Mallett and Hafertepe, Jr., Score in Short Track Nationals Prelim “Twins 20’s”!

                                                                                                            
Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 22, 2021) – The 34th edition of I-30 Speedway’s COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires kicked off in rousing fashion Friday night with Jordon Mallett and Sam Hafertepe, Jr., racing to victory lane in the evening’s Twin 20-lap feature events.

While Greenbrier, AR, shoe Jordon Mallett emerged from a spirited battle with Derek Hagar to capture his first career Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour win in the first 20-lapper, reigning event champion Sam Hafertepe, Jr., of Sunnyvale, TX, solidified his status as an odd-on favorite with a convincing triumph in the second 20-lapper.

Marion, Arkansas’ Hagar and Quilcene, Washington’s J.J. Hickle secured positions in Saturday night’s Pack Building Materials “Dash for Cash” as well and a top-three row position at worst for the $10,041-to-win, 41-lap STN championship feature event.

After a pair of aborted starts for an Austin Wood turn two spin and then a third turn flip, Mallett gunned into the lead at the outset of the night’s first 20-lapper with Hagar and Canada’s Dylan Westbrook in hot pursuit.

Hagar kept the pressure on and used traffic to his advantage to take the lead away from Mallett on the 12th circuit as he vied for a third consecutive STN preliminary win aboard the No. 9jr entry.  Westbrook challenged Mallett for the runner-up position, but the young shoe got busy and soon turned the tables on Hagar in traffic to recapture the lead with a handful of laps to go aboard the Water for Christ No. 14 machine.

Mallett kept Hagar at bay in the closing laps of the frenzied feature with Westbrook settling for the show position as Matt Covington and Miles Paulus filled out the top five.  Cody Gardner crossed the stripe sixth with Slater Helt climbing from 14th to seventh as Gunner Ramey, Eric Lutz and Justin Zimmerman completed the top ten.

“I thought it was going to be kinda boring out there, just out front and minding my own,” Mallett explained.  “I knew it would get dicey in lapped traffic and you can’t ever count Derek, he’s such a good driver.  I’m just glad we were able to get that back.”

After posting the only qualifying lap in the 11-second bracket of 11.987-second for the night’s quickest overall time, Hafertepe, Jr., flexed his muscle with a dominant win in the second of the “Twin 20’s” for his 58th career Lucas Oil National Tour feature win aboard the Townline Variety/Heidbreider Foundation Service No. 15h.

“We had an awesome car all night long, that’s actually the best car that we’ve ever had here,” Hafertepe, Jr., commented in victory lane.

Gridding the feature field outside the front row, Hafertepe, Jr., gunned ahead of fellow front row starter J.J. Hickle at the drop of the green flag and never looked back en route to his fourth career STN preliminary feature triumph.

The action in his wake was compelling with 1998 STN champion Tim Crawley holding off two-time event winner Blake Hahn for the runner-up position until the halfway mark.  Power steering woes soon brought Crawley’s run to a premature end, bringing about a caution that set the stage for a seven-lap dash to the checkered.

With a handful of lapped cars separating himself from his pursuers, Hafertepe, Jr., dashed on to take the win by a healthy 6.979-second margin Hahn and Hickle diced for the coveted runner-up position.

Hickle emerged with the position in the closing rounds as Hahn settled for third.  Dustin Gates worked his way from ninth to fourth with Chris Martin rounding out the top five.  Reigning I-30 Speedway track champion Howard Moore was sixth with Eric Baldaccini, Joseph Miller, 16th-starter Tucker Boulton and Landon Britt completing the top ten.

While Hafertepe, Jr., turned the quickest overall lap in qualifying, Missouri’s Gunner Ramey set the standard in Program A with a lap of 12.126 seconds.

Covington, Westbrook, Hagar and Mallett scored heat races win in Program A with Garet Williamson best in the “B” Main.  Tim Crawley, Hahn, Michael Day and Hafertepe, Jr., posted heat wins in Program B with Ryan Bickett topping the “B” Main.

The 34th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires at I-30 Speedway concludes with Saturday night’s $10,041-to-win tilt that features a full card of heat races, “C” Mains, “B” Mains, the Pack Building Materials “Dash for Cash” and the 41-lap STN championship “A” Main.  Racing action goes green at 7:30 p.m.

34th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires Friday Night Results:

PROGRAM A:

Qualifying:

Group One:  1. 95-Matt Covington 12.297, 2. G6-Cody Gardner 12.358, 3. 98p-Miles Paulus 12.427, 4 1s-Joey Schmidt 12.661, 5. 21b-Brandon Hinkle 12.668, 6. 0v-Michael Vaculik 13.041, 7. 3b-Chris Banja 13.311, 8. 69-Jamey Mooney 13.365.

