Inside Line Promotions – TULSA, Okla. (Jan. 20, 2015) – Sam Hafertepe Jr. put together his most consistent Chili Bowl last weekend during his short career at the premier midget event.
Hafertepe Jr. kicked off the 29th annual Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals with preliminary action last Tuesday inside the River Spirit Expo Center, where he advanced from third place to win his heat race at the Tulsa Expo Raceway.
“We started off with a pretty easy heat race,” he said. “We had a really good car and got the lead pretty quickly and drove away from those guys. I felt pretty confident in what we had in our car.”
He then maneuvered from fifth to second place in a qualifier, which gave him the most points of any driver and the pole position for the 25-lap feature.
“I thought they were going to work the track and water it,” he said. “It blew off more than I thought it was going to. My setup made us way, way too free. I was trying to hang on to fourth place and I got loose in the middle of turns three and four and I just got taken out. It’s one of those deals where you get what you can get when you can get it. We were just a victim of circumstances.”
Hafertepe Jr., who was in contention for one of the three lock-in positions for Saturday’s main event, was forced to restart at the back of the field following the spin. He rallied to finish 13th, which relegated him to a C Main on Saturday.
“We were really good in that C Main,” he said. “The track was just good enough to get bite in certain areas. We could go through the middle where other drivers couldn’t and it allowed us to maneuver by those guys pretty easily.”
Hafertepe Jr. advanced from sixth to win the C Main and transfer into the back of the B Main, which he started 15th.
“In the B Main we started in the back and we had a lot of good cars in front of us,” he said. “We knew we’d have to take a shot at the setup. We made a couple of changes and we went the wrong way.”
Hafertepe Jr. was running 10th midway through the race when a fuel fitting broke, ending his bid at making the main event.
He will return to action Feb. 11-15 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the DIRTcar Nationals with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series.
QUICK RESULTS –
Jan. 13 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. – Heat race: 1 (3); Qualifier: 2 (5); Feature: 13 (1).
Jan. 17 – Tulsa Expo Raceway in Tulsa, Okla. – C Main: 1 (6); B Main: 16 (15).
SEASON STATS –
7 races, 0 wins, 1 top five, 1 top 10, 3 top 15s, 3 top 20s
UP NEXT –
Feb. 11-15 at Volusia Speedway Park in Barberville, Fla., for the DIRTcar Nationals with the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series
MEDIA LINKS –
Website: http://www.Sam15.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamHafertepeJr
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT – Lone Star Speedway
A high-banked, 3/8-mile oval located in Kilgore, Texas, Lone Star Speedway was reopened in 2009 by the Hafertepe family. For more information, visit http://www.LoneStarSpeedway.com.
“Lone Star Speedway is owned by a racing family who wants to make it into a premier facility in the country,” Hafertepe Jr. said.
Hafertepe Jr. would also like to thank Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Kiebler & Sons Lawn and Landscaping, Wells Racing Engines, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Smiley’s Racing Products, Fisher Racing Engines, J&J Auto Racing, Pro Shocks by OC Shocks, Fire-Down Graphics, ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems, Vortex Wings, Kear’s Speed Shop, Pancho’s Racing Products, GPC, Joe Gibbs Racing Oils, Zemco Headers and Simpson Racing Products for their continued support.