Lonnie Wheatley, LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (September 30, 2022) – The Lone Star State stood strong in Little Rock on Friday night as Texas natives Aaron Reutzel and Sam Hafertepe, Jr.; both raced to victory lane in the 35th Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires preliminary “Twin 20’s” atop the high-banked, ¼-mile I-30 Speedway clay oval.
Both drivers secured starting positions among the first three rows of Saturday night’s $15,041-to-win Short Track Nationals championship feature along with runner-up finishers Jason Martin and Seth Bergman. Another two drivers that accumulate the most points from Friday’s prelim action along with Saturday’s heat races will join those four in the Pack Dash for Cash that sets the front three rows of the 41-lap finale.
Eighty-four drivers, the most since the 2013 edition of the STN, took part in Friday’s Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour preliminary card that was split into Programs A and B based upon pill draw.
Program A
After a convincing victory in Thursday night’s 15th Annual Ralph Henson Memorial that was worth $5,646, it was more of the same in the first of Friday’s “Twin 20’s” with Aaron Reutzel racing to another dominating win.
The Clute, TX, native now residing in Knoxville, IA, gridded the feature outside the second row and made the move of the race on the opening circuit when he took the Ridge & Sons Racing Mobil 1/Folkens Brothers Trucking No. 8 Sprint Car to the topside of turns one and two to pull alongside front row starters Jason Martin and Mark Smith.
The trio raced down the backstretch in tight, three-wide-fashion with Reutzel riding the top line through three and four to take command.
He never looked back as he raced to first career STN prelim win and locked himself into his fifth career STN championship finale.
“My guys give me such a good car, I just hope we can do it one more time tomorrow night,” Reutzel commented in victory lane after his 16th overall feature win of the season.
A pair of cautions in the opening eight rounds, including one for third-running Mark Smith when he slowed to a stop, kept Reutzel clear of traffic until the final handful of laps.
Reutzel had little trouble working through a trio of battling cars and cruised on to victory lane unabated.
Railing the high side much of the way, Reutzel occasionally tested the waters on the low side as well.
“I felt like we had a comfortable enough lead that I could search around some and hopefully learn something that will make us better for tomorrow night,” Reutzel explained.
Liberal, Kansas, native Jason Martin tried to keep pace with Reutzel but to no avail and was under pressure from California’s Justin Sanders and Arizona’s Colton Hardy as he encountered the same trio of lapped cars in the closing laps.
Martin was up to the task as he held on to the runner-up slot to lock into his second career STN finale.
After starting eighth, Sanders worked his way into fifth in the opening pair of circuits and ultimately took third away from Hardy on the ninth round.
Fending off Hardy the rest of the way, Sanders set his sights on Martin only to fall short as Hardy crossed the stripe in fourth. Canada’s Dylan Westbrook rounded out the top five with Dylan Postier, two-time STN winner Tony Bruce, Jr., Jeremy Middleton, 19th-starter Garet Williamson and 17th-starter Matt Covington completed the top ten.
Reutzel established the standard in qualifying with a new track record of 11.812 seconds before Mark Smith, Middleton, Alex Sewell and Westbrook picked up wins in tumultuous heat race action. Covington and Chase Porter won the “B” Mains.
Program B
Sunnyvale, Texas’ Sam Hafertepe, Jr., established that he is once again a top contender for Saturday night’s lucrative payday by picking up his fifth career STN preliminary feature win in Friday’s second “Twin 20” main event.
The 2020 STN champion gunned into the lead from the front row outside and kept Seth Bergman and Ryan Timms at bay throughout the frantic, non-stop affair to secure the win aboard the Hills Racing Cigar Port/Truenorth.bet No. 15h, locking into his tenth career STN finale.
“We finished second last night, which was decent,” Hafertepe, Jr., commented. “We made a lot of changes for tonight and the car was a lot better.”
