Hafertepe Tops Lucas Oil ASCS vs. GLSS Opener At I-96 Speedway

Hafertepe Tops Lucas Oil ASCS vs. GLSS Opener At I-96 Speedway

Bryan Hulbert - LAKE ODESSA, Mich. (May 17, 2019) Laying down a dominating performance on night-one of the matchup between the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at the Great Lakes Super Sprints, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. won every time he rolled onto the I-96 Speedway on Friday night.
"All the criticism I've been hearing lately and all the bullshit, I was just tired of listening too it," stated Hafertepe entered the weekend ninth in tour standings. "Hats off to the race track these guys provided for us. Right around the lip like that, you can't get much more fun than that in a Sprint Car for 25-laps."

Locked into Saturday's A-Feature, Hafertepe can breathe easier knowing his day will be light. On what that means for Sam in terms of being able to watch and figure out what to do with the car, he explained, "We don't have to do a whole lot. That's a really good Racecar. We laid down a fast time in Hot Laps, good in our Heat Race and pretty dominant in our Qualifier. In the Feature, I just stayed up top. I had to pass some lapped cars sliding through the middle of one a two, but I don't know where else my car could have gone, but I just have to say hats off to my guys. It's been a struggle with all the rainouts; it gets you thinking about you're only as good as your last race, and our last race we didn't even make the show so to come out tonight and have my guys stick behind me through trying times, It really shows what this team is all about."

Challenged briefly by Ryan Ruhl on the first start, the driver of the No. 16 got another shot as the red lights came on for a multi-car crash through the fourth turn. Not able to get the jump on the Heidbreder No. 15h, Hafertepe was still able to hold point after a Lap 2 caution, eventually opening his lead by 5.608 seconds, despite being in traffic by Lap 9. Yellow on Lap 19 for Shawn Dancer whose left year shredded down the front straightaway, the race slowed one final time on Lap 21 for John Carney II who kept from going over after contact with Matt Covington.

With lapped cars in the mix for the final restart, Hafertepe was able to run away by 4.009 seconds at the checkered flag. With Phil Gressman breathing down his neck off the final turn, Ryan Ruhl was able to hold off the wily veteran with Matt Covington fourth. Coming from ninth, Blake Hahn rounded out the top five.

Involved in the opening lap red flag, Jared Horstman charged back through the field for a sixth-place finish. Harli White in seventh was trailed by Scott Bogucki with Dylan Westbrook advancing 12 spots for the night's Hard Charger honors. Dustin Daggett rounded out the top ten.

With a field of 41 drivers on hand, the night's run of events broke down into five Heat Races going to Ryan Ruhl, John Carney II, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Brett Mann, and Danny Sams III. Qualifier wins were earned by Ryan Ruhl, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., and Scott Bogucki. A pair of B-Features were topped by Jared Horstman and Jordon Mallett. The only provisional used was by Tucker Doughty.

The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at the Great Lakes Super Sprints will go at it again on Saturday, May 18, 2019, with the second round of competition at I-96 Speedway going green at 8:00 P.M. (ET).

Admission is $20. Kids 6-11 get in for $10 and children five an under get in free. I-96 Speedway is located at between Lansing and Grand Rapids at 3823 W. Portland Rd. in Lake Odessa, Mich. Details on the facility can be found online at www.i96speedway.com or by phone to (616) 642-0555.

Fans not able to attend can find the weekend broadcast live at www.racinboys.com.

For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the nine Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2019, log onto www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).

Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV
Great Lakes Super Sprints
I-96 Speedway (Lake Odessa, Mich.)
Friday, May 17, 2019
Car Count: 41

SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 30 in Passing Points advance to Qualifiers)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Ryan Ruhl, [1]; 2. 16C-Zane Devault, [2]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn, [8]; 4. 22M-Dan McCarron, [4]; 5. 27-Brad Lamberson, [9]; 6. 84-Kyle Poortenga, [6]; 7. 18S-Micheal Summers, [7]; 8. (DNF) 18-Josh Shantz, [3]; 9. (DNF) 40-Jeff Wilson, [5]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. J2-John Carney II, [2]; 2. 77X-Alex Hill, [3]; 3. 17W-Harli White, [5]; 4. 17-Jared Horstman, [8]; 5. 85-Dustin Daggett, [6]; 6. 28M-Conner Morrell, [1]; 7. 61-Steve Irwin, [4]; 8. (DNF) 3T-Tank Brakenberry, [7]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [1]; 2. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [3]; 3. 23-Devon Dobie, [4]; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [5]; 5. 22H-Randy Hannagan, [7]; 6. 77-Andrew Scheid, [2]; 7. 10S-Jay Steinbach, [8]; 8. 16W-Garrett Saunders, [6]

