Herrera Holds Off Hafertepe At The Line At Hartford Speedway

HARTFORD, Mich. (June 3, 2016) The debut event for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network and Great Lakes Super Sprints at the Hartford Speedway set the bar high as Johnny Herrera held off the hard charging No. 15h of Sam Hafertepe, Jr. by a matter of feet at the line for his second ASCS National score of the 2016 season.

"I was no good on the restarts. It would take me a couple laps to get going and Sam was better. Even the initial start, he could get going better than I could and I knew that going into that last yellow and I just thought man, I'm going to be in trouble," commented Herrera. "I was balled up on the right rear just sliding across the racetrack and I think Sam was maybe a little better so I actually ran into three really hard on the last lap because he was going to come hard and I missed the bottom and luckily I did that because he was coming."

Third times a charm on the A-Feature start, Herrera was able to out gun the No. 15h to the bottom for the race lead. With the low line of the Hartford Speedway the preferred line, cautions were prime time for Hafertepe to get the run on the MVT No. 45x. Despite the tremendous runs however, Herrera was able to keep the door shut on the Hwy. 79 Collision No. 15h.

Slipping slightly off the bottom of the second turn at the race's halfway point, the pair met Left Rear to Right Front for a moment as both driver's skipped off a hole through the second turn.

With the race's final caution coming working Lap 23, the field returned to the last fully completed lap with Hafertepe all but pushing Herrera around the track.

To the final lap, it was game on for the lead as Sam took a full head of steam into the final two turns. Sticking center line though turn three, the No. 15h crept slowly up the racing surface with the race win in sight but off the fourth turn, the view of victory was blocked as Herrera, in a turn of event, was missed the bottom groove, causing the No. 45x to all but back the car up the track. Tapping the brakes, Hafertepe turned down the track, using the banking to launch down the straightaway, but Herrera would recover for the win.

"Johnny was blocking for everything he had. I'd probably do the same thing in that same position if I was a little slower than the guy behind me but he did what he had to do to get the win," said Hafertepe. Asked if he drew from his experience at Lone Star Speedway to run Hartford, Sam replied, "For the most part, kind of. One and two was coming apart so there was only one line we could run down there and it made it tough to try anything. I tried some stuff early, but really, I think if the first start would have gone, we would have been out front."

Hafertepe's runner up finish is his fifth podium finish of the season in Lucas Oil ASCS competition. Utilizing restarts to claim third was sixth starting Wayne Johnson who exchanged Eagle Chassis prior to making the Indiana/Michigan trip.

On the subject of the change and his run, Wayne said, "This car is rolling better. We actually switched cars before this past week and that's the second night on this car, and it's been in the top-three both times, so we have something to build on. Normally, we're too tight in the other car, and we worked on it, and worked on it, and couldn't ever get it free enough, and right there, we were too free so it makes me feel good we can get one to free so we'll go back the other way now and see what we have."

Logan Forler from eighth was fourth with Brad Loyet having to come from the tail as the Buddy Loyet Motorsports No. 05 tangled with Blake Hahn at the start of the A-Feature to round out the top-five.

Ninth starting Dustin Daggett was the highest finishing driver with the Great Lakes Super Sprints in sixth with Josh Baughman, also having to come from the back after spinning on the initial start, crossing seventh. Matt Covington crossed eighth with Seth Bergman ninth after also having to come from the back due to a visit to the work area. Jeremy Campbell completed the night's top-ten.

With 26 drivers making the call, three ButlerBuilt Heat Races went to Blake Hahn, Josh Baughman, and Johnny Herrera. The night's BMRS B-Feature was topped by Andy Teunessen. No Provisionals were taking into the A-Feature. The night's FSR Radiator High Point Driver was Blake Hahn.

With Brownstown Speedway called off due to rain, the next event for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network will be Saturday, June 11 at the Rt. 66 Motor Speedway in Amarillo, Texas.

For continued updates on the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com. For text updates on race status for the ASCS Nation, text ASCSNAT to 84483.

