Sam Hafertepe, Jr. Holds On for Lucas Oil ASCS Victory at St. Francois County Raceway
FARMINGTON, Mo. (August 20, 2016) The debut of the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at the St. Francois County Raceway came down to the final lap as Sam Hafertepe, Jr. narrowly held off local track champion, Joey Montgomery, at the line to win the Dean Adams Classic.
Leading from the drop of the green, the race’s third and final caution flew as the leaders took the white flag. Going back to the last fully completed lap, the final rounds were a dogfight as Hafertepe worked every inch of the quarter-mile oval to hold off Montgomery, who had marched to second from the 10th starting spot.
“I told everybody all night that No. 5 car was probably the best car here,” commented Sam who notched his seventh National Tour win of the season. “I knew he started back pretty far. We were so good for so long, I wasn’t sure where he was and I was getting through lapped traffic pretty good, but thank God the race wasn’t one more lap.”
Taking off from the outside of the front row, Hafertepe had to outrun Josh Baughman into the first two turns. Keeping the No. 17 at bay after several attempts at the lead through the opening laps, the Hwy. 79 Collision No. 15h found the back of the field on Lap 7.
Caution before being able to put many cars a lap down on Lap 9 for Derek Hagar, the restart was short lived as Brad Loyet and Jeff Masson rolled to a stop in turns one and two. Hager took advantage of the situation to return to the racing surface as he was still on the lead lap, but would still see his night end early.
Trying to keep pace with Hafertepe, the No. 17 of Josh Baughman had his hands full with Joey Montgomery. Working the Odessa, Texas racer to third after several laps, the leaders were again in slower traffic. Allowing the No. 5 to close the gap, the laps were clicking off faster than the gap could close, but the caution would set up for a fight to the finish.
Railing the top of the St. Francois Country Raceway, Montgomery set the No. 15h in the crosshairs, but the slide and block off the final turn was just enough to keep the driver from Fredericktown, Mo. out of Victory Lane.
With the very loud approval of the fans, Joey Montgomery’s runner-up finish marks the second time the Missouri driver has finished on the podium in Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour competition; matching his performance at West Plains Motor Speedway on July 27, 2002.
“It laid rubber down there, so I knew I had to do something else. It was working, but he did what he should have. He came up and that’s exactly what you need to do,” commented Montgomery when asked about the last lap attempt at the win.
With his race including a little bumper tag with Montgomery, the No. 17 of Josh Baughman placed third for his fifth podium of the season with the Lucas Oil ASCS.
“I hate giving up starting on the front row there, but overall we had a good night. We’ve been on the podium I think the last month and a half we been out here so we’ve got nothing to hang our head about. Just one of those deals where we could have made a couple changes, but congratulations to Sam. He’s no slouch. Does this for a living, and he’s taught me a lot.”
Coming from eighth, Oklahoma’s Wayne Johnson claimed the fourth spot ahead of Logan Forler, however, the No. 2L did not report the scales and was unfortunately disqualified, putting Kyle Bellm to fifth officially. Joe B. Miller from 11th crossed sixth with Johnny Herrera coming from 12th to finish seventh. Blake Hahn was eighth with Dustin Adams and Matt Covington making up the top-ten.
Bringing 28 drivers to the St. Francois County Raceway, four Heat Races went to Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Kyle Bellm, Dustin Adams, and Wayne Johnson. Suffering engine woes prior to Hot Laps, Seth Bergman found his way into the B-Main where the No. 23 would go on to win. One provisional was awarded based on Regional competition with Danny Thoman earning the spot.
The Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented the MAVTV Motorsports Network returns to competition on Sunday, August 21 at the Missouri State Fair Speedway for the $15,000 to win High Roller Classic. Racing at the “Historic Half Mile” gets underway at 7:00 P.M. (CDT).
For continued updates on the Lucas Oil ASCS presented by the MAVT Motorsports Network, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com.
Race Results:
ASCS National / ASCS Warrior
St Francois County Raceway – Farmington, Mo.