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Brett Mann, [2]; 2. 49-Shawn Dancer, [4]; 3. 5J-Jamie Ball, [7]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett, [6]; 5. 21P-Robbie Price, [3]; 6. 49T-Gregg Dalman, [5]; 7. 8-Justin Ward, [1]; 8. (DNF) 2T-Ralph Brakenberry, [8]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 24D-Danny Sams III, [1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington, [4]; 3. 7C-Phil Gressman, [5]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki, [7]; 5. 11R-Chase Ridenour, [8]; 6. 46-Ryan Coniam, [2]; 7. 11-Roger Crockett, [6]; 8. 27X-Jared Lamberson, [3]

Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)

Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16-Ryan Ruhl, [4]; 2. 17W-Harli White, [2]; 3. 16C-Zane Devault, [1]; 4. 22H-Randy Hannagan, [8]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn, [6]; 6. 17-Jared Horstman, [3]; 7. 21P-Robbie Price, [9]; 8. 10S-Jay Steinbach, [10]; 9. 19-Brett Mann, [5]; 10. (DNF) 11R-Chase Ridenour, [7]

Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [4]; 2. 7C-Phil Gressman, [2]; 3. 49-Shawn Dancer, [5]; 4. 77X-Alex Hill, [3]; 5. 22M-Dan McCarron, [8]; 6. 5J-Jamie Ball, [6]; 7. 77-Andrew Scheid, [10]; 8. 84-Kyle Poortenga, [9]; 9. (DNF) 23-Devon Dobie, [1]; 10. (DNF) 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [7]

Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Scott Bogucki, [2]; 2. 95-Matt Covington, [5]; 3. J2-John Carney II, [6]; 4. 85-Dustin Daggett, [8]; 5. 49T-Gregg Dalman, [9]; 6. 24D-Danny Sams III, [4]; 7. 14-Jordon Mallett, [1]; 8. 46-Ryan Coniam, [10]; 9. (DNF) 2X-Tucker Doughty, [3]; 10. (DNF) 27-Brad Lamberson, [7]

BMRS B-Features (Top 3 from each advance to the A-Feature)

B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 17-Jared Horstman, [1]; 2. 21P-Robbie Price, [3]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [7]; 4. 19-Brett Mann, [2]; 5. 18S-Micheal Summers, [9]; 6. 46-Ryan Coniam, [6]; 7. 28M-Conner Morrell, [8]; 8. 8-Justin Ward, [11]; 9. 40-Jeff Wilson, [13]; 10. 77-Andrew Scheid, [4]; 11. 18-Josh Shantz, [12]

B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 14-Jordon Mallett, [2]; 2. 49T-Gregg Dalman, [1]; 3. 11-Roger Crockett, [8]; 4. 84-Kyle Poortenga, [5]; 5. 27-Brad Lamberson, [7]; 6. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [3]; 7. 16W-Garrett Saunders, [11]; 8. 61-Steve Irwin, [9]; 9. 10S-Jay Steinbach, [4]; 10. 27X-Jared Lamberson, [12]; 11. (DNF) 11R-Chase Ridenour, [6]; 12. (DNF) 3T-Tank Brakenberry, [10]

A-Feature

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [2]; 2. 16-Ryan Ruhl, [1]; 3. 7C-Phil Gressman, [8]; 4. 95-Matt Covington, [3]; 5. 52-Blake Hahn, [9]; 6. 17-Jared Horstman, [17]; 7. 17W-Harli White, [7]; 8. 28-Scott Bogucki, [6]; 9. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [21]; 10. 85-Dustin Daggett, [12]; 11. J2-John Carney II, [4]; 12. 21P-Robbie Price, [19]; 13. 11-Roger Crockett, [22]; 14. 22M-Dan McCarron, [15]; 15. 49T-Gregg Dalman, [20]; 16. 24D-Danny Sams III, [16]; 17. 5J-Jamie Ball, [14]; 18. (DNF) 49-Shawn Dancer, [5]; 19. (DNF) 16C-Zane Devault, [11]; 20. (DNF) 14-Jordon Mallett, [18]; 21. (DNF) 2X-Tucker Doughty, [23]; 22. (DNF) 22H-Randy Hannagan, [10]; 23. (DNF) 77X-Alex Hill, [13]
Lap Leader(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-25
Hard Charger: Dylan Westbrook +12
High Point Driver: Ryan Ruhl
Provisional(s): Tucker Doughty (Points)

2019 National Tour Driver Standings (Top 15): 1. Scott Bogucki 539; 2. Roger Crockett 538; 3. Matt Covington 537; 4. Blake Hahn 524; 5. John Carney II 513; 6. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 504; 7. Jamie Ball 492; 8. Harli White 489; 9. Robbie Price 474; 10. Dylan Westbrook 429; 11. Alex Hill 424; 12. Jordon Mallett 396; 13. Tucker Doughty 395; 14. Thomas Kennedy 300; 15. Wayne Johnson 248;

2019 Race Winners: Thomas Kennedy 2 (4/25 - Eagle Raceway, 4/26 - U.S. 36 Raceway); Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1 (5/17 - I-96 Speedway);

Weather Related Cancelations: Devil's Bowl Speedway (3/15 and 3/16); Williams Grove Speedway (5/3); Selinsgrove Speedway (5/4); Lakeside Speedway (5/9); I-30 Speedway (5/11)