Race Results:

ASCS National & GLSS
Hartford Speedway - Hartford, Mich.
Friday, June 3, 2016

Car Count: 26

ButlerBuilt Heat Races (8 Laps, top 16 in Passing Points to the A-Feature.)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 2. 2C-Wayne Johnson[3]; 3. 2-Kyle Sauder[5]; 4. 05-Brad Loyet[7]; 5. 23-Seth Bergman[8]; 6. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[9]; 7. 91L-Alexis Adgate[6]; 8. (DNF) 19J-Linden Jones[2]; 9. (DNF) 23G-Joe Geibe[1]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 17-Josh Baughman[3]; 2. 2L-Logan Forler[2]; 3. 22H-Randy Hannagan[4]; 4. 14K-Kyle Bellm[1]; 5. 16-Ryan Ruhl[5]; 6. 49T-Gregg Dalman[7]; 7. 11-Trey Smith[6]; 8. 19-Brett Mann[9]; 9. 3-Kyle Locke[8]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[4]; 2. 2M-Dustin Daggett[1]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[8]; 4. 95-Matt Covington[5]; 5. 87-Aaron Reutzel[7]; 6. 31-Andy Teunessen[2]; 7. 11R-Chase Ridenour[6]; 8. (DNF) 16B-Jerrod Wilson[3]

BMRS B-Feature (12 laps, taking top 6.)

B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 31-Andy Teunessen[2]; 2. 49T-Gregg Dalman[1]; 3. 11R-Chase Ridenour[4]; 4. 19-Brett Mann[5]; 5. 16B-Jerrod Wilson[6]; 6. 11-Trey Smith[3]; 7. 3-Kyle Locke[7]; 8. (DNF) 19J-Linden Jones[8]; (DNS) 91L-Alexis Adgate; (DNS) 23G-Joe Geibe

Protect the Harvest A-Feature (25 Laps)

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 45X-Johnny Herrera[2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[4]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson[6]; 4. 2L-Logan Forler[8]; 5. 05-Brad Loyet[5]; 6. 2M-Dustin Daggett[9]; 7. 17-Josh Baughman[1]; 8. 95-Matt Covington[12]; 9. 23-Seth Bergman[11]; 10. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[14]; 11. 49T-Gregg Dalman[18]; 12. 14K-Kyle Bellm[13]; 13. 11R-Chase Ridenour[19]; 14. 31-Andy Teunessen[17]; 15. 22H-Randy Hannagan[10]; 16. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 17. 16B-Jerrod Wilson[21]; 18. 87-Aaron Reutzel[16]; 19. 19-Brett Mann[20]; 20. 2-Kyle Sauder[7]; 21. 16-Ryan Ruhl[15]; 22. 11-Trey Smith[22]

Lap Leader(s): Johnny Herrera 1-25
FSR High Point Driver: Blake Hahn
KSE Hard Charger: Gregg Dalman +7
Provisional(s): N/A

2016 ASCS National Driver Standings (Top 10): 1. Johnny Herrera 1,059; 2. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1,017; 3. Matt Covington 980; 4. Logan Forler 958; 5. Wayne Johnson 937; 6. Blake Hahn 926; 7. Aaron Reutzel 915; 8. Seth Bergman 893; 9. Brad Loyet 869; 10. Josh Baughman 859;

2016 ASCS National Winner(s): Johnny Herrera 2 (3/17-Heart O' Texas Speedway; 6/3-Hartford Speedway); Wayne Johnson 1 (3/19-Devil's Bowl Speedway); Brandon Hanks 1 (3/25-Cotton Bowl Speedway); Josh Baughman 1 (3/26 - Bronco Raceway Park); Brian Brown 1(5/5-Lakeside Speedway); Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1 (5/13 - Texas Motor Speedway);

ASCS National Drivers Online:

Josh Baughman: http://www.joshbaughman.com
Kyle Bellm: http://www.kylebellm.com
Seth Bergman: http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Matt Covington: http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Sam Hafertepe, Jr.: http://www.sam15.com
Blake Hahn: http://www.blakehahnracing.com
Johnny Herrera: http://www.johnnyherreraracing.com
Wayne Johnson: https://www.facebook.com/WayneJohnsonRacing?fref=ts
Logan Forler: https://twitter.com/ForlerRacing
Brad Loyet: http://www.loyetmotorsports.com
Aaron Reutzel: http://www.aaronreutzelracing.com
Steven Russell: https://www.facebook.com/steven.russell.71066?fref=ts