LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A long Winter paid off more than many can imagine on Friday night in as a wild series of passes over the course of the closing lap at I-30 Speedway saw Oklahoma’s Harli White pick up her first ASCS victory in a multi-regional showdown among the ASCS Lone Star, Mid-South and Sooner Regions.
Going green from the fourth starting spot, in a car prepared by Johnny Herrera, the No. 17w rode in the show position for several laps before taking advantage of an early restart to grab second. Building momentum, the No. 17w raced past Joseph Miller on lap nine to take over the top spot.
Brought to a stop for the flipped No. 26m of Fred Mattox a couple of laps after taking the lead, White wasted little time in building a comfortable buffer over the field, but as the No. 17w worked the backmarkers with less than five laps to go, a pair of ASCS veterans were stalking with Sam Hafertepe Jr., from 13th, and seventh-starting Wayne Johnson working to White’s back bumper.
Down to the final two circuits, Hafertepe rode the cushion with Johnson patiently around the hub of the Arkansas quarter-mile. With momentum on the top shelf, Hafertepe rolled off the fourth turn with a clear path to the lead as the white flag waved. Taking the No. 15h back to the top of turns one and two, however, Hafertepe biked to the right-side tires, allowing White to retake the lead.
Hafertepe railed the cushion of turns three and four, but the run was not enough as White let her Life of Hope Ministries No. 17w drift to the wall off the fourth turn to block the high side charge.
While not able to clear for the lead, Hafertepe as able to retake the runner-up spot on the final lap with Wayne Johnson holding onto third. Gaining 11 spots, Howard Moore finished fourth with Dakota Gains in fifth.
The finish:
Feature (25 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White, [4]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr., [13]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson, [7]; 4. 40-Howard Moore, [15]; 5. D6-Dakota Gaines, [2]; 6. X-Charlie Louden, [12]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman, [9]; 8. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, [3]; 9. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth, [6]; 10. 14-Jordon Mallett, [16]; 11. 1X-Tim Crawley, [8]; 12. 8Z-Zach Pringle, [5]; 13. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [17]; 14. 23X-Grady Chandler, [19]; 15. 2-Joseph Miller, [1]; 16. 99-Blake Jenkins, [14]; 17. 26M-Fred Mattox, [20]; 18. 12X-Tony Bruce Jr., [10]; 19. 38-Rick Pringle, [11]; 20. 22-Sean McClelland, [18]