Group Two:  1. 47x-Dylan Westbrook 12.138, 2. 24w-Garet Williamson 12.227, 3. 1z-Justin Zimmerman 12.428, 4. 5L-Eric Lutz 12.500, 5. 26-Marshall Skinner 12.630, 6. 44h-Ronny Howard 12.677, 7. 2c-Chase Porter 12.763, 8. 8x-Tony Higgins 13.041.

Group Three:  1. 21r-Gunner Ramey 12.126, 2. 9jr-Derek Hagar 12.434, 3. 27w-Austin Wood 12.449, 4. 16w-Ryan Ruhl 14.454, 5. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth 12.509, 6. 44-Jason Howell 12.568, 7. 72p-Gary Floyd 12.579, 8. 92-Cody Hays 12.842.

Group Four:  1. 14-Jordon Mallett 12.360, 2. 87-Jason Barney 12.450, 3. 24-Jeffrey West, Jr. 12.509, 4. 13-Chase Howard 12.536, 5. 22s-Slater Helt 12.626, 6. 21m-Spencer Meredith 12.759, 7. 19-Jason Long 13.054, 8. 3J-Junior Jenkins NT.

Heat Races (Top 4 Transfer from each):

First Heat (8 Laps):  1. 95-Matt Covington (4), 2. 98p-Miles Paulus (2), 3. G6-Cody Gardner (3), 4. 1s-Joey Schmidt (1), 5. 21b-Brandon Hinkle (5), 6. 3b-Chris Banja (7), 7. 0v-Micahel Vaculik (6), 8. 69-Jamey Mooney (8).

Second Heat (8 Laps):  1. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (4), 2. 5L-Eric Lutz (1), 3. 1z-Justin Zimmerman (2), 4. 26-Marshall Skinner (5), 5. 44h-Ronny Howard (6), 6. 2c-Chase Porter (7), 7. 8x-Tony Higgins (8), 8. 24w-Garet Williamson (3).

Third Heat (8 Laps):  1. 9jr-Derek Hagar (3), 2. 27w-Austin Wood (2), 3. 21r-Gunner Ramey (4), 4. 16w-Ryan Ruhl (1), 5. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (5), 6. 44-Jason Howell (6), 7. 72p-Gary Floyd (7), 8. 92-Cody Hays (8).

Fourth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 14-Jordon Mallett (4), 2. 13-Chase Howard (1), 3. 87-Jason Barney (3), 4. 22s-Slater Helt (5), 5. 24-Jeffrey West, Jr. (2), 6. 3J-Junior Jenkins (8), 7. 21m-Spencer Meredith (6), 8. 19-Jason Long (7).

“B” Main – Top 4 Transfer to “A”:
                                                                   
“B” Feature (12 Laps):  1. 24w-Garet Williamson (1), 2. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (2), 3. 21b-Brandon Hinkle (4), 4. 44-Jason Howell (6), 5. 24-Jeffrey West, Jr. (3), 6. 2c-Chase Porter (7), 7. 21m-Spencer Meredith (11), 8. 92-Cody Hays (14), 9. 72p-Gary Floyd (10), 10. 3J-Junior Jenkins (9), 11. 69-Jamey Mooney (16), 12. 19-Jason Long (15), 13. 0v-Micahel Vaculik (12), 14. 44h-Ronny Howard (5), 15. 3b-Chris Banja (8), 16. 8x-Tony Higgins (13).

“A” Feature – Top 2 Lock-in to Saturday’s STN Championship Feature

A Feature (20 Laps – Starting position in parentheses):  1. 14-Jordon Mallett (1), 2. 9jr-Derek Hagar (2), 3. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (4), 4. 95-Matt Covington (5), 5. 98p-Miles Paulus (7), 6. G6-Cody Gardner (6), 7. 22s-Slater Helt (14), 8. 21r-Gunner Ramey (3), 9. 5L-Eric Lutz (9), 10. 1z-Justin Zimmerman (11), 11. 24w-Garet Williamson (17), 12. 26-Marshall Skinner (15), 13. 87-Jason Barney (12), 14. 21b-Brandon Hinkle (19), 15. 91a-Ernie Ainsworth (16), 16. 16w-Ryan Ruhl (13), 17. 13-Chase Howard (10), 18. 44-Jason Howell (20), 19. 1s-Joey Schmidt (16), 20. 27w-Austin Wood (8).

Lap Leaders:  Jordon Mallett 1-11, Derek Hagar 12-14, Mallett 15-20.

