Seth Bergman finally accomplished his goal of winning the ASCS National Tour title in 2024, but even with the Emmett Hahn Trophy in hand, he’s not satisfied.
“Now that we’ve got one, I want to come back and back it up,” Bergman said. “I want to show that it wasn’t just a one-time thing, that we’re building something consistent here that can consistently compete and win championships at this level.
“For me, I think that’s just the competitive drive I have in me. I’ve worked so long to get one, and now I’ve got one, and I’m like, ‘Alright, let’s go get another.’”
The 37-year-old Snohomish, WA-native is returning to the full-time roster in 2025, driving the Oklahoma Chiller, Rider/Triple X No. 23 for his own Bergman Motorsports team.
Though his first championship — a lifelong goal of the Oklahoma resident — was sweet, Bergman still has areas he wants to improve on.
“It’s about coming back and trying to better some of our areas that we weren’t good in last year,” he said. “There’s certainly a lot of things I didn’t think went great last year that I think we can improve upon. We’re working really hard to have a much better year than we did last year, and also to come and back it up and show that it wasn’t just a one-time thing.”
In 31 races last season, Bergman collected seven wins, the most top-five finishes of any driver (24) and top-10s in all but three races. But he didn’t top every stat column, and that doesn’t sit well with him going into the new year.
Bergman’s biggest rival throughout 2024 was five-time Tour champion, Sam Hafertepe Jr. In 30 recorded starts, the Sunnyvale, TX-native won 12 Features and garnered 13 Quick Time Awards (Bergman was second with three), among other stats columns led, but still came up 146 points behind by season’s end.
“I didn’t win as much last year as I wanted to,” Bergman said. “We had a lot of things changing with our team all year and I never really got a solid footing and really got going. I feel like I was more inconsistent than I wanted to be. I didn’t win near as much as I wanted to.
“Yeah, we were good enough to win the championship, but it bothers me that Sam won more races, he led more laps, and things like that bother me. I know I’m capable of more.”
While the past has frustrated him, Bergman has learned from his experiences and is ready to move on to the new season, which, for him, begins April 12 at Salina Highbanks Speedway. He and his team are assembling all-new cars for the new year and have upgraded their equipment as well — from transporters to mules and tools — and will sit out from the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals events at Volusia Speedway Park.
It’s all part of the off-track preparations he’s making to ensure himself a seat at the championship contenders table come season’s end.
“The past few years, I feel like I’ve been coming into my own as a driver and a man,” Bergman said. “When I climb into the race car these days, I’m confident. I know I’ve put in a ton of work outside the racetrack just on myself, my mental [health]. I work really hard outside of the racetrack to make sure that when I come, I can be ready to compete. So, I get a lot of confidence off that.”
See Bergman make his 2025 season debut and begin his run to a second ASCS National Tour championship on Saturday, April 12 at Salina Highbanks Speedway in Salina, OK.
Tickets for the event will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t make it to the track, stream every lap of every race throughout the season live on DIRTVision.
