KNOXVILLE, Iowa — Sam Hafertepe Jr. led flag to flag to win night two of the Xtream Powered by Mediacom 360 Knoxville Nationals Presented by Great Southern Bank on Friday at the Knoxville Raceway.
The Sunnyvale, Texas, native earned $3,000 for his third career prelim win at the 360 Nationals and his fourth overall at Knoxville.
Emerson Axsom and Tyler Courtney will make up row one for Saturday’s $20,000 to win finale based on their point totals.
Hafertepe started on the pole beside Brian Brown in the 20-lap main event and got the early jump ahead of Brown, Cory Eliason, Jake Bubak and Skylar Prochaska.
Tasker Phillips entered the top five on lap two, but Kasey Kahne shot by him on the low side on lap four. Joe Beaver stopped five laps in. Liam Martin was also involved and went pitside. Beaver restarted at the tail.
Hafertepe led Brown, Eliason, Bubak and Kahne back to green. Kahne grabbed fourth, as Hafertepe continued his run up front. Parker Price-Miller came to a stop inside turn four at the halfway point, setting up another restart.
Brown applied pressure on Hafertepe, who came off the bottom to slide into Brown’s line. As the two battled, Eliason closed the gap, and on lap 13, shot by for second. At that point, 12th-running Hank Davis flipped on lap 14, setting a six-lap dash to the checkers.
Hafertepe led from there, with Brown and Eliason exchanging second. Eliason would gain second for good with five to go, and Brown finished third.
Groenendyk set quick time over the 53-car field and won his heat.
“Brown’s really smart,” said Hafertepe. “He runs this place all the time and has a lot of laps around here. If I saw a nose, we’d move and play a little defense. You watch these guys all year and the way they run this place. You try to mimic some of the block moves. I felt we were good in some instances, and in some we weren’t. I could put together maybe three laps, and felt like we were really good, and then not so good. The restarts were a challenge. We got a little tight. This is just a testament to our team.”
“I didn’t need that red,” said Eliason. “I felt the longer the runs we had the better we were. Right before that red, I think I got by Brown and was able to get my nose under Sam a couple times. I got him uncomfortable and searching which is what I needed. Clean air is key here especially with the 360. Hat’s off to my guys.”
“It was a decent night for us,” said Brown. “I felt like at points I was a little better than Sam, but he did a good job of moving around and making his car like he should. He’s a professional racecar driver. I felt like I may have given up second trying to win the race, but that’s what we’re here for. I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can go tomorrow.”
The finish:
Feature (20 Laps): 1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (1); 2. Cory Eliason (4); 3. Brian Brown (2); 4. Jake Bubak (3); 5. Kasey Kahne (9); 6. Tyler Courtney (7); 7. Ryan Giles (11); 8. Kerry Madsen (21); 9. Tasker Phillips (6); 10. Alex Hill (12); 11. Carson McCarl (17); 12. Skylar Prochaska (5); 13. Sawyer Phillips (10); 14. Tim Shaffer (23); 15. Zeb Wise (24); 16. Tyler Groenendyk (8); 17. Tanner Thorson (19); 18. Daryn Pittman (13); 19. Colton Hardy (18); 20. Joe Beaver (20); 21. Miles Paulus (15); 22. Hank Davis (22); 23. Parker Price-Miller (14); 24. Liam Martin (16).