PROGRAM B:

Qualifying:

Group One:  1. 63-J.J. Hickle 12.293, 2. 10L-Landon Britt 12.329, 3. 12-Tony Bruce, Jr. 12.417, 4. 0c-Tim Crawley 12.439, 5. 42p-Preston Perlmutter 12.460, 6. 88-Travis Reber 12.843, 7. 13m-Chance McCrary 12.929, 8. 8-Joseph Wray 13.429.

Group Two:  1. 52-Blake Hahn 12.205, 2. 28b-Scott Bogucki 12.304, 3. 0z-Landon Crawley 12.638, 4. 0b-Eric Baldaccini 12.715, 5. 3g-Paxton Gregory 12.731, 6. 74-Tucker Boulton 12.807, 7. 12m-Greg Merritt 12.812, 8. 28a-Keith Ainsworth 12.940.

Group Three:  1. 44m-Chris Martin 12.312, 2. 11-Roger Crockett 12.403, 3. 91x-Michael Day 12.441, 4. 30-Joseph Miller 12.650, 5. 82-Austin Saunders 12.809, 6. 29h-Pete Butler 12.815, 7. 38-Rick Pringle 12.833, 8. 27J-Joseph Poe 13.070.

Group Four:  1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 11.987, 2. 3-Howard Moore 12.211, 3. 6-Dustin Gates 12.404, 4. 17b-Ryan Bickett 12.435, 5. X-Charlie Louden 12.456, 6. 23p-Hunter Poe 12.657, 7. 21k-Kevin Hinkle 12.937.

Heat Races (Top 4 Transfer from each):

First Heat (8 Laps):  1. 0c-Tim Crawley (1), 2. 63-J.J. Hickle (4), 3. 12-Tony Bruce, Jr. (2), 4. 10L-Landon Britt (3), 5. 42p-Preston Perlmutter (5), 6. 13m-Chance McCrary (7), 7. 88-Travis Reber (6), 8. 8-Joseph Wray (8).

Second Heat (8 Laps):  1. 52-Blake Hahn (4), 2. 0b-Eric Baldaccini (1), 3. 0z-Landon Crawley (2), 4. 74-Tucker Boulton (6), 5. 12m-Greg Merritt (7), 6. 3g-Paxton Gregory (5), 7. 28a-Keith Ainsworth (8), 8. 28b-Scott Bogucki (3).

Third Heat (8 Laps):  1. 91x-Michael Day (2), 2. 30-Joseph Miller (1), 3. 11-Roger Crockett (3), 4. 44m-Chris Martin (4), 5. 29h-Pete Butler (6), 6. 82-Austin Saunders (5), 7. 38-Rick Pringle (7), 8. 27J-Joseph Poe (8).

Fourth Heat (8 Laps):  1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (4), 2. 6-Dustin Gates (2), 3. 3-Howard Moore (3), 4. X-Charlie Louden (5), 5. 17b-Ryan Bickett (1), 6. 21k-Kevin Hinkle (7), 7. 23p-Hunter Poe (6).

“B” Main – Top 4 Transfer to “A”:
                                                                   
“B” Feature (12 Laps):  1. 17b-Ryan Bickett (1), 2. 42p-Preston Perlmutter (2), 3. 12m-Greg Merritt (3), 4. 3g-Paxton Gregory (5), 5. 13m-Chance McCrary (6), 6. 21k-Kevin Hinkle (7), 7. 38-Rick Pringle (9), 8. 23p-Hunter Poe (8), 9. 88-Travis Reber (10), 10. 28a-Keith Ainsworth (11), 11. 29h-Pete Butler (4), 12. 27J-Joseph Poe  (12), 13. 8-Joseph Wray (13), 14. 28b-Scott Bogucki (DNS), 15. 82-Austin Saunders (DNS).

“A” Feature – Top 2 Lock-in to Saturday’s STN Championship Feature

A Feature (20 Laps – Starting position in parentheses):  1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (2), 2. 63-J.J. Hickle (1), 3. 52-Blake Hahn (3), 4. 6-Dustin Gates (9), 5. 44m-Chris Martin (5), 6. 3-Howard Moore (7), 7. 0b-Eric Baldaccini (11), 8. 30-Joseph Miller (10), 9. 74-Tucker Boulton (16), 10. 10L-Landon Britt (8), 11. 17b-Ryan Bickett (17), 12. 12-Tony Bruce, Jr. (13), 13. 42p-Preston Perlmutter (18), 14. 0z-Landon Crawley (14), 15. 3g-Paxton Gregory (20), 16. 91x-Michael Day (6), 17. 12m-Greg Merritt (19), 18. 0c-Tim Crawley (4), 19. 11-Roger Crockett (12), 20. X-Charlie Louden (15).

Lap Leaders:  Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 1-20.

STN Events Points after Friday Night (Friday Total added to Saturday heat race passing point totals to set “C”, “B” and “A” Main Lineups):