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Sam Hafertepe Jr. Caps Off Thunder Through The...

[b Sam Hafertepe Jr. Caps Off Thunder Through The Plains With 2 Top 5’s]

[i Daryl Turford]

Sunnyvale, Texas-Sam Hafertepe Jr and the Plumbfast Racing Team had an action packed 4 race week. The team joined the All Star Circuit of Champions for their annual Thunder Through The Plains Tour. Early results on a tired motor weren’t what the team was looking for but once they bolted in their Fisher Racing Engine for the weekend double header at Husets the team was able to earn 2 top-5 finishes.
The Thunder Through The Plains Tour started out fairly rough for the Plumbfast Racing Team at US 36 Raceway. An extremely disappointing 22nd place effort in qualifying killed any hopes the team had for winning the event.
Sam started 5th in his heat and made contact with Terry McCarl on the opening lap. Sam was able to keep going and despite putting heavy pressure on Shane Stewart he would have to settle for 5th in his heat.
The feature was going fairly well for Sam. He had started the main event in 22nd place, had worked his way up to 11th and was looking blazing fast around the topside of the speedway but unfortunately race leader Tim Shaffer spun and collected Sam. Sam damaged both wings on the car and was done for the night.
“It was too bad that happened”, said Sam. “We were rolling pretty well. We weren’t fast enough to win but I really feel like we could have gotten up to 7th or 8th and in this field doing that from the back is pretty impressive”.
The Plumbfast Racing Team drove through the night to the hallowed Belleville High Banks for the second leg of the Thunder Through The Plains on Thursday night.
Time trials went a little better at Belleville with a 10th place qualifying run but the team’s tired motor just wasn’t enough to get Sam around the huge track like he wanted.
Sam started his heat in the 2nd row and was able to move into 4th on the opening lap. He pressured Tim Kaeding for 3rd late but was unable to make things happen.
The feature started off well as Sam had a fast car early but as the handling went away Sam slipped through the field.
“The handling went away on the car and our motor really can’t get us around Belleville so I thought it would be a smarter decision to pull the car into the infield and save our stuff for the next 3 nights”, explained Sam.
The team decided that instead of running another night at Belleville the team would head to Rock Rapids for a $2,500 to win open show. Unfortunately right after the driver’s meeting the skies opened up and despite the exhaustive efforts of the track crew the race was rained out.
The Thunder Through The Plains Tour ended with 2 nights at Husets Speedway. The team changed motors and hoped for better results.
Hot laps went well as the G-H Plumbing Maxim-Fisher was a rocket. Time trials went very well too as Sam turned in a lap of 10.61 which was good enough for quick time until Tim Shaffer turned a lap of 10.60 as the last driver to time trial.
Sam wasted little time moving forward in his heat race. Hafertepe was able to work his way into 4th on the opening lap and soon after went above the cushion in turns 1 and 2 to move past John Lambertz and into 3rd. Hafertepe would continue to fly but could not improve his position before the checkers.
Sam had one of the top 6 time trial runs of the people who transferred through the heats and as a result was in the re-draw for a top 6 starting position in the A feature. Luck would not be on Sam’s side however as he would end up drawing the 6.
During the early laps Sam settled into the 6th position. Tim Kaeding broke a driveline which moved Sam into 5th. Soon Sam began to track down Tony Bruce Jr and was able to make a move underneath of him heading into turns 1 and 2 to take 4th.
As the race wore on it became clear that passing would be at a premium due to the lightening fast track and narrow racing line. Sam would not be deterred however and was able to move around current All Star Circuit of Champions points leader Tim Shaffer with a nice pass using the cushion in turns 1 and 2.
As the laps wound down it appeared that Sam might have a shot at the win as front runner’s Scott Winters and Gary Wright were in heavy lapped traffic. Unfortunately both drivers did an excellent job navigating lapped traffic and Sam ran out of laps resulting in a 3rd place finish for the Plumbfast Racing Team.
“We had a really good car tonight”, said Sam. “The guys did a great job but we just started too deep in the field to have a shot at the win. Winters and Wright did exactly what they had to do and the only way we were going to get them was if they messed up in lapped traffic but I really do believe we had the fastest car in the feature”.
Following the race the team discovered that they we’re lucky to even finish the race.
“I had a suspicion that the rear end might have been ready to go bad on us”, said Sam. “As we loaded the car into the trailer we could hear it making some unusual noise and that pretty much confirmed the problem”.
The team changed rear ends the following morning and got prepared to take their best shot at the $10,000 prize for 1st place that evening.
Warm-ups went well but time trials were very disappointing as Sam turned a lap of 11.16 which was only good enough for 10th quick.
The heat race appeared to be going well for Sam as he moved from 4th into 3rd but as Hafertepe tried to move around Ryan Myers on the top in turn 4 he was hit by a rock in the head.
“I’m really glad we run a rock screen”, explained Sam. “That’s the hardest I’ve ever been hit in my career. It took me a bit to gather my bearings but I got it together and we got through the heat in 3rd”.
The fast track and tough field resulted in several fast cars not making it through their heats. Once the heats were complete Sam was able to sneak into the re-draw as 4 drivers who turned in quicker lap times were unable to transfer out of their heats. Sam would have a lot better luck on this night as he drew the 3 but he would have to start behind Shaffer and long-time Husets racer Terry McCarl.
Sam dropped back in the opening laps into 4th. Hafertepe soon began running the bottom in turns 3 and 4 and had just pulled alongside of Gary Wright when Wright lost the driveline on the front straightaway.
Hafertepe would once again drop backwards as Tim Kaeding dropped him to 4th.
“At that point in the race I was just trying to find the best line on the track and save my tires”, said Sam. “Under one of the red flags my guys came up to me worried about the car but I gave them the thumbs up to let them know that we were about to get rolling”.
Sam began pressuring Kaeding and soon was able to drive from the top in turn 3 to the bottom in turn 4 to slip under Kaeding and began trying to track down the top 2.
Hafertepe pressured Shaffer several times for 2nd but could never quite make the pass. Sam switched from running the bottom all of the way around the track to running the cushion and appeared to get faster as the race went on.
The race reached a climax on the white flag lap. Race leader Terry McCarl was having difficulty with lapped traffic which allowed Shaffer and Sam to close in. Heading into turn 3 Shaffer went low which allowed Sam to blast past him on the cushion. Sam had a great run at McCarl coming out of turn 4 but ran out of real estate as he crossed the line in 2nd.
“It was pouring 1 mile from the track when we got going”, said Sam. “As a result they changed the race from the regularly scheduled 40 laps to 30. It was the right decision for sure but it sure did burn us because Terry couldn’t get through the traffic and we were able to run the bottom and top all over the track. I think if the race had been 40 laps we’d be cashing the $10,000 cheque but it was 30 laps, Terry did a great job and he deserved to win”.
The Plumbfast Racing Team will now be dropping a 360 motor in the frame rails of their Maxim chassis for this weekend’s Knoxville 360 Nationals.
“In all my years of running 360’s at Knoxville I’ve never had a good run at the 360 Nationals”, explained Sam. “I’m really hoping that this year we can turn things around and get ourselves another win”.
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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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