to finish fourth, followed by Matt Covington in fifth. Brian Bell was sixth, followed by Skylar Gee from 10th. Harli White, Seth Bergman, and Eric Riggins from 19th made up the top-ten.

A field of 19 was split into three Heat Races with Brian Bell, Wayne Johnson, and Sam Hafertepe, Jr. each earning wins. Wayne Johnson was the FSR Radiator High Point Driver of the Night. Eric Riggins, Jr. was the CP-Carrillo Hard Charger.

The Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network return to action at the Jackson Motorplex in Jackson, Minn. for Labor Day Weekend on Friday, September 1 and Saturday, September 2.

The Lucas Oil ASCS Southern Outlaw Sprints returns to action on Saturday, August 26, 2017, at Smoky Mountain Speedway with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour. 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
ASCS Southern Outlaw Sprints
Smoky Mountain Speedway - Maryville, Tenn.
Saturday, August 26, 2017

Car Count: 19

Heat Races (All drivers advance to the A-Feature)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 23B-Brian Bell, [1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn, [2]; 3. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [3]; 4. 29-Kyle Amerson, [4]; 5. 4M-Michael Miller, [6]; 6. 116-Nick Snyder, [5]; 7. 1-Eric Riggins Jr, [7]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [2]; 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [1]; 3. 17W-Harli White, [4]; 4. 95-Matt Covington, [6]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman, [5]; 6. 01-Shane Morgan, [3]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [1]; 2. 1X-Scott Hunter, [2]; 3. 99-Skylar Gee, [3]; 4. 9-Lane Whittington, [4]; 5. 00-Tristan Lee, [5]; 6. 52K-Cody Karl, [6]

Protect the Harvest A-Feature:

A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn, [3]; 3. 87-Aaron Reutzel, [6]; 4. 45X-Johnny Herrera, [9]; 5. 95-Matt Covington, [4]; 6. 23B-Brian Bell, [8]; 7. 99-Skylar Gee, [10]; 8. 17W-Harli White, [5]; 9. 23-Seth Bergman, [14]; 10. 1-Eric Riggins Jr, [19]; 11. 1X-Scott Hunter, [7]; 12. 29-Kyle Amerson, [11]; 13. 9-Lane Whittington, [12]; 14. 00-Tristan Lee, [15]; 15. 52K-Cody Karl, [16]; 16. (DNF) 2C-Wayne Johnson, [2]; 17. (DNF) 116-Nick Snyder, [17]; 18. (DNF) 01-Shane Morgan, [18]; 19. (DNF) 4M-Michael Miller, [13]

Lap Leader(s): Wayne Johnson 1-12; Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 13-30
CP-Carrillo Hard Charger: Eric Riggins +9
FSR High Point Driver: Wayne Johnson
Provisional(s): N/A

2017 Lucas Oil ASCS A-Main Winner(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. - 12 (3/17 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 3/18 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 4/7 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/8 - Texas Motor Speedway; 4/15 - Missouri State Fair Speedway; 6/13 - Devil's Bowl Speedway; 6/14 - Lawton Speedway; 6/23 - Skagit Speedway; 6/24 - Skagit Speedway; 7/14 - Black Hills Speedway; 8/20 - Missouri State Fair Speedway; 8/27 - Smoky Mountain Speedway); Aaron Reutzel - 5 (5/11 - Lakeside Speedway; 6/15 - Creek County Speedway; 6/17 - Lucas Oil Speedway; 6/22 - Skagit Speedway; 7/15 - Black Hills Speedway); Wayne Johnson - 2 (7/7 - Gallatin Speedway; 7/8 - Gallatin Speedway); Jake Bubak - 1 (6/9 - West Texas Raceway); Kyle Bellm - 1(6/10 - Route 66 Motor Speedway); Brian Brown - 1 (6/16 - Randolph County Raceway); Matt Covington - 1 (6/30 - Grays Harbor Raceway); Roger Crockett - 1 (7/1 - Grays Harbor Raceway); Terry McCarl - 1 (7/29 - Knoxville Raceway); Gregg Bakker - 1 (7/30 - Mason City Motor Speedway); Tim Shaffer - 1 (8/3 - Knoxville Raceway); Greg Hodnett - 1 (8/4 - Knoxville Raceway); Clint Garner - 1 (8/5 - Knoxville Raceway); Tim Crawley - 1 (8/24 - Riverside International Speedway);