Inaugural Dean Adams Classic
Saturday, August 20, 2016
Car Count: 28
ButlerBuilt Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points advance to the A-Main)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 2. 2L-Logan Forler[5]; 3. 4-Evan Martin[2]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 5. 75E-Broc Elliott[6]; 6. 49B-Ben Brown[1]; 7. (DNF) 78-Tyler Settlemoir[3]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 14K-Kyle Bellm[2]; 2. 5-Joey Montgomery[1]; 3. 45X-Johnny Herrera[3]; 4. 9JR-Derek Hagar[5]; 5. 20G-Jake Greider[6]; 6. 27-Danny Thoman[4]; 7. 10-Dustin Homan[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 3-Dustin Adams[4]; 2. 17-Josh Baughman[3]; 3. 45-Tony Lawrence[2]; 4. 15-Jeff Masson[7]; 5. 55-Kevin Petty[6]; 6. 48-Miles Paulus[5]; 7. 87-Kyle Stearns[1]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson[3]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 3. 51B-Joe B. Miller[4]; 4. 23-Seth Bergman[1]; 5. 05-Brad Loyet[5]; 6. 22-Robbie Standridge[6]; 7. 33-Austin Alumbaugh[7]
BMRS B-Feature (Top 6 finishers transfer to the tail of the A)
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[3]; 2. 05-Brad Loyet[4]; 3. 20G-Jake Greider[1]; 4. 10-Dustin Homan[8]; 5. 55-Kevin Petty[2]; 6. 33-Austin Alumbaugh[9]; 7. 27-Danny Thoman[7]; 8. 22-Robbie Standridge[5]; 9. 48-Miles Paulus[6]; 10. (DNF) 49B-Ben Brown[10]; (DNS) 87-Kyle Stearns; (DNS) 78-Tyler Settlemoir
Protect the Harvest A-Feature
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[2]; 2. 5-Joey Montgomery[10]; 3. 17-Josh Baughman[1]; 4. 2C-Wayne Johnson[8]; 5. 14K-Kyle Bellm[6]; 6. 51B-Joe B. Miller[11]; 7. 45X-Johnny Herrera[12]; 8. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 9. 3-Dustin Adams[3]; 10. 95-Matt Covington[9]; 11. 23-Seth Bergman[17]; 12. 45-Tony Lawrence[14]; 13. 55-Kevin Petty[21]; 14. 20G-Jake Greider[19]; 15. 33-Austin Alumbaugh[22]; 16. 4-Evan Martin[13]; 17. (DNF) 10-Dustin Homan[20]; 18. (DNF) 9JR-Derek Hagar[15]; 19. (DNF) 27-Danny Thoman[23]; 20. (DNF) 15-Jeff Masson[4]; 21. (DNF) 05-Brad Loyet[18]; 22. (DNF) 75E-Broc Elliott[16]; (DQ) 2L-Logan Forler[5]
Lap Leader(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1-30
FSR High Point Driver: Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
Hard Charger: Joey Montgomery +8
Provisional(s): Danny Thoman (Regional Provisional)
2016 ASCS National Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 3,456; 2. Johnny Herrera 3,310; 3. Blake Hahn 3,062; 4. Wayne Johnson 3,015; 5. Seth Bergman 2,998; 6. Logan Forler 2,955; 7. Matt Covington 2,950; 8. Aaron Reutzel 2,850; 9. Kyle Bellm 2,091; 10. Josh Baughman 2,041
2016 ASCS National Winner(s): Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 7 (5/13 – Texas Motor Speedway; 6/12 – Rt. 66 Motor Speedway; 6/18 – Lucas Oil Speedway; 6/25 – Skagit Speedway; 7/1 – Grays Harbor Raceway; 7/2 – Grays Harbor Raceway; 8/20 – St. Francois County Raceway); Johnny Herrera 4 (3/17-Heart O’ Texas Speedway; 6/3-Hartford Speedway; 7/22 – Black Hills Speedway; 7/23 – Black Hills Speedway); Blake Hahn 3 (7/8 – Gallatin Speedway; 7/9 – Gallatin Speedway; 7/28 – Park Jefferson Speedway); Brad Loyet 2 (6/15 – Lawton Speedway; 6/17 – Mo. State Fair Speedway); Bryan Clauson 2 (6/16 – Creek County Speedway; 7/31 – Badlands Motor Speedway); Aaron Reutzel 1 (5/14 – Texas Motor Speedway); Wayne Johnson 1 (3/19 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway); Brandon Hanks 1 (3/25-Cotton Bowl Speedway); Josh Baughman 1 (3/26 – Bronco Raceway Park); Brian Brown 1(5/5 – Lakeside Speedway); Marc Duperron 1 (6/24 – Skagit Speedway); Jamie Ball 1 (8/4 – Knoxville Raceway); Jamie Veal 1 (8/5 – Knoxville Raceway); Sammy Swindell 1 (8/6 – Knoxville Raceway)
ASCS National Drivers Online:
Josh Baughman: http://www.joshbaughman.com
Kyle Bellm: http://www.kylebellm.com
Seth Bergman: http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Matt Covington: http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Sam Hafertepe, Jr.: http://www.sam15.com
Blake Hahn: http://www.blakehahnracing.com
Johnny Herrera: http://www.johnnyherreraracing.com
Wayne Johnson: https://www.facebook.com/WayneJohnsonRacing?fref=ts
Logan Forler: https://twitter.com/ForlerRacing
Brad Loyet: http://www.loyetmotorsports.com
Aaron Reutzel: http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com
Steven Russell: https://www.facebook.com/steven.russell.71066?fref=ts
ASCS Online:
American Sprint Car Series: http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs (@lucasoilascs)
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Live Scoring (Where Applicable): http://www.ascsracing.com/live and the Race Monitor App
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV Motorsports Network is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto www.mavtv.com for information regarding availability and listings in your area.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network include: Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix. All Heat Races are brought to you by ButlerBuilt Professional Seating Systems. All B-Features are presented by BMRS.
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, Geico, E3 Spark Plugs, LucasOilRacing.tv, Carlyle Tools, and General Tire.
Communications for the American Sprint Car Series is provided by Racing Electronics. All events are broadcast online at http://www.racinboys.com.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by: K&N Filters, KSE Racing Products, Fuel Safe, DMI Rear Ends, BMRS, SpeedMart, Competition Suspension, Engler Machine and Tool, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, Driverwebsites.com, Weld Wheels, Maxwell Industries, Simpson, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Rod End Supply, Smiley’s Racing Products, Speedway Motors, and Hilborn Injection.
Sources: Bryan Hulbert/American Sprint Car Series PR
ASCS/Terry Ford Photo