WHAT TO WATCH FOR: National, Sooner Region Stars Clash at Creek County’s Don Swope Classic

The American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) salutes a longtime friend of the Tulsa racing community in the fifth running of the Don Swope Classic on Friday, July 18.

Creek County Speedway — the home track of ASCS — will host the national 360 Sprint Car series for the 34th time in track history. The event, co-sanctioned by the ASCS Sooner Region, is run in memory of the late Don Swope — a dear friend of ASCS founder Emmett Hahn and the family and crew that put on the marquee Chili Bowl Nationals and Tulsa Shootout events.

Grandstand gates are set to open at 4 p.m. with Hot Laps at 7 p.m. General admission tickets will be sold at the gate — $25 for adults, seniors/military are $20, kids 11–14 are $15, and children 13 and under are free. Pit passes are $40.

Tickets for the event will be sold at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

Here are the drivers to watch and storylines to follow:

KING OF THE CREEK — Through 33 Series events contested at Creek County, nobody has won more than Sam Hafertepe Jr.

The five-time Series champion from Sunnyvale, TX, scored his first ASCS win at the track on opening night of the 2016 edition of Fuzzy’s Fall Fling, and has scored subsequent victories in 2018, 2019, as well as two of the three Series events held there last season. Hafertepe won the ASCS Speedweek event there in June before taking the checkers again in the finale of Fuzzy’s Fall Fling last November.

The Hill’s Racing No. 15H has been the standout driver through 11 races for the Series in 2025, winning five races — including a sweep of Belleville High Banks two weeks ago — and currently leads the chase for the Emmett Hahn Trophy by 126 points over Blake Hahn.

HOMETOWN HERO — When it comes to Creek County, few drivers know how to get around its 1/4-mile confines like Blake Hahn.

The two-time Series champion from Sapulpa, OK, has won in a Winged 360 Sprint Car, a Non-Wing 360 Sprint Car, and a Midget at the track with several different sanctioning organizations. This includes six ASCS regional Feature wins and two on the national circuit, two Non-Wing Sprint Car wins with the USAC Southwest Sprint Car Series, and two wins with the POWRi National Midget League.

The most recent of Hahn’s Creek County wins came in March when he topped the opening night of the ASCS Sooner Region schedule. Hahn also scored his first career (points-paying) ASCS National win last November on opening night of the Fuzzy’s Fall Fling.

REGIONAL RINGER — Creek County is a home track for five-time ASCS Sooner Region champion Sean McClelland, and he’s made a habit of winning there in his 25-plus-year career.

The 50-year-old from Tulsa, OK, has won a total of nine Sooner Region races at the track in his career, and in 2023 scored his first national ASCS win at Creek, topping Chance Morton and Jordon Mallett for his second career win on the national circuit and first since 2006.

McClelland last raced with the National Series in April at Salina Highbanks Speedway, running third to Seth Bergman and Sam Hafertepe Jr. In the Sooner Region opener at Creek in March, he finished fourth to Hahn, Bergman and New Mexico racer Caleb Saiz.

COMING ON STRONG — Following back-to-back podium finishes two weeks ago at Belleville, Jason Martin is coming into Creek County on the upswing, looking to cut into the deficit he faces in the points standings.

Martin, the 2023 Series champion from Liberal, KS, currently sits fourth in the standings, 176 points behind leader Hafertepe. He’ll try and cut into that deficit at Creek on Friday, where he’s won twice in his career — once with the Sooner Region in 2002, and for the first time with the national Series in 2022.

In the three starts he made at the track last year, Martin bagged a fifth-place finish on June 13 before producing results of sixth and seventh during the season finale at Fuzzy’s Fall Fling in November.

THIS WEEKEND AT A GLANCE

WHEN AND WHERE
Friday, July 18 at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, OK

TRACK FACTS

• Semi-banked, 1/4-mile oval
• Track Record — 11.057 seconds set by Wayne Johnson on Oct. 28, 2022

ON THE INTERNET
X — @ASCSRacing
Instagram — @ascs_racing
Facebook — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
YouTube — @AmericanSprintCarSeries
DIRTVision — DIRTVision.com (Platinum annual FAST PASS for $299 or monthly FAST PASS for $39/month)

CURRENT CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (11/34 Races)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1152pts)
2. Blake Hahn 1026pts (–126)
3. Matt Covington 1019pts (–133)
4. Jason Martin 976pts (–176)
5. Brady Baker 891pts (–261)
6. Kyler Johnson 871pts (–281)
7. Zach Blurton 870pts (–282)
8. Austyn Gossel 848pts (–304)
9. Garrett Benson 843pts (–309)
10. Landon Britt 834pts (–318)