With Hafertepe, Jr., racing to the green flag from the front row outside, Snohomish, Washington native Bergman tried to repeat Reutzel’s move around the extreme topside of the track in turns one and two. But when pole starter Timms slid to the cushion in front of him, Bergman’s momentum was slowed to allow Hafertepe into the lead.
Bergman made his way into second in the next pair of corners as Timms slipped back another spot before finding the top line and reclaiming third by the fifth round.
Hafertepe, Jr., was pressured by Bergman throughout with Timms reeling in the lead duo to make a three-way chase for the point as traffic came into play on the ninth round.
Bergman made his big bid for the lead with a slider in turn four on the 15th round, only to bang off the cushion with Hafertepe countering back into the lead. Timms pounced on the slight Bergman miscue a half-lap later only to do a 360-degree loop in turn two.
With the lead trio a full straightaway ahead of the rest of the pack, Timms retained the third position but lost significant ground to the lead pair.
Hafertepe, Jr., held steady over the final rounds and took his sixth win of the year ahead of Bergman, who secured a position in his eighth career STN finale.
Timms settled for the show position with Tim Crawley crossing the stripe fourth in his final weekend of I-30 Speedway competition. Three-time and reigning STN champion Blake Hahn rounded out the top five as Wayne Johnson, Derek Hagar, Howard Moore, Joe B. Miller and Steven Russell completed the top ten.
Those ten were the only cars on the lead lap, with all 19 cars that started making it to the checkered flag after scheduled third-starter Cody Gardner was forced pitside with mechanical gremlins before the race went green.
Hafertepe, Jr., bested the 42-car portion of Program B with a lap of 11.932 seconds in qualifying with Bergman, Moore, Crawley and Gardner posting heat race wins. Landon Crawley and Landon Britt topped the “B” Mains.
The 35th and final COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires to be contested at I-30 Speedway wraps up with Saturday night’s $15,041-to-win finale.
The 2022 season will mark the 31st year of competition for the American Sprint Car Series. Spearheaded by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the ASCS Nation includes Regional Tours that encompass both wing and non-wing competition.
For fans not able to attend, the series can be seen live on two platforms, with RaceOnTexas.com on FloRacing.com featuring National Tour events in tandem. Both are subscription-based sites. FloRacing.com is $20 per month, billed annually at $150 per year. RaceOnTexas.com All Access is $39.99 per month.
For other news, notes, and information on any of the tours under the ASCS banner, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
ASCS Mid-South Region
I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, Ark.)
