LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Sam Hafertepe Jr., is officially entrenched as a part of Short Track Nationals lore.
Since making his first STN appearance in 2004, Hafertepe has flirted with event glory on a number of occasions with three preliminary feature wins and three previous runner-up finishes in the championship finale.
Hafertepe reached the top step of the STN podium by winning Saturday night’s 33rd annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires finale at I-30 Speedway.
After battling past Roger Crockett midway through the 30-lapper, Hafertepe held the point the rest of the way aboard the Hills Racing Townline Variety/Heidbreider No. 15h sprint car to take the $10,041 win ahead of Derek Hagar and Crockett as he became the 19th different STN champion.
“This is a race that I’ve been wanting to win for so long, it’s eluded us forever,” Hafertepe said. “It feels like we’ve always had the best car here and just never have been able to get it done.”
After getting collected a wild heat race crash on Friday night, Hafertepe and crew put together another car only to have the pole starter move the track and run over his front end approaching the green flag in Saturday night’s heat race action.
It lit a fire that wasn’t going to be extinguished on this night, as Hafertepe rallied from the tail of the heat race after that incident to win it and then secured a position in the Mike Pack Building Materials Pole Dash for Cash by climbing from fifth to third in his qualifier.
After winning that dash to earn the pole, it was fellow front row starter Roger Crockett battling into the lead at the outset and pacing the early going.
But as the leaders approached traffic 10 laps into the non-stop affair, Hafertepe closed the gap and began pressuring for the point. Hafertepe slipped underneath Crockett on the 15th lap and edged into the lead entering turn one.
Crockett stayed right on his tailtank and nearly slipped back underneath exiting turn two on the 21st circuit only to have Hafertepe fend off the challenge and then slip away in the final handful of circuits after putting a lapped car between himself and his chasers.
“I felt like Roger had the car to beat there early, but I knew if lapped traffic got in his way that we would be able to make a run,” Hafertepe explained. “Then I almost gave it away and I appreciate Roger for racing me clean.”
With Hafertepe racing to the checkered flag, Friday-night winner Derek Hagar made a late pass to capture runner-up honors with Crockett settling for the show position in his first STN championship feature start.
“We were good in three and four, but we were way too free in one and two,” Hagar commented afterward. “It’s tough to pace the race when you don’t know how many laps you’ve ran. We brought it home second. That’s nothing to hang our heads about, but we’re gonna get one of these things one day.”
Crockett explained that, “I felt like Sam and I were equal. I just didn’t get the job done in traffic, I lost second because I went for the win there. At least I can go home and sleep well knowing I gave it all I had to get a victory.”
Vying to become the first to claim three STN crowns in a row, Blake Hahn settled for fourth while Canada’s Dylan Westbrook cracked the top five for the first time in his third consecutive STN championship feature start.
Brandon Anderson ranked as the top STN rookie with a sixth-place finish with fellow event rookie and Washington-state teen Devon Borden in seventh.
A total of 79 competitors took in the 33rd Annual COMP Cams Short Track Nationals presented by Hoosier Tires with more than $70,000 in winnings distributed over the course of the two-day event.
The finish:
Feature (30 Laps – Starting position in parentheses): 1. 15h-Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (1) [$10,041], 2. 9jr-Derek Hagar (3) [$5,000], 3. 11-Roger Crockett (2) [$2,500], 4. 52-Blake Hahn (5) [$2,200], 5. 47x-Dylan Westbrook (6) [$2,000], 6. 55b-Brandon Anderson (4) [$1,700], 7. 8-Devon Borden 9) [$1,500], 8. J2-John Carney II (15) [$1,300], 9. 28-Scott Bogucki (13) [$1,200], 10. 67-Hayden Martin (12) [$1,100], 11. 3-Howard Moore (17) [$1,000], 12. 1x-Tim Crawley (14) [$950], 13. 26-Marshall Skinner (8) [$900], 14. G6-Cody Gardner (11) [$880], 15. 24g-Garet Williamson (18) [$850], 16. 77x-Alex Hill (19) [$800], 17. 45F-Monty Ferriera (10) [$800], 18. 23b-Seth Bergman (7) [$800], 19. M1-Mark Smith (20) [$800], 20. 9$-Kyle Clark (16) [$800].