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Hafertepe, Jr., Wins West Texas Crude Nationals Opener – Wednesday Finale Bumped to $7,500 to Win

Lonnie Wheatley, LUBBOCK, Texas (May 12, 2020) – Four-time and reigning Rod End Supply Winged 360 Power Rankings champion Sam Hafertepe, Jr., raced to victory lane on Tuesday night in the first major 360-ci Sprint Car event since the onset of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Racing before an empty grandstand in accordance with current regulations but streamed into living worlds around the world via PPV at www.speedshifttv.com, the Sunnyvale, TX, native battled ahead of Scott Bogucki in the early going and then kept a closing Seth Bergman at bay in the final rounds of 25-lapper atop the West Texas Raceway to take the $6,000 winner’s share in the West Texas Crude Nationals promoted by Josh Baughman.

It was a share that was bumped from the originally advertised $4,000 with the Wednesday West Texas Crude Nationals finale now offering up $7,500.

While Hafertepe, Jr., enjoyed the big day pay, Las Cruces’ Fito Gallardo enjoyed victory lane as well by topping the 20-lap USRA Modified main event.

With South Australia’s Scott Bogucki landing the pole position for the main event with Waco teen Chase Randall alongside, fourth-starter Hafertepe, Jr., split Randall and Giovanni Scelzi to climb to second on the second circuit.

Hafertepe, Jr., went to work on Bogucki immediately and his second slide for the point stuck on the fourth round.

Weathering three cautions over the next four laps, the final 17 rounds ran off in non-stop fashion. With Hafertepe, Jr., leading the way, Washington native Bergman was on the move from ninth and up to fourth by the time the final caution flag flew.

Bergman disposed of Giovanni Scelzi for third by the tenth round and then battled past Bogucki for second another two laps later.

Bergman closed on the leader briefly and had Hafertepe, Jr., well within his sites but could never close in enough to mount a challenge for the win even as lapped traffic came into in the final handful of laps before ultimately taking the checkered flag aboard the Hill’s Racing Townline Variety/Heidbreider Foundation Service No. 15h.

Hafertepe, Jr., sailed across the stripe ahead of Bergman with Bogucki holding off Pennsylvania’s Brock Zearfoss to claim the show position. Giovanni Scelzi rounded out the top five with sibling Dominic making a last-lap pass to claim sixth. Kerry Madsen was seventh with the California trio of Shane Golobic, Cory Eliason and Justin Sanders completing the top ten.

Feature incident included a turn three tangle that eliminated Matt Covington and Preston Peebles II after five laps, a turn four tangle that forced Lubbock Wrecker Service teammates Shane Stewart and Joey Saldana pitside two laps later and then a red flag after another lap when Randall went for a wild backwards slide after contact getting into turn three and tipped on his side after dicing for position among the top four.

The evening’s first red flag appeared early when Kyle Bellm jumped the turn one cushion, got into the wall and flipped after completing his second qualifying lap. Another red flew in heat race action with reigning All Star Circuit of Champions Aaron Reutzel slipped high exiting turn four and flipped after hitting the wall.

In the 20-lap USRA Modified feature event, Kale Westover gunned into the early lead from the pole position and paced the opening seven circuits before Fito Gallardo began pressuring for the point.

The duo raced in side-by-side fashion for several laps before Gallardo surged into the lead for keeps at the midway point. From there, Gallardo distanced himself from the field to take the win by a full straightaway in the non-stop event.

Westover successfully fought off Rodney Sanders for second in the closing rounds with Joe Duvall and William Gould rounding out the top five.

The West Texas Crude Nationals at West Texas Raceway wraps up with another stellar field of cars on Wednesday night.

West Texas Crude Nationals

West Texas Raceway – Lubbock, TX

Tuesday, May 12, 2020, Results:

360-ci Sprint Cars:

Qualifying Group One: 1. 3z-Brock Zearfoss 13.169, 2. 88-Kyle Offill 13.178, 3. 23-Seth Bergman 13.191, 4. 14x-Joey Saldana 13.292, 5. 27-Carson McCarl 13.337, 6. 95-Matt Covington 13.396, 7. 74b-Jake Bubak 13.496, 8. 45-David Luckie 13.513, 9. 24-Garet Williamson 13.514, 10. 5-Kyle McCutcheon (DQ – Failed to Report to Scales).

