LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Sam Hafertepe Jr. started from the pole and led all 27 laps to win the opening night of the 31st annual Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway on Friday.
Hafertepe earned the top spot on the grid as the high points man from the heats and qualifiers, charging from sixth to second in his heat and from sixth to the win in his qualifier, but he was at his best during the $2,527-to-win A-Feature.
The two-time defending Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series national champion fended off local favorite Derek Hagar on three separate restarts en route to the victory.
Hagar actually got past Hafertepe for the lead in turn two on lap 15, but Hafertepe slid back underneath Hagar entering turn three to retain command and never looked back after that.
Hafertepe crossed under the checkered flag nearly a straightaway clear of Hagar in the end.
“We were trying to leave the door open a little bit (on the bottom), actually, so we could see how good other guys were,” noted Hafertepe. “I probably ran a line most other guys weren’t running, but I really did want to see how the competition was.
“Yeah, we got challenged by Derek and there were sliders, but we planned for some of that,” Hafertepe added. “They weren’t really clean passes, but it worked out to where I could just drive back by him. We were pretty good, but we know we can be better tomorrow, so we’ll go back to the drawing board tonight and look to come back even stronger than this when it matters most tomorrow.”
The start of Friday night’s race at the quarter-mile dirt bullring was smooth, with no interruptions and a comfortable early lead for Hafertepe before the spinning car of Harli White turned the yellow lights on with seven laps complete.
Hagar made his first bid for the top spot on the ensuing restart, but Hafertepe remained unfazed and darted off to a five car length advantage again before issues for Carson Short drew the yellow flag again right at the halfway point.
It was on that restart where Hagar made his challenge, diving underneath Hafertepe in the first set of corners to grab the lead on the restart, but a calm, cool and collected Hafertepe settled right back in and returned the favor on the other end of the race track.
A final caution flag with 10 to go – again for Short – gave Hagar one more chance to try and wrest the lead away, but the driver of the familiar No. 9jr could only watch as Hafertepe motored off into the distance and collected the checkered flag, despite some brief traffic in the final three laps.
“I just needed to find whatever was in (turns) one and two that I couldn’t quite hit,” Hagar said after his runner-up finish. “I found it on a couple of laps, but I just couldn’t nail things consistently down there to be able to challenge Sam. There was a fine line … I don’t know if it was just dust blowing back across the track or what, but it definitely gave us some fits.
“We maintained and had some good entrance speed into turn one, but I just couldn’t make it stick after that,” Hagar continued. “We needed it to go green, because I think I could have done more with him in traffic, but this is a great start to our weekend and I’m really optimistic for Saturday after this one.”
Tim Crawley completed the podium after a late duel with Hagar. Blake Hahn and Jordon Mallett finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tony Bruce Jr. was sixth, followed by a hard-charging Brady Bacon, who came from 16th to seventh.
Mike Goodman, Morgan Turpen and Canadian Dylan Westbrook were the balance of the top 10.
Friday’s race distance and winner’s purse honored the legacy of the late Greg Hodnett, who was killed recently in a sprint car crash at Pennsylvania’s BAPS Motor Speedway. Hodnett drove the famed Heffner Racing No. 27 for much of his career.
The finish:
Sam Hafertepe Jr., Derek Hagar, Tim Crawley, Blake Hahn, Jordon Mallett, Tony Bruce Jr., Brady Bacon, Mike Goodman, Morgan Turpen, Dylan Westbrook, Seth Bergman, Matt Covington, Jamie Ball, Chris Martin, Skylar Gee, Joe B. Miller, Koty Adams, Marshall Skinner, Harli White, Carson Short.