FEATURE WINNERS (5 Drivers):

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5 wins)
2. Justin Peck (3 wins)
3. Matt Covington, Zach Blurton, Blake Hahn (1 win)

FEATURE LAPS LED (8 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (95 laps)
2. Justin Peck (65 laps)
3. Matt Covington (48 laps)
4. Zach Blurton (25 laps)
5. Brian Brown (15 laps)
6. Blake Hahn, Austyn Gossel (13 laps)
7. Jason Martin (11 laps)

QUICK TIME AWARDS (9 Drivers)

1. Matt Covington, Seth Bergman (2 awards)
2. Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Kyler Johnson, Roger Crockett, Sam Hafertepe Jr, Jason Martin, Blake Hahn (1 award)

HEAT RACE WINNERS (24 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (7 wins)
2. Matt Covington (6 wins)
3. Justin Peck, Blake Hahn (3 wins)
4. Scotty Thiel, Whit Gastineau, Seth Bergman, Jason Martin, Garrett Benson, Hank Davis (2 wins)
5. Chris Martin, Cole Macedo, Emerson Axsom, Austin McCarl, Sean McClelland, Caleb Saiz, Bradley Fezard, Bryan Gossel, Jake Bubak, Jordon Mallett, Austyn Gossel, Cameron Martin, Bryant Wiedeman, Harli White (1 win)

DASH APPEARANCES (35 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (9 appearances)
2. Matt Covington (7 appearances)
3. Blake Hahn (6 appearances)
4. Seth Bergman (4 appearances)
5. Justin Peck, Kyler Johnson, Whit Gastineau, Jason Martin, Garrett Benson (3 appearances)
6. Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Scotty Thiel, Danny Dietrich, Cole Macedo, Brady Bacon, Daison Pursley, Jordon Mallett, Austyn Gossel, (2 appearances)
7. Hank Davis, Jordan Thomas, Scotty Thiel, Chris Martin, Brian Brown, Sean McClelland, Caleb Saiz, Chance Morton, Bradley Fezard, Zach Blurton, Bryan Gossel, Jake Bubak, Roger Crockett, Brady Baker, Bryant Wiedeman, Joey Danley, Cameron Martin (1 appearance)

SMITH TITANIUM LAST CHANCE SHOWDOWN WINS (7 Drivers)

1. Blake Hahn, Emerson Axsom, Tyler Clem, Kyle Clark, Bryant Wiedeman, Jason Martin, Harli White (1 win)

HARD CHARGER AWARDS (9 Drivers)

1. Brady Baker (3 awards)
2. Austin McCarl, Emerson Axsom, Blake Hahn, Landon Britt, Jordon Mallett, Jason Martin, Brad Bowden, Stu Snyder (1 award)

PODIUM FINISHES (17 Drivers)

1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (8 podiums)
2. Jason Martin (4 podiums)
3. Justin Peck, Blake Hahn (3 podiums)
4. Brian Brown, Matt Covington (2 podiums)
5. Emerson Axsom, Cole Macedo, Austin McCarl, Seth Bergman, Sean McClelland, Zach Blurton, Austyn Gossel, Kyler Johnson, Brady Baker, Cameron Martin, Joey Danley (1 podium)

2025 SCHEDULE + WINNERS
Race Number. Day, Date / Track / City, State / Winner (Total Wins)

1. Thu, Jan. 30 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (1)
2. Fri, Jan. 31 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (2)
3. Sat, Feb. 1 / Volusia Speedway Park / Barberville, FL / Justin Peck (3)
4. Sat, April 12 / Salina Highbanks Speedway / Salina, OK / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1)
5. Sat, May 10 / Paducah International Raceway / Paducah, KY / Matt Covington (1)
6. Fri, May 30 / Salt City Speedway / Hutchinson, KS / Zach Blurton (1)
7. Sat, May 31 / Dodge City Raceway Park / Dodge City, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (2)
8. Sat, June 7 / Texarkana 67 Speedway / Texarkana, AR / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (3)
9. Sat, June 21 / Batesville Motor Speedway / Locust Grove, AR / Blake Hahn (1)
10. Thu, July 3 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4)
11. Fri, July 4 / Belleville High Banks / Belleville, KS / Sam Hafertepe Jr. (5)