Qualifying Group Two: 1. 14-Parker Price-Miller 13.461, 2. 28-Scott Bogucki 13.512, 3. 11x-Shane Stewart 13.537, 4. 17w-Harli White 13.560, 5. 17-Josh Baughman 13.622, 6. 52-Blake Hahn 13.680, 7. 26-Cory Eliason 13.696, 8. 99-Austin McCarl 13.781, 9. 131-Royal Jones 13.879.

Qualifying Group Three: 1. 9-Chase Randall 13.498, 2. 87-Aaron Reutzel 13.559, 3. 17wg-Shane Golobic 13.737, 4. 41g-Giovanni Scelzi 13.858, 5. 21p-Robbie Price 13.860, 6. 16a-Justin Sanders 13.924, 7. 11-Roger Crockett 13.959, 8. 38b-Blake Carrick 13.971, 9. 83T-Tanner Carrick 14.228.

Qualifying Group Four: 1. 2m-Kerry Madsen 13.312, 2. J2-John Carney II 13.341, 3. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 13.407, 4. 41s-Dominic Scelzi 13.603, 5. 11p-Preston Peebles II 13.621, 6. 14e-Kyle Bellm 13.620, 7. 4-Terry McCarl 13.802, 8. 5v-Colby Copeland 14.117, 9. 46jr-oel Myers 14.428.

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman (2), 2. 14x-Joey Saldana (1), 3. 3z-Brock Zearfoss (4), 4. 95-Matt Covington (6), 5. 88-Kyle Offil (3), 6. 74b-Jake Bubak (7), 7. 24-Garet Williamson (9), 8. 27-Carson McCarl (5), 9. 5-Kyle McCutcheon (10), 10. 45-David Luckie (8).

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. 28-Scott Bogucki (3), 2. 17w-Harli White (1), 3. 11x-Shane Stewart (2), 4. 26-Cory Eliason (7), 5. 52-Blake Hahn (6), 6. 14-Parker Price-Miller (4), 7. 17-Josh Baughman (5), 8. 99-Austin McCarl (8), 9. 131-Royal Jones (9).

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 41g-Giovanni Scelzi (1), 2. 17wg-Shane Golobic (2), 3. 9-Chase Randall (4), 4. 16a-Justin Sanders (6), 5. 21p-Robbie Price (5), 6. 38b-Blake Carrick (8), 7. 83T-Tanner Carrick (9), 8. 11-Roger Crockett (7), 9. 87-Aaron Reutzel (3).

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (2), 2. J2-John Carney II (3), 3. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (1), 4. 2m-Kerry Madsen (4), 5. 11p-Preston Peebles II (5), 6. 4-Terry McCarl (7), 7. 5v-Coby Copeland (7), 8. 46-Joel Myers (8), 9. 14e-Kyle Bellm (DNS).

Dash One (4 Laps): 1. 28-Scot Bogucki (1), 2. 41g-Giovanni Scelzi (2), 3. 11x-Shane Stewart (5), 4. 3z-Brock Zearfoss (3), 5. 23-Seth Bergman (4).

Dash Two (4 Laps): 1. 9-Chase Randall (1), 2. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (2), 3. 14x-Joey Saldana (3), 4. 2m-Kerry Madsen (5), 5. 88-Kyle Offill (4).

“B” Main (12 Laps): 1. 14-Parer Price-Miller (2), 2. 27-Carson McCarl (2), 3. 4-Terry McCarl (4), 4. 74b-Jake Bubak (3), 5. 38b-Blake Carrick (5), 6. 24-Garet Williamson (4), 7. 83T-Tanner Carrick (9), 8. 17-Josh Baughman (7), 9. 11-Roger Crockett (11), 10. 5-Kyle McCutcheon (15), 11. 99-Austin McCarl (10), 12. 5v-Colby Copeland (8), 13. 46-Joel Myers (12), 14. 131-Royal Jones (14), 15. 87-Aaron Reutzel (13), 16. 45-David Luckie (16), 17. 14e-Kyle Bellm (17).

