Good drivers rarely have success without a dedicated, knowledgeable crew. Sam Hafertepe Jr. has found his this year with the new additions he’s made to his branch of Hill’s Racing Team.
Hafertepe, 39, of Sunnyvale, TX, has built a career of over 20 years in 360 and 410 Sprint Car racing with numerous accomplishments and trophies to show for his efforts. Five American Sprint Car Series championships, a ranking of second on the all-time wins list, and multiple high-paying Feature wins on some of the sport’s biggest stages.
In all of his time spent behind the wheel, Hafertepe has seen several crew members come and go. But after a second Feature win of the season in May at Dodge City Raceway Park, he took a moment in Victory Lane to express his gratitude for his two primary crew members — AJ Butler and Cody Fidler.
“For the first time in probably a long time, I feel like I actually have a team behind me,” Hafertepe told DIRTVision cameras. “I have two guys that want to be here, and that’s really hard to find.
“A lot of these guys, they jump from team to team. And [Butler and Fidler], this is where they want to be. That means a lot to me.”
Together, Hafertepe, Butler and Fidler have put together a season of five wins, nine top-fives, and 10 top-10s in the first 11 Series races of the schedule and currently lead the points standings by 126 in the chase for Hafertepe’s record-breaking sixth Series championship.
Throughout his career, Hafertepe has always preferred to assemble his own operation. From cars, setups, and crew members, he’s enjoyed the freedom to make his own decisions for the team since joining the Ontario-based Hill’s Racing in 2018.
“It’s kind of the special thing that we do have with (team owner) Miles Hill — he allows me to manage and run the whole operation down here,” Hafertepe said. “It allows me to hire the guys I think we need to hire and put the people in the right places that we need and see fit for our team.”
Two years ago, Hafertepe brought Washington-native AJ Butler on board to take the role of car chief. Butler had previously worked as part of a team around home for former local driver Michael Millard. When Millard received the opportunity to race 410 Sprint Cars in Pennsylvania, Butler moved out to the East Coast with him, and the two spent two seasons in competition around the local tracks before the partnership ended.
Butler soon joined fellow Washington native JJ Hickle’s team to follow the All Star Circuit of Champions circuit, but only for a single season. Through Hickle’s relationship with Hill’s crew member Daryl Turford, Butler later received a call to join Hill’s Racing as part of Hafertepe’s operation in 2023.
Butler has now clocked two calendar years taking care of the No. 15H and has found his place sharpening his skills under the tutelage of Hafertepe.
“Since I came to work for Sam, my knowledge has increased 100-fold, there’s no question,” Butler said. “Sam’s a great teacher. Any question you have, he’ll explain it in a way that’s easy to understand. Or, if he needs to go into details, he’s able to do that and break it down for a guy to understand.”
Likewise, Fidler, a 21-year-old Pennsylvania native, earned his first crew member position as part of a local operation for friend Riley Emig. After the sudden passing of Emig last July in a motorcycle accident, Fidler was left looking for a new full-time role as a crew member.
During their time spent at the track in Pennsylvania, Fidler and Butler became acquainted, which led to Fidler answering Butler’s job posting to join the Hill’s team in January 2025.
Packing up and leaving home to go on the road crewing for a national Sprint Car team is no easy task for a 21-year-old, but Fidler never shied away from the challenge.
“I had a lot of people backing me and supporting me to do it,” Fidler said. “I knew I loved racing, always being around it, and I thought if I can go do this and can get paid to travel and go to the races every weekend and do what I love at the same time, why wouldn’t I?”
They’ve been at work on the No. 15H for only a short time compared to the sport’s veteran mechanics, but Butler and Fidler have thrived under Hafertepe’s experienced teachings.
“You’ve got to be able to deal with the pressure of Sam watching you and do things the way he wants them done,” Butler said. “Obviously, the way he wants them done is — there’s proof in the pudding — it’s the right way.
“It has its challenges, but at the end of the day, you know that if he tells you to do something, it’s the right way and it normally seems to work.”
Since he began his driving career, Hafertepe has shown he knows the path to success and is now taking two of his best workers along with him as he chases American Sprint Car Series history.
“I’ve done this so long, I have a way that I do things, and you have to have two guys that respect that,” Hafertepe said. “You have to have two guys that respect you and know your capabilities and have no doubts in what you’re trying to do.
“That does truly allow me to be the best version of me. To have two guys behind you that believe in what you’re doing and believe in the direction that the team’s going, that can either make or break a race team.”
Hafertepe and Hill’s Racing continue their march toward a sixth Series championship in the next races — this Friday–Saturday, July 11–12, at Lakeside Speedway and 81 Speedway.
Tickets for both events will be sold at the track on race day. If you can’t be at the track, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.