Friday, September 30, 2022
Car Count: 84
The Driver’s Project Group Qualifying
Qualifying 1A (3 Laps): 1. 8R-Aaron Reutzel, 11.812[5]; 2. 39-Justin Sanders, 11.973[8]; 3. 12H-Tony Bruce Jr, 12.221[9]; 4. 43M-Mark Smith, 12.315[3]; 5. 95-Matt Covington, 12.325[6]; 6. 0-Eric Baldaccini, 12.433[11]; 7. 74-Tucker Boulton, 12.617[10]; 8. 5L-Dusty Young, 12.978[7]; 9. 48-Wade Buttrey, 13.207[4]; 10. 27J-Joseph Poe Jr, 13.409[2]; 11. 132-Jamie Manley, 13.861[1]
Qualifying 2A (3 Laps): 1. 24W-Garet Williamson, 11.949[10]; 2. 36-Jason Martin, 12.270[6]; 3. 67-Hayden Martin, 12.343[11]; 4. 15J-Jeremy Middleton, 12.407[9]; 5. 21X-Carson Short, 12.415[3]; 6. 91-Michael Day, 12.482[7]; 7. 85-Josh McCord, 12.511[2]; 8. 30-Joseph Miller, 12.522[8]; 9. 17B-Ryan Bickett, 12.701[4]; 10. 17A-Alex Lyles, 12.948[1]; 11. 37-Ayden Gatewood, NT
Qualifying 3A (3 Laps): 1. 41-Colton Hardy, 11.986[1]; 2. 2-Chase Porter, 12.218[6]; 3. 26-Marshall Skinner, 12.369[7]; 4. 17-Alex Sewell, 12.429[2]; 5. 99-Blake Jenkins, 12.485[10]; 6. 10P-Dylan Postier, 12.487[9]; 7. 99L-Lewis Jenkins Jr, 12.803[4]; 8. 73-Samuel Wagner, 12.921[5]; 9. 13M-Chance McCrary, 13.330[3]; 10. 38-Rick Pringle, 13.385[8]
Qualifying 4A (3 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 12.073[4]; 2. 22S-Slater Helt, 12.387[7]; 3. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, 12.554[5]; 4. 4X-Brad Bowden, 12.639[10]; 5. 21K-Kevin Hinkle, 12.684[3]; 6. 17J-Jerry Brey, 12.727[6]; 7. 13-Chase Howard, 12.741[1]; 8. 21-Spencer Meredith, 13.058[8]; 9. 44-Ronny Howard, 13.060[9]; 10. 69-Jamey Mooney, 13.853[2]
Qualifying 5 -1B (3 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, 12.214[7]; 2. 77-Jack Wagner, 12.348[8]; 3. 45X-Kyler Johnson, 12.364[9]; 4. 8M-Kade Morton, 12.369[2]; 5. 55B-Brandon Anderson, 12.430[4]; 6. 71-Bradyn Baker, 12.487[1]; 7. 91Z-Zach Pringle, 12.580[10]; 8. 17F-Chad Frewaldt, 12.630[11]; 9. 72P-Gary Floyd, 12.847[5]; 10. 938-Bradley Fezard, 13.005[3]; 11. 21S-Kobe Simpson, 13.363[6]
Qualifying 6 – 2B (3 Laps): 1. 5T-Ryan Timms, 11.971[2]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn, 11.977[5]; 3. 3-Howard Moore, 12.221[11]; 4. 22-Riley Goodno, 12.226[7]; 5. 187-Landon Crawley, 12.236[10]; 6. 10-Landon Britt, 12.249[9]; 7. 14-Jordon Mallett, 12.407[8]; 8. 97-Scotty Milan, 12.655[1]; 9. 1S-Joey Schmidt, 12.721[6]; 10. 6-Christopher Townsend, 12.812[4]; 11. 19-Jason Long, 13.007[3]
Qualifying 7 – 3B (3 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, 11.932[3]; 2. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 12.127[4]; 3. 87-Tim Crawley, 12.409[1]; 4. 87J-Jace Park, 12.412[9]; 5. 9JR-Derek Hagar, 12.481[7]; 6. 55-Donny Howard, 12.802[2]; 7. 10K-Dewayne White, 13.149[5]; 8. 2T-Todd Bradford, 13.201[6]; 9. 63-Chris Williams, 13.262[8]; 10. 93-Chris Sweeney, 13.709[10]
