Fuzzy's Fall Fling

Under a bright spotlight at his home track with friends, family and sponsors watching, Blake Hahn pulled through when it mattered most.

Hahn, the two-time American Sprint Car Series champion from Sapulpa, OK, scored his third Series victory of the season Friday night, passing veteran racer Zach Chappell for the lead on a green-white-checkered finish and holding on for the win at Creek County Speedway.

This wasn’t just another triumph at the track built by grandfather and Series founder, Emmett Hahn. This one came on opening night of the 10th edition of Fuzzy’s Fall Fling — the event that honors Blake’s late grandmother.

“Any time we can be on top, it’s great, but to be on top at this race, it means that much more,” he said. “It’s a good momentum start for the weekend and, hopefully, we can finish it strong tomorrow.”

From the drop of the green until the final circuit, Chappell appeared to be the man to beat at the head of the field. The 2001 Series champion from Talala, OK, took the lead from Chance Morton on Lap 2 and paced the field around the 1/4-mile oval while Hahn began his march forward from fifth on the starting grid.

First was Chance Morton. Next came Sam Hafertepe Jr. Then it was the move for second on Matt Covington with five laps remaining. Hahn soon looked up and saw only Chappell and his No. 50z ahead of him with the white flag in the air. And then came the yellow.

With Austyn Gossel spun around in Turn 2, the field was restacked for a green-white-checkered shootout to the finish line. Chappell sat out front under yellow, knowing exactly his plan for the final restart.

“I really wasn’t thinking, I was just trying to keep my car straight,” Chappell said. “Straight and smooth on the bottom was really where I was thinking. I hadn’t seen anybody or heard anybody get to the outside of me. I was just trying to pace myself.”

The green flag waved and Chappell took off around the bottom lane, while Hahn opted for a different strategy.

“Dalton (Seigler, crew chief) was over here telling me to rip the top for one lap, so I bumped the wing back just a little bit and sailed it in on the top,” Hahn said. “It looked like, to me, a few of the guys had been up there and it kinda rolled-in the top in (Turns) 1 and 2, so I was able to get a good run down the back straightaway on the top and then finish it off of 4.”

With plenty of speed heading into Turn 3, Hahn again threw his No. 52 car against the cushion, got a great run off of Turn 4 and beat Chappell back to the flag stand by .148 seconds to take the lead with the white flag in the air.

The two went side-by-side through Turns 1 and 2 once more, but Hahn’s top-side momentum carried him past Chappell down the backstretch and back around to the checkered flag.

“When Zach won in 2001, I was only six years old at that point,” Hahn said. “Zach is still the youngest champion at 18 years old and, obviously, is still a good driver. I said it in my post-race interview — Zach and I are really good friends, so I was kinda cheering him on when I was sitting in about fourth. I was like, ‘Man, I would like to see Zach win this deal.’

“But obviously, we want to win every single one of them. We’re happy to pull it off, and to be able to battle with Zach for the last-lap pass was fun.”

In the end, Chappell held on for a runner-up finish — his best since his last national Series victory in 2010. Though he was only one lap away from his first such win in over 15 years, Chappell was still in high spirits after his first 360 Sprint Car start of the year.

“In hindsight, maybe I should’ve went to the top, but that’s looking in the back,” Chappell said. “I’m not mad at all. I’m still happy with a second place.”

Matt Covington crossed the stripe in third, banking his ninth podium finish of the season on the national circuit. Reigning Series champion Seth Bergman finished fourth while Missouri racer Chase Porter completed the top five.

UP NEXT

The season finale for the American Sprint Car Series and the ASCS Sooner Region goes down at Creek County Speedway Saturday, Nov. 15, in the conclusion of Fuzzy’s Fall Fling — $10,000 on the line for the winner.

Tickets for Saturday will be sold at the gate. If you can’t be there, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.

ABBREVIATED RESULTS (view full results)

Feature (30 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[5]; 2. 50Z-Zach Chappell[1]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[9]; 5. 2-Chase Porter[6]; 6. 1-Sean McClelland[7]; 7. 7M-Chance Morton[2]; 8. 85-Kyle Bellm[8]; 9. 5D-Zach Daum[11]; 10. 8-Alex Sewell[16]; 11. 10-Landon Britt[12]; 12. 71-Brady Baker[18]; 13. 88R-Ryder Laplante[20]; 14. 23H-Sam Henderson[23]; 15. 15D-Andrew Deal[21]; 16. 45X-Kyler Johnson[14]; 17. 938-Bradley Fezard[22]; 18. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 19. 23X-Matt Sherrell[17]; 20. 2B-Garrett Benson[15]; 21. 7F-Joshua Tyre[13]; 22. 88C-Brogan Carder[26]; 23. 16G-Austyn Gossel[10]; 24. 22C-Blake Edwards[27]; 25. 2J-Zach Blurton[19]; 26. 36-Jason Martin[25]; 27. 8M-Kade Morton[24]