GREENWOOD, Neb. — Landing his fifth victory of the season with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, and first of the year with the Nebraska 360 Sprint Cars, Sam Hafertepe Jr. topped an intense battle with Roger Crockett for his second victory in the Casey’s General Store Midwest Fall Brawl and Bobby Parker Memorial at I-80 Speedway.
Taking off with the race lead through the first four laps, Hafertepe worked the cushion of the four-tenths mile oval while Roger Crockett rode the hub in the Tracker Native Tabaco No. 11. Advancing to the point on lap five, Crockett and Hafertepe traded the top spot several times before Roger started to pull away steadily.
Pulling to nearly 3.5 seconds on the field before heavy slower traffic came into play, the race stayed green until lap 21.
Restarting with a pair of slower cars between the top two drivers, the lapped traffic did little to stop Hafertepe as the Hills Racing Team No. 15h shot to the lead on lap 26.
Trading lines the following four laps, Crockett reclaimed the point on lap 30. Only holding through the next revolution, the pair’s run to the finish came after a lap-33 restart.
Trading lines again through the final two trips around I-80 Speedway, the last lap saw Crockett with a run to the back straightaway. Carrying that run to the hub as Hafertepe railed the cushion, the final dash to the finish put the two in a dead heat with Hafertepe getting the win by 0.093 seconds.
With the event paying lap money, along with other bonuses, Hafertepe’s win was worth $5,280. Crockett picked up an extra $1,810 for an overall score of $4,810.
Moving through the field from seventh, the final restart allowed Austin McCarl to advance to the final podium step.
Scott Bogucki and Matt Covington rounded out the top five.
The finish:
Feature (35 Laps): 1. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 2. 11-Roger Crockett[4]; 3. 99-Austin McCarl[7]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 5. 95-Matt Covington[14]; 6. 53-Jack Dover[3]; 7. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[2]; 8. 27-Carson McCarl[9]; 9. 81-Terry McCarl[8]; 10. 52-Blake Hahn[16]; 11. 35L-Cody Ledger[17]; 12. 24-Garet Williamson[6]; 13. 24D-Danny Sams III[21]; 14. 17W-Harli White[13]; 15. 40-Clint Garner[19]; 16. 14-Jordon Mallett[10]; 17. 19-Colby Thornhill[26]; 18. 9-Chase Randall[23]; 19. 13V-Seth Brahmer[18]; 20. 88-Travis Reber[24]; 21. 17B-Ryan Bickett[11]; 22. 28X-Rick Cerveny[25]; 23. 88K-Kyle Offill[12]; 24. 09-Matt Juhl[15]; 25. 82-Jason Martin[20]; 26. 8-Devon Borden[22]