Qualifying 8 – 4B (3 Laps): 1. 1JR-Steven Russell, 12.268[7]; 2. 51B-Joe B Miller, 12.320[6]; 3. 47-Dale Howard, 12.393[5]; 4. G6-Cody Gardner, 12.631[8]; 5. 84-Brandon Hanks, 12.695[10]; 6. 21R-Gunner Ramey, 12.717[2]; 7. 24-Jeffrey West Jr, 12.784[4]; 8. 29-Chad Jones, 13.003[3]; 9. 12M-Greg Merritt, 13.066[9]; 10. 16-Steven Howell, 13.637[1]
SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 4 in each heat transfers to their corresponding group)
Heat 1 – 1A (8 Laps): 1. 43M-Mark Smith[1]; 2. 8R-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 3. 39-Justin Sanders[3]; 4. 12H-Tony Bruce Jr[2]; 5. 95-Matt Covington[5]; 6. 0-Eric Baldaccini[6]; 7. 74-Tucker Boulton[7]; 8. 5L-Dusty Young[8]; 9. 27J-Joseph Poe Jr[10]; 10. 48-Wade Buttrey[9]; 11. 132-Jamie Manley[11]
Heat 2 – 2A (8 Laps): 1. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[1]; 2. 36-Jason Martin[3]; 3. 85-Josh McCord[7]; 4. 21X-Carson Short[5]; 5. 30-Joseph Miller[8]; 6. 91-Michael Day[6]; 7. 37-Ayden Gatewood[11]; 8. 17B-Ryan Bickett[9]; 9. 17A-Alex Lyles[10]; 10. 24W-Garet Williamson[4]; 11. 67-Hayden
Heat 3 – 3A (8 Laps): 1. 17-Alex Sewell[1]; 2. 10P-Dylan Postier[6]; 3. 99L-Lewis Jenkins Jr[7]; 4. 41-Colton Hardy[4]; 5. 73-Samuel Wagner[8]; 6. 26-Marshall Skinner[2]; 7. 13M-Chance McCrary[9]; 8. 38-Rick Pringle[10]; 9. 2-Chase Porter[3]; 10. 99-Blake Jenkins[5]
Heat 4 – 4A (8 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[4]; 2. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[2]; 3. 4X-Brad Bowden[1]; 4. 13-Chase Howard[7]; 5. 22S-Slater Helt[3]; 6. 17J-Jerry Brey[6]; 7. 44-Ronny Howard[9]; 8. 21-Spencer Meredith[8]; 9. 69-Jamey Mooney[10]; 10. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[5]
Heat 5 – 1B (8 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[4]; 2. 45X-Kyler Johnson[2]; 3. 77-Jack Wagner[3]; 4. 71-Bradyn Baker[6]; 5. 21S-Kobe Simpson[11]; 6. 17F-Chad Frewaldt[8]; 7. 938-Bradley Fezard[10]; 8. 8M-Kade Morton[1]; 9. 72P-Gary Floyd[9]; 10. 55B-Brandon Anderson[5]; 11. 91Z-Zach Pringle[7]
Heat 6 – 2B (8 Laps): 1. 3-Howard Moore[2]; 2. 5T-Ryan Timms[4]; 3. 22-Riley Goodno[1]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 5. 10-Landon Britt[6]; 6. 187-Landon Crawley[5]; 7. 14-Jordon Mallett[7]; 8. 6-Christopher Townsend[10]; 9. 1S-Joey Schmidt[9]; 10. 97-Scotty Milan[8]; 11. 19-Jason Long[11]
Heat 7 – 3B (8 Laps): 1. 87-Tim Crawley[2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson[3]; 4. 9JR-Derek Hagar[5]; 5. 55-Donny Howard[6]; 6. 2T-Todd Bradford[8]; 7. 93-Chris Sweeney[10]; 8. 63-Chris Williams[9]; 9. 10K-Dewayne White[7]; 10. 87J-Jace Park[1]
Heat 8 – 4B (8 Laps): 1. G6-Cody Gardner[1]; 2. 47-Dale Howard[2]; 3. 51B-Joe B Miller[3]; 4. 1JR-Steven Russell[4]; 5. 84-Brandon Hanks[5]; 6. 29-Chad Jones[8]; 7. 21R-Gunner Ramey[6]; 8. 24-Jeffrey West Jr[7]; 9. 12M-Greg Merritt[9]; 10. 16-Steven Howell[10]
BMRS B-Feature (Top 2 in each advance to their corresponding feature)
