Sam Hafertepe Jr. is back in familiar territory this season, rising to the top of multiple categories with the American Sprint Car Series. But one key stat is still missing after 11 races for the current Series points leader – a win.
This is the longest the Sunnyvale, TX native has gone into a full season with ASCS without a win since his first full year on tour two decades ago.
The six-time Series champion isn’t sweating just yet, though. He’s had speed, but been plagued by things out of his control.
“I feel like we’ve been about the best car every night on paper, we just don’t have the wins to add up,” Hafertepe said. “That’s part of racing sometimes, you can have the fastest car, but if things don’t go your way, they won’t go your way. That’s how the year’s been, we just had lots of small things add up. We haven’t raced enough to really get in a good rhythm either, so the schedule is going to pick up soon and start racing more consistently, and that’ll definitely help a team like us.”
Fortunately for Hafertepe, the next event on the ASCS schedule is one he swept both races at last year – The Big One at Belleville High Banks (June 26-27). The victories also helped kick off a five-race winning streak for him.
It bodes well as the 88-time Feature winner faces a summer of marquee ASCS events at high-speed tracks like Belleville, including August events at Knoxville Raceway for the Xtream powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank, and Big Sky Speedway for the Harvey Ostermiller Memorial.
“When we prepare to race, we’re preparing to win,” Hafertepe said. “Over time, it’s going to happen, it’s kind of inevitable that we’re going to win one with ASCS. I feel like this weekend will be as good a chance as any to go win, and that’s what we’ll try to do. At the end of the day, we’ve won 88 of them, and I tell people all the time, ‘You don’t forget how to win if you’ve won that much.”
Though Hafertepe hasn’t won with ASCS in 2026, he’s scored two POWRi Outlaw 410 Sprints triumphs in the year at Lake Ozark Speedway and Creek County.
“We’ve already won two other races this year with (POWRi),” Hafertepe said. “On those nights, things did fall our way and worked well for us. It just so happens that in the ASCS races we’ve ran this year, things didn’t go our way. Honestly, to still be in the points lead after all that, it’s a testament to how good our team is and how resilient we are, and how we make the most out of every situation we’re handed.
“I think because I’ve raced for so long, we’ve been in about every situation you can imagine. Going through all the years we’ve raced, there’s plenty of ups and downs. Even as many races as we’ve won, you still lose a lot more. So, I always tell everyone you have to keep the mindset of preparing every night the same, and you can’t get down because you haven’t won a race.”
Hafertepe leads the championship standings by 22 points over Matt Covington and 23 points over Seth Bergman. While it’s a tighter differential than he’d like to see, it’s not changing his approach.
“I feel like when you’re in a tight points battle, your window of what you’re gonna change is a lot smaller because you’re gonna go with stuff that you know,” Hafertepe said. “You generally don’t want to go outside of the box, and you go with the sure thing that is going to work. It might not help you win, but it might keep you in the ballgame. Then, when you’re in a huge points lead, you’ve got the freedom to try a few things, which leads to you getting better because now the notebook’s bigger.”
With several big-money events coming up, including The Big One, which pays $10,000 to the winner on Saturday, Hafertepe and his Hill’s Racing Team are eager to put their winless streak to bed and add a few more big checks and prestigious trophies to their collection.
“Once the schedule starts playing out, my eyes are always on the prize at Knoxville,” he said. “It’s the one big 360 race that I’ve never won. I mean, of all the races that we go to after this, visiting (Big Sky) is another big-paying show that we haven’t had a good showing at. My crew guys are getting better, they’re starting to be able to get all their stuff handled without me giving a lot of direction, which makes it easier on me. The whole deal will fall together, and we’ll be back to winning a bunch of races.”
Hafertepe will try to sweep The Big One again at the 1/2-mile Belleville High Banks on Friday-Saturday, June 26-27. Joining the American Sprint Car Series for the two nights in Belleville will be the Malvern Bank ASCS Midwest Region presented by Hoosier.
Where can you watch every lap of the American Sprint Car Series? Live on DIRTVision.
