Sam Hafertepe Jr. concluded his sweep of the Dirt Down in T-Town at Tulsa Speedway Thursday night with about a five-month gap between his two Tulsa wins.
The Sunnyvale, TX driver won the first portion of the Dirt Down in T-Town on June 28 with the American Sprint Car Series National Tour, but then had to wait until November to try and complete the sweep after rain postponed the finale.
However, even with the nearly half-year gap, Hafertepe picked up right where he left off.
“We have a really good race car,” Hafertepe said. “We got pretty free late there; could have been a lot better. But really good car early. Just put ourselves in the right spot… We were solid. Probably could have been a little bit better, but we got the win and that’s all that matters.”
The field had to first make up the postponed Dash from June, which saw current points leader Seth Bergman score the win and the pole for the 30-lap Feature. Hafertepe finished second, putting him on the outside pole, which is where he also started when he won in June.
But unlike the race in June, Hafertepe was able to beat the polesitter into the first corner and drive away with the lead on the first lap. He gapped the field by a one-second lead in the first couple of laps, but that was erased when Hank Davis barrel rolled down the backstretch after contact with Jason Martin, bringing out the red flag on Lap 3.
When the race resumed, Hafertepe continued the theme of picking up where he left off, sprinting to a half-second lead before the end of the first lap. And while he pulled away, Blake Hahn started to put on a show behind him. The Oklahoma native moved into the top five – from his seventh starting position – on Lap 5 and then set course for the podium.
Hahn moved into fourth on Lap 11 and then third on Lap 14.
At the same time, Hafertepe started to struggle with slower traffic, allowing Bergman to close in. But before the No. 23 car could reach its championship rival, another caution slowed the field with 16 laps to go.
Hafertepe was untouchable, again, on the restart, leaving Bergman in a battle with Hahn – a fight to not lose any more points. Bergman ran high, while Hahn rolled the bottom, sneaking a nose under the No. 23 on a few occasions.
Austyn Gossel blew a tire on Lap 27, bringing out the final caution of the night, setting up a three-lap dash to conclude the Dirt Down in T-Town finale.
Hafertepe didn’t give Bergman a chase to stay within striking distance as his No. 15 car continued to be in a league of its own on the restart. Instead, Bergman was back to playing defense against Hahn. And on the final lap, he lost. Hahn built a strong enough run to rocket his car ahead of Bergman into the final corner and steal second.
“We had a lot of cautions, and I was able to try a few things,” Hahn said. “About the last eight laps I was really burying it off into (Turn) one and was able to make speed off of two. Really, that’s the only way we were going to be able to pass. Three and four was a little bottom dominate. But the car was good. We were able to make some good moves.”
Bergman had to settled for third, causing him to lose points to Hafertepe – now 141 points ahead of the five-time Series champion.
“I wanted to win that race,” said Bergman, who is fighting for his first ASCS National Tour title. “When you’re equally matched with a couple of guys – Sam and Blake – it is important to get those starts. Those are key moments in the race, especially with how it played out. Didn’t get the start. [Sam] got the jumped and pulled away.”
Along with Hafertepe cutting into Bergman’s points lead, his Hill’s Racing Team took the points lead for the Owner’s title by eight points over TwoC Racing, due to Davis being unable to finish the race after his flip.
UP NEXT: The 36-car field at Tulsa Speedway has one more race to go tonight with the regularly scheduled program for Nov. 14 still to come. Drivers will battle for a $4,000 payday and, again, try to earn as many points as they can.
Then, the 2024 season will conclude at Creek County Speedway for the Fuzzy’s Fall Fling, Friday-Saturday, Nov. 15-16. Tickets will be available at the track, but if you can’t make it, you can watch every lap live on DIRTVision.