B-Main 1 – 1A (12 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 2. 24W-Garet Williamson[1]; 3. 26-Marshall Skinner[4]; 4. 17B-Ryan Bickett[8]; 5. 30-Joseph Miller[3]; 6. 91-Michael Day[5]; 7. 17A-Alex Lyles[10]; 8. 67-Hayden Martin[13]; 9. 21-Spencer Meredith[9]; 10. 74-Tucker Boulton[6]; 11. 69-Jamey Mooney[11]; 12. 13M-Chance McCrary[7]; 13. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[12]
B-Main 2 – 2A (12 Laps): 1. 2-Chase Porter[1]; 2. 22S-Slater Helt[2]; 3. 17J-Jerry Brey[5]; 4. 0-Eric Baldaccini[4]; 5. 73-Samuel Wagner[3]; 6. 5L-Dusty Young[8]; 7. 37-Ayden Gatewood[7]; 8. 44-Ronny Howard[6]; 9. 99-Blake Jenkins[11]; 10. 38-Rick Pringle[9]; 11. 132-Jamie Manley[13]; 12. 27J-Joseph Poe Jr[10]; 13. 48-Wade Buttrey[12]
B-Main 3 – 1B (12 Laps): 1. 187-Landon Crawley[1]; 2. 14-Jordon Mallett[5]; 3. 84-Brandon Hanks[2]; 4. 21R-Gunner Ramey[6]; 5. 29-Chad Jones[4]; 6. 21S-Kobe Simpson[3]; 7. 55B-Brandon Anderson[11]; 8. 12M-Greg Merritt[10]; 9. 1S-Joey Schmidt[9]; 10. 938-Bradley Fezard[8]; 11. 24-Jeffrey West Jr[7]; 12. 16-Steven Howell[12]; 13. 19-Jason Long[13]
B-Main 4 – 2B (12 Laps): 1. 10-Landon Britt[1]; 2. 8M-Kade Morton[3]; 3. 2T-Todd Bradford[4]; 4. 97-Scotty Milan[11]; 5. 6-Christopher Townsend[7]; 6. 17F-Chad Frewaldt[5]; 7. 93-Chris Sweeney[6]; 8. 55-Donny Howard[2]; 9. 72P-Gary Floyd[9]; 10. 63-Chris Williams[8]; 11. 10K-Dewayne White[10]; 12. 91Z-Zach Pringle[12]; 13. 87J-Jace Park[13]
A-Features
A-Main Group A (20 Laps): 1. 8R-Aaron Reutzel[4]; 2. 36-Jason Martin[1]; 3. 39-Justin Sanders[8]; 4. 41-Colton Hardy[5]; 5. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[7]; 6. 10P-Dylan Postier[10]; 7. 12H-Tony Bruce Jr[9]; 8. 15J-Jeremy Middleton[6]; 9. 24W-Garet Williamson[19]; 10. 95-Matt Covington[17]; 11. 21X-Carson Short[15]; 12. 17-Alex Sewell[3]; 13. 22S-Slater Helt[20]; 14. 2-Chase Porter[18]; 15. 4X-Brad Bowden[13]; 16. 13-Chase Howard[16]; 17. 99L-Lewis Jenkins Jr[14]; 18. 85-Josh McCord[12]; 19. 43M-Mark Smith[2]; 20. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[11]
Lap Leader(s): Aaron Reutzel 1-20
Hard Charger: Garet Williamson +10
A-Main Group B (20 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 2. 23-Seth Bergman[4]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms[1]; 4. 87-Tim Crawley[6]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn[8]; 6. 2C-Wayne Johnson[9]; 7. 9JR-Derek Hagar[15]; 8. 3-Howard Moore[5]; 9. 51B-Joe B Miller[13]; 10. 1JR-Steven Russell[7]; 11. 47-Dale Howard[11]; 12. 14-Jordon Mallett[19]; 13. 45X-Kyler Johnson[10]; 14. 22-Riley Goodno[12]; 15. 77-Jack Wagner[14]; 16. 10-Landon Britt[18]; 17. 187-Landon Crawley[17]; 18. 71-Bradyn Baker[16]; 19. 8M-Kade Morton[20]; 20. G6-Cody Gardner[3]
Lap Leader(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-20
Hard Charger: Derek Hagar +8
Quick Time: Aaron Reutzel 11.812-seconds (NTR)
High Point Driver: N/A
Provisional(s): N/A
ASCS Online:
American Sprint Car Series: http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs [@lucasoilascs]
Instagram: LucasOilASCS
