10/7/2009
Sam Hafertepe Jr
Strong Run At The Grove For Sam Hafertepe Jr. Ends
Sunnyvale, Texas-Sam Hafertepe Jr and The Plumbfast Racing Team saw a strong run at the Williams Grove National Open end in disappointment as Sam was caught up in a crash between Paul McMahan and Brian Montieth. Hafertepe and the team had persevered through numerous setbacks during the evening and looked to be headed towards a top 5 finish before the lap 10 incident.
The night got off to a disastrous start as Sam encountered motor problems in his warm up session.
“A bolt in the fuel injection came loose and fell into the motor”, explained the 2007 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year. “We weren’t sure how much damage it had done so we had to change motors”.
The motor was changed just before Sam had to make his time trial run. As a result Sam had no time to look at the race track and everything had been left on the car the way it was in warm-ups including the used rear tires.
Hafertepe laid down a lap that would be good enough for 17th fastest in the 59 car field. Sam missed the inversion by 1 spot but given the circumstances the team was happy.
The Lone Star Speedway #15H rolled out 5th in his heat but the motor didn’t take off on the start and Hafertepe found himself in 6th going into turn 1. Hafertepe pressured Dave Ely for the last transfer throughout the race but the local racer was able to hold him off and relegate Sam to the Last Chance Showdown.
The Last Chance Showdown was filled with several very fast cars which meant that Hafertepe would have to be on top of his game. Sam started 4th and got the jump on Steve Kinser at the start to move into 3rd. The car wasn’t where it needed to be in terms of setup and Sam soon found himself back in 4th and clinging desperately to the final transfer spot. Lucas Wolfe and Mark Smith did everything they could to take the spot from Sam but Hafertepe chose his lines wisely and hung on for the final transfer into The National Open.
The team made several adjustments to the car for the A Feature and it was soon clear that they had gone in the right direction as Sam immediately started tearing through the field from his 17th starting position.
Sam was exceptionally strong on the exit of turn 2 when he utilized the bottom of the speedway. Hafertepe blasted his way into the top 10 on lap 5 and soon began pressuring Pennsylvania Posse legend Fred Rahmer for 8th. On lap 10 Sam worked his way under Rahmer exiting turn 2 to take 8th but disaster struck in turn 3. Brian Montieth had blown a tire and had crashed into the outer wall in turn 3. The yellow had not been displayed which resulted in Paul McMahan slamming into Montieth. Sam was following McMahan to the top into turn 3 and had nowhere to go. The car slammed into McMahan and ended what had been a fantastic charge.
“The straightaways are so long and the corners are so tight that you can’t see when a guy has had a problem in the corners”, said Sam. “I couldn’t see Montieth until McMahan got crossed up because he’s got such a dark car and it was upside down”.
The crash resulted in a long walk back to the pits.
“The fans on Beer Hill did their best to make sure that I knew where I was and to offer me their sympathies as I walked back to pits”, said Sam. “Some even offered me some popcorn”.
The Plumbfast Racing Team has now headed back to Texas for the first time since May. Sam will compete this weekend with a 360 in the frame rails at Cowtown Speedway.
“It will be nice to finally get back home and race in front of our home fans”, said Sam. “I’m really looking forward to it”.
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