2017 Lucas Oil ASCS Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 3,771; 2. Aaron Reutzel 3,617; 3. Wayne Johnson 3,448; 4. Matt Covington 3,398 5. Johnny Herrera 3,391; 6. Seth Bergman 3,378; 7. Blake Hahn 3,227; 8. Skylar Gee 2,997; 9. Harli White 2,703, 10. Josh Baughman 1,627;


American Sprint Car Series

Tulsa, Okla. - Est. 1992

 

1

Chance Morton Slides To Victory With ASCS Red River At The Salina Highbanks

 

SALINA, Okla. (August 26, 2017) Adding his name to the list of ASCS winners, Coweta's Chance Morton picked up his first career victory with the American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Red River Region presented by Smiley's Racing Products at the Salina Highbanks Speedway on Saturday night.

Having to advance through the field from the sixth starting spot, Morton was able to slide his way to the top-spot on Lap 9 with the slide job coming off the second turn to capture the point from Missouri's Kyle Bellm.

Able to keep pace the remainder of the race, Morton was pursued to the checkered flag by Dustin Morgan with his brother, Kade Morton, advancing 10 positions to take the final podium step. Kyle Bellm would end up fourth with series point's leader, Alex Sewell in fifth.

Brandon Long from Wichita Falls, Texas moved to sixth from the 15th starting spot with Andrew Deal in seventh. Mike Goodman was eighth from 19th with Jared Sewell and Michael Bookout making up the top-ten.

The American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Red River Region presented by Smiley's Racing Products is in action again Friday, September 8 at Flint Creek Speedway in Colcord, Okla. Saturday, September 9 will co-sanction with the ASCS Mid-South Region at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark.

The Lucas Oil ASCS Southern Outlaw Sprints returns to action on Saturday, August 26, 2017, at Smoky Mountain Speedway with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour. 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:

ASCS Red River Region
Salina Highbanks Speedway - Salina, Okla.
Saturday, August 26, 2017

Car Count: 19

Pizza Express of Oklahoma Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 22-Sean McClelland, [1]; 2. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [5]; 3. 07-Michael Bookout, [2]; 4. 44-Jared Sewell, [4]; 5. 02-Brandon Long, [3]; 6. 2W-Whit Gastineau, [6]; 7. 11M-Mike Goodman, [7]

Pizza Express of Oklahoma Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 8-Alex Sewell, [2]; 2. 2-Mickey Walker, [1]; 3. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [4]; 4. 21R-Andrew Deal, [3]; 5. 8M-Kade Morton, [5]; 6. 5-Cameron Hagin, [6]

Pizza Express of Oklahoma Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 93-Dustin Morgan, [4]; 2. 7M-Chance Morton, [3]; 3. 26M-Fred Mattox, [1]; 4. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale, [5]; 5. 2K-Kenneth Walker, [2]; 6. 31-Casey Wills, [6]

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 7M-Chance Morton, [6]; 2. 93-Dustin Morgan, [1]; 3. 8M-Kade Morton, [13]; 4. 14K-Kyle Bellm, [2]; 5. 8-Alex Sewell, [5]; 6. 02-Brandon Long, [15]; 7. 21R-Andrew Deal, [12]; 8. 11M-Mike Goodman, [19]; 9. 44-Jared Sewell, [11]; 10. 07-Michael Bookout, [8]; 11. 85-Forrest Sutherland, [7]; 12. 2-Mickey Walker, [3]; 13. 22-Sean McClelland, [4]; 14. 26M-Fred Mattox, [10]; 15. 20S-Sheldon Barksdale, [9]; 16. 2W-Whit Gastineau, [16]; 17. 31-Casey Wills, [18]; 18. 5-Cameron Hagin, [17]; 19. 2K-Kenneth Walker, [14]