Broadcast: RaceOnTexas.com on FloRacing.com
Live-Scoring [Where Applicable]: MRP Live
2022 Race Winners: Wayne Johnson – 5 (3/18 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway; 6/18 – Boothill Speedway, 6/25 – I-70 Motorsports Park; 7/23 – I-30 Speedway; 9/17 – Lucas Oil Speedway); Tim Crawley – 4 (7/22 – Batesville Motor Speedway; 7/26 – Tulsa Speedway; 9/13 – Clay County Fair Speedway; 9/15 – Lucas Oil Speedway); Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – 4 (5/29 – Thunderbird Speedway; 8/4 – Knoxville Raceway; 9/8 – Lakeside Speedway; 9/30 – I-30 Speedway); Aaron Reutzel – 3 (3/26 – I-30 Speedway; 8/6 – Knoxville Raceway; 9/30 – I-30 Speedway); Derek Hagar – 3 (3/25 – I-30 Speedway; 6/17 – Texarkana 67 Speedway; 9/5 – Lake Ozark Speedway); Dylan Westbrook – 2 (5/28 – Lake Ozark Speedway; 7/27 – Caney Valley Speedway); Blake Hahn – 2 (8/2 – Lakeside Speedway, 9/2 – Lake Ozark Speedway); Matt Covington – 2 (7/1 – Boone County Raceway; 7/28 – 81-Speedway); Seth Bergman – 2 (3/19 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway, 9/10 – Caney Valley Speedway); Jake Bubak – 1 (7/2 – WaKeeney Speedway); Zach Blurton – 1 (7/3 – WaKeeney Speedway); Gunner Ramey – 1 (7/15 – U.S. 36 Raceway); Brian Brown – 1 (8/5 – Knoxville Raceway); Ayrton Gennetten – 1 (9/16 – Lucas Oil Speedway);
2022 Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Blake Hahn 3,525; 2. Wayne Johnson 3,424; 3. Matt Covington 3,352; 4. Tim Crawley 3,339; 5. Jason Martin 3,275; 6. Brandon Anderson 3,012; 7. Landon Crawley 2,920; 8. Landon Britt 2,900; 9. Kyler Johnson 2,874; 10. Ryan Bickett 2,716; 11. Dylan Postier 2,615; 12. Garet Williamson 2,407; 13. Dylan Westbrook 2,028; 14. Dylan Opdahl 1,685; 15. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1,586;
ASCS National Tour Drivers:
1x – Tim Crawley (Benton, AR)**
2c – Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK)**
2d-Dylan Opdahl (Madison, SD) (R)
10 – Landon Britt (Atoka, TN) (R)
10p – Dylan Postier (Stillwater, OK) (R)
17b – Ryan Bickett (Romona, SD)
24 – Garet Williamson (Columbia, MO)
36 – Jason Martin (Liberal, KS) (R)
45x – Kyler Johnson (Quinter, KS) (R)
52 – Blake Hahn (Sapulpa, OK)**
55b – Brandon Anderson (Glenpool, OK) (R)
95 – Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK)
187 – Landon Crawley (Benton, AR) (R)
(R) Signifies Brodix National Rookie
** Signifies past ASCS National Champion.
Sponsors:
The American Sprint Car Series is brought to you by Lucas Oil Products (https://lucasoil.com) and presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network (https://www.mavtv.com). Heat Races are presented by SCE Gaskets (https://www.scegaskets.com), B-Features are sponsored by BMRS (https://www.bmrs.net).
All Champions of the American Sprint Car Series, from National to Regional Tours, will receive a new Superior Steering Wheel (https://superiorsteeringwheel.com). Hard Luck Award provided by Vahlco Wheels.
