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Hafertepe Jr. Hits Bumps in the Road at I-80

Sunnyvale, Texas-Sam Hafertepe Jr.’s dream season hit its first bump in the road this past weekend at I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, Nebraska. 2 early season wins had Sam and the team riding a wave of momentum but that would not be enough to overcome the mechanical gremlins that plagued the team throughout the weekend.

Friday night saw Sam charge from 9th to 3rd in his heat race before Seth Bergman made a late race pass to move Sam back to 4th which was still enough to make the re-draw.

“I knew the top was the place to be in turns 1 and 2,” explained Sam. “The track was so rough though I decided that I would take what I could get on the bottom and if other guys wanted to take their chances up there I was fine with that. I knew we had come from deep enough that we could give up a spot and still make the invert so I wasn’t really worried when Seth passed me up there. I guess it turned out that was a pretty important pass for Seth though.”

Sam drew an 8 in the re-draw and was steadily moving through the field when about 10 laps in mechanical gremlins forced The Lone Star Speedway-Maxim-Fisher to the pits for the evening.

The following night saw Sam charge from 9th to 2nd in his heat. Hafertepe looked destined to finish in the runner up spot but heat race leader Jordan Boston had something break, slammed the wall hard and flipped over it. Sam restarted in the lead and had a comfortable last few laps to take the win.

Hafertepe started the Saturday night main event from 6th and quickly worked his way into a battle with Billy Alley for 4th before the first caution flew.
Sam would struggle on the restart with a very tight race car and began to fall through the field. Hafertepe would eventually cross the line in 11th.

The team towed back to Sunnyvale, Texas following the race where a discovery was made.

“It really bothered me that we had gone from 9th to 1st in our heat and then struggled so much in the feature,” explained Sam. “It didn’t make sense. I started thinking about it and thinking about it and started wondering if maybe a shock went bad. Sure enough when I put the left rear shock on the dyno it wasn’t even close. There was nothing we we’re going to do to that car to keep it off the right rear with the shock the way it was.”

The team will now put a 410 Fisher power plant between the frame rails for the next few weeks.

“We had actually planned on running Attica with The All Stars this past weekend,” said Sam. “However it was 19 hours to race there versus 10 to Nebraska and they had way less of a chance at getting both shows in. Despite all of the 360 racing I’ve done lately we’re actually planning on running the 410 way more so I’m anxious to get one back in the car so I can stay sharp.”

The team which runs a true “Outlaw” schedule plans on running with The World of Outlaws for the next 2 weeks.

“I love racing against the guys who race with The Outlaws,” said Sam. “Those guys are the best in the world and it’s so much fun to see how you stack up against them. We’ve been pretty successful this season with them and we ran really good at The Ironman 55 last year so I’m hoping to give them a good go of it this weekend.”

Sam would like to thank the following supporters: Plumbfast Mechanical, Lone Star Speedway, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Pancho's Racing Products, Kear's Speed Shop, PPM Titanium Products, GPC Race Products, Butlerbuilt, Infinity Shocks, DMI, Finish Line Machining, Torco Racing Oils, Smiley's Racing Products, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Vortex Wings, AFCO Racing Shocks, Simpson Racing Products, Quick Sand Express Inc.

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