Hafertepe dominates Lucas Oil ASCS at Lakeside

September 8, 2022 | by Bryan Hulbert

Thursday night at Lakeside Speedway was all about Sam Hafertepe Jr., as the driver of the Hills Racing/Heidbreder Foundation No. 15 dominated the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.

Leading flag to flag for his third National Tour score of the season, and 61st since 2010, the win makes Hafertepe the first repeat winner with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series in eight tour appearances at the Kansas oval.

“It’s fun to get on big tracks like this where we can get on the wall, and race like that,” said Hafertepe, who is third all-time in wins with the National Tour.

“We’re still working on the car. We were trying a left rear shock package tonight that is different from what we normally run, but luckily, we were able to work out front and get the win, but we still have some work to do when we’re not in clean air. We always want to be better, and without Miles (Hill) and everyone who helps us, we couldn’t do this.”

Battling through the opening lap with Matt Covington, the No. 15h found his stride quickly to begin pulling away. Into traffic in the first seven laps, Sam was quick to move on the slower machines as the battle for second began to pick up between Matt Covington and Dylan Westbrook.

Able to work back to silver on the No. 47x, the race for second turned into a three-car battle with the No. 24 of Garet Williamson into the mix. Cat and Mouse through traffic until lap 20 when red lights came on as Westbrook slipped through the cushion in the first turn and flipped violently into the fence. Westbrook was able to walk away as the track went under an open red to repair the fence.

Restarting at the last fully completed lap, the green flew with 19 in the books.

Using slower cars in the lineup to his advantage, Hafertepe was quick to run away as the race for second picked up where it left off, but with a new contender as Jason Martin pursued the position.

Unstoppable to a 7.513-second advantage for Hafertepe at the finish, it was Williamson who came out on top of the race for second. Making the pass on Covington on lap 23, the No. 24 was followed by Martin for his 13th career podium finish. Covington ended up fourth with Wayne Johnson battling his way to fifth after starting 11th.

Riley Goodno crossed sixth, with Blake Hahn moving from 12th to seventh. Jake Bubak advanced to eighth after suffering a flat in his heat race that relegated him to 19th on the grid, with Chris Martin ninth from 13th. Making a run after the restart, Ryan Bickett improved to 10th from 16th.

The 23-car field broke into a trio of SCE Gaskets Heat Races. Wins went to Hafertepe, Martin and Westbrook. The Driver’s Project Overall Quick Qualifier was Bubak, who set a new ASCS track record at 14.560 seconds. The previous record was established Aug. 2 by Blake Hahn at 15.023 seconds.

OFFICIAL RESULTS