6/15/2009
Sam Hafertepe Jr
Hafertepe Jr. Takes Wild Ride at Dodge City
Sunnyvale, Texas- (Daryl Turford) It is only fitting that the World of Outlaws scheduled a 2-race weekend in Dodge City, Kansas. The area made so famous by outlaws of the past was invaded by Sam Hafertepe Jr and the rest of the World of Outlaws this past weekend.
The Fusion Energy Boost #15H was fast off the trailer and despite heading out later in warm-ups he was able to reel off a lap that was good enough for 9th overall in the 34 car field with a lap of 13.329.
Sam drew the second lowest number in qualifying and headed on to the track with hopes of bumping his way into the invert. Sam’s first lap was not good enough to make the 16 car inversion and his second lap was .006 short of making the invert. Sam would have to settle for 17th fastest after he turned in a time of 13.238.
‘Qualifying is just so vital with the Outlaws and we seem to just keep missing it a tiny bit’, said the frustrated racer following time trials. ‘You have to make that invert or it is going to make for a very long night. The car wasn’t right and the motor wasn’t right and you just can’t think you’re going to have a good lap against these guys because they’re just too good’.
Sam lined up 5th in his heat race and held his position throughout the heat. He was able to stay on the back bumper of Danny Lasoski but never mounted a serious bid for 4th while never having to defend the 5th spot. The result would see Sam headed directly to the A Feature but he would have to start deep in the pack.
The Fusion Energy Boost #15H started the feature race from the 17th slot but was able to move up a row when Tim Kaeding spun on the initial start. On the following restart Sam dropped back with the rest of the cars on the inside line but quickly started moving forward as it was clear he was a man on a mission.
Sam entered high into turn 1 and drove around Jason Martin on the top and then cut back down low exiting turn 2 to get by Tony Bruce. One lap later he blasted past 3-time defending WoO champion Donny Schatz.
Sam continued moving forward and had run down the group of cars in front of him when disaster struck. Sam was exiting turn 4 on Brooke Tatnell’s back bumper when Jac Haudenschild made contact with another car and went spinning across the track. Hafertepe had nowhere to go and hammered the #R19. The car did a wheelie and then came down hard on the nose which began a vicious series of end over end flips. The crash began exiting turn 4 and Sam’s car came to a stop upside down in turn 1. Thankfully Hafertepe emerged with only a sore neck from the crash.
‘That was one of the hardest crashes I’ve ever taken’, explained Sam. ‘I could see the crash setting up the whole time but I just had no idea where to go and I hit Jac hard. The frame is okay but we tore up pretty much every bolt on part. Fortunately my father and one of his employees; Pancho were here to help Kory, Daryl and I fix the car and we should be good to go tomorrow’.
The Plumbfast Racing Team will once again be in action at Dodge City Raceway this evening (Saturday) and will be looking to avenge last night’s disappointment with Speed TV cameras rolling.
FUSION ENERGY BOOST FAST FACT- Sam now has 1:64 scale die cast cars available at his souvenir trailer.
‘We just got the shipment in the other day’, explained Sam. ‘It’s pretty neat to have your own 1:64 scale car, it’s one of those things that shows you how far you’ve come in your career. I never thought I’d see this day when I was younger.
The cars will also be available on Sam’s merchandise page at www.sam15.com.
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