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Sam Hafertepe Jr. Has Fantastic Nationals Cut...

[b Sam Hafertepe Jr. Has Fantastic Nationals Cut Short With Wall Contact]

[i Daryl Turford]

Sunnyvale, Texas-A storybook run at the 2009 Knoxville Nationals came to a disappointing end for the Plumbfast Racing Team after contact with the front straightaway wall on the 2nd lap of the feature race.
The 49th running of the Knoxville Nationals saw Sam get off to a slightly disappointing start as Hafertepe turned in the 14th fastest lap in time trials.
“We were having difficulty getting our tires how we wanted them”, explained Sam. “I also made a mistake or two and it cost us a shot at quick time”.
The 8 car inversion of his heat race meant that Sam lined up for the event in the 6th position. Hafertepe wasted little time moving into a transfer spot as he out-dragged Don Droud Jr. Into turn 1 and then blasted around IRA racer Billy Balog. Sam struggled to find where he wanted to be on the race track and nearly lost the final transfer position to Paul McMahan in the early laps but the Sunnyvale, TX racer settled in and began to pull away from McMahan while beginning to track down John Lambertz for 3rd. Entering the final set of turns on the final lap of the heat Hafertepe dove low. There was nearly contact between the two and then in the ensuing drag race to the finish line Lambertz won by a foot.
“It was absolutely vital that we transferred out of the heat”, explained Sam. “If we didn’t we would have been buried in the B Main. Fortunately for us though we stepped up and actually were the fastest car in time trials that actually transferred out of the heat”.
As a result of being the fastest car to transfer out of the heat races Sam had to start 8th in the preliminary feature.
On the initial start Hafertepe was able to charge from 8th to 4th but a crash on the opening lap negated his efforts. The following restart would not be as kind to Sam as he could only work his way into 7th.
Hafertepe immediately worked his way into the 6th position and began to pressure Greg Wilson for 5th. Lap after lap Sam tried everything he could to pass Wilson and finally was able to duck under him in turns 3 and 4.
The race had just 10 laps remaining and Sam found himself a straightaway behind the quartet in front of him. Frantically Hafertepe hammered the cushion and began to track down the leaders. Hafertepe closed in on Craig Dollansky’s fuel cell with 7 laps remaining setting the stage for what looked like it would be a final laps. Dollansky dispatched of Lucas Wolfe to move into 3rd and 1 lap later Sam was able to drive around Wolfe as well. The excitement was soon killed however as two lapped cars got together and brought out the red flag. Craig Dollansky was unable to avoid the wreck and was taken out which moved the G-H Plumbing #15H up into the 3rd position.
The final laps were uneventful as Sam held off first Lucas Wolfe and then Chad Kemenah to come home in 3rd to earn a place on the podium. The 3rd place run also meant that Sam had accumulated 461 points which was 2nd overall on the night and locked him into the Knoxville Nationals A Main line-up and would eventually put him on the outside of the front row for the A Scramble.
“This feels incredible”, said the excited racer following the feature. “We came here hoping just to make the A Feature on Saturday night and to come here and run like we did is amazing. We had our hearts broken last year and to come back and do this absolutely makes up for last year”.
Friday night’s A Scramble offered Sam the opportunity to move his starting position as high as 8th or as low as 10th.
Hafertepe started on the outside of the front row with Knoxville regular Dusty Zomer on the pole. Sam wasted little time shooting out to the lead when the race went green but soon felt pressure from 3-time defending Knoxville Nationals champion Donny Schatz. Schatz worked the bottom while Sam ran the top for all that it was worth. Unfortunately there was a yellow 1 lap in as a result of contact between Schatz and Zomer.
Sam got a nice jump on the restart but couldn’t keep from spinning the tires which allowed Schatz to close right up on him entering turns 1 and 2. Schatz took advantage of the situation and threw a slider to pass Sam and drive off with the win. Sam would go unchallenged to earn 2nd in the scramble and an 8th place starting spot for the 49th Annual Knoxville Nationals.
As a result of a rainstorm the Nationals were moved to Sunday night. The Plumbfast Racing Team had the G-H Plumbing #15H Maxim-Fisher ready to go as Sam looked forward to his first ever Nationals A Main start.
The race got underway with Sam holding his position on the opening lap. Unfortunately disaster struck on the 2nd lap as the car in front of Sam took the air off his wings coming down the front straightaway. Sam tried to steer left but the car went straight and his right rear slammed the front stretch wall which resulted in a bent right rear.
Sam tried to hang on to the ailing car and was able to hold a top 15 spot until a yellow flag flew.
“During the yellow I had 4 drivers tell me that the tire was flat”, said Sam. “I decided to pull into the pits and change the tire. The guys got it done and we got back out there but the car just wasn’t good enough to come back through the field. You needed to be good on the bottom and we were only good on the top”.
Sam tried desperately to stay on the lead lap until lap 22 when the regularly scheduled red flag would allow the team to get the proper left rear on the car and make adjustments but unfortunately at the halfway mark race leader Joey Saldana put Sam a lap down.
“I decided that if I was leading a race for $150,000 I would want the lapped cars to not cause me any trouble”, said Sam. “As a result, even though it wasn’t what I wanted to do, I felt like pulling the car off the track when it wasn’t right was the responsible and right thing to do”.
Sam and the Plumbfast Racing Team were credited with the 22nd position.
“22nd wasn’t at all what we were looking for when we started the A Main”, said Sam. “In all honesty though, we came to this race hoping just to qualify on our preliminary night and by the end of the week we were locked in and truly believing we had an outside shot at winning the whole damn thing. I really think we opened a lot of people’s eyes this whole week and a lot of people now see that our run at the Kings Royal was no fluke”.
The Plumbfast Racing Team has now headed once again to Orange City, Iowa and the Keizer Aluminum Wheels shop to prepare for a busy week. The team will race with the World of Outlaws on Wednesday in Deer Creek and tentatively plan to run the weekend in North Dakota with the Outlaws as well.
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Support the people who support Sam: G-H Plumbing, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, AFCO Shocks, Wings Unlimited and Smiley’s Race Products

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