“A” Main (25 Laps): 1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (4), 2. 23-Seth Bergman (9), 3. 28-Scott Bogucki (1), 4. 3z-Brock Zearfoss (7), 5. 41g-Giovanni Scelzi (3), 6. 41s-Dominic Scelzi (14), 7. 2m-Kerry Madsen (8), 8. 17wg-Shane Golobic (13), 9. 26-Cory Eliason (16), 10. 16a-Justin Sanders (17), 11. 14-Parker-Price Miller (21), 12. 74b-Jake Bubak (22), 13. J2-John Carney II (11), 14. 52-Blake Hahn (19), 15. 88-Kyle Offill (10), 16. 17w-Harli White (12), 17. 21p-Robbie Price (20), 18. 9-Chase Randall (2), 19. 11x-Shane Stewart, 20. 14x-Joey Saldana (5) 21. 95-Matt Covington (15), 22. 11p-Preston Peebles II (18), 23. 27-Carson McCarl (24), 24. 4-Terry McCarl (23).

Lap Leaders: Scott Bogucki 1-3, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 4-25.

USRA Modifieds:

Heat One (8 Laps): 1. 20-Rodney Sanders, 2. J17-Jacob Gallardo, 3. 9R-Jimmy Ray, 4. 28-Cory Davis, 5. 9c-Dillon Hill, 6. 44-Christy Barnett, 7. 61-Bobby Sikes, 8. 11-Kado Ogle (DNS).

Heat Two (8 Laps): 1. F17-Fito Gallardo, 2. D25-David Tanner, 3. 91-Joe Duvall, 4. J41-Monte Bolton, 5. 703-Treven Geter, 6. 3-Steven Lewallen, 7. 511-Cory Williams, 8. 17-Gene Weaver.

Heat Three (8 Laps): 1. 10-Dee Gossett, 2. 60-William Gould, 3. 7x-Chris Dawson, 4. 10x-Dustin Robinson, 5. 59-Kelly Allen, 6. 88-Nathan Smith, 7. 77-Ronnie Yanacsek, 8. 131-Royal Jones.

Heat Four (8 Laps): 1. 75-Allen Sharpenstein, 2. 15-Kale Westover, 3. 71-Philip Houston, 4. 7-A.J. Sharpenstein, 5. 8n-Nick Rivera, 6. 49-Vince Ogle, 7. 99n-Matt Newkirk.

“B” Main (10 Laps): 1. 8n-Nick Rivera, 2. 59-Kelly Allen, 3. 703-Treven Geter, 4. 9c-Dillon Hill, 5. 44-Christy Barnett, 6. 88-Nathan Smith, 7. 77-Ronnie Yanacsek, 8. 511-Cory Williams, 9. 17-Gene Weaver, 10. 11-Kade Ogle, 11. 61-Bobby Sikes, 12. 131-Royal Jones, 13. 99n-Matt Newkirk, 14. 49-Vince Ogle, 15. 3-Steven Lewallen.

“A” Main (20 Laps): 1. G17-Fito Gallardo, 2. 15-Kale Westover, 3. 20-Rodney Sanders, 4. 91-Joe Duvall, 5. 60-William Gould, 6. J17-Jacob Gallardo, 7. 71-Philip Houston, 8. 28-Cory Davis, 9. 10x-Dustin Robinson, 10. 10-Dee Gossett, 11. 75-Allen Sharpenstein 12. 8n-Nick Rivera, 13. D25-David Tanner, 14. 9c-Dillon Hill, 15. J41-Monte Bolton, 16. 9R-Jimmy Ray, 17. 59-Kelly Allen, 18. 7x-Chris Dawson, 19. 703-Treven Geter, 20. 7-A.J. Sharpenstein.