Sam Hafertepe Jr. has worn multiple hats for most of his sprint car career. For a number of years he was an owner and driver. The Texan also wore the hats of driver and crew chief, during various stages of his career. Hafertepe continues to wear the driver hat and added the role of mentor for the 2018 season, as he works with young Canadian driver, Alex Hill.
Hafertepe, who has been racing sprint cars since 2003, is a veteran of the sport at age 32, while Hill is an 18-year-old, who raced a sprint car for the first time in 2015, after graduating from go-karts and Micro Sprints. The young driver has spent this season on the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Tour, where Hafertepe is the two-time and defending series champion.
“We started out the year with goals in place for Alex and we’ve slowly conquered those goals throughout the year,” Hafertepe said. “We have progressed through the season. The biggest things to remember is that Alex is still young. I have to tell myself that all the time. When I coming up through the sport as a young kid, it was tough. I try to not put too much pressure on her. She’s done a really good job and I look forward to seeing the gains she makes in years to come.”
Hafertepe currently leads the Lucas Oil ASCS standings by 116 markers over Seth Bergman, as he chases his third straight series title. The driver of the No. 15H leads the series in wins with six, as well as topping the charts in top-five and top-10 finishes. Only three drivers in series history have won three straight titles: Hall of Famer Gary Wright, the late Jason Johnson and Terry Gray.
“Last weekend, definitely helped us points-wise,” he shared. “We have four more point nights left, so we have to have four more solid nights and be in the top-10 and just do our job. If we do our job the next four races, we should have it handled, but you never, racing is a funny sport and sometimes you have bad luck. If we can stay away from any bad luck, I think we’ll be okay.”
Recently, Hafertepe was victorious in the Jesse Hockett/Daniel McMillan Memorial at Lucas Oil Speedway in Missouri for the second straight year. The event, which was sanctioned by the ASCS drew a stout field of 55 cars, with two qualifying nights in effect. Event points were earned each time a driver hit the track. Hafertepe started on the outside of the front row for the 30-lap finale and took the lead on the start and went on to pace all 30 circuits. The 32-year-old now has a total of 12 wins in 2018, which marks his third straight season having double-digit victories.
“For us this year, that win meant a lot in several different scenarios,” Hafertepe noted. “We hadn’t won a big race all year and that got the monkey off our back. We thought we had been in place to win a few big ones this year and never got it done. There is a lot of prestige in that event as well, with Jesse Hockett and Daniel McMillan’s names behind it. The event has grown so much over the last five years, so to be able to win a race like that is pretty special.”
The late-season is filled with several high-paying, prestigious events. Prior to the Hockett/McMillan Memorial, Hafertepe was north of the border at Ohsweken Speedway for the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals, where he ended up ended up fourth against another stacked field. Still on the docket this fall are the Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, AR and the Winter Nationals at the famed Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Texas, which is close to home for Hafertepe.
“We have a lot of confidence in our race team and in what we can do and that helps in bigger events,” he said. “You always have good competition at the big events and the fan support is always great as well, which makes those events that much more special. I don’t get any more nervous for bigger events, I just get more excited.”
The aforementioned Short Track Nationals is one event that Hafertepe has never won. He was victorious on a preliminary night at the historic event last year. The Short Track Nationals traditionally draws a huge field of drivers from across the country to the quarter-mile bullring that is I-30 Speedway.
“We’ve been really fast there,” he stated. “Some years, Sammy (Swindell) has been pretty much unbeatable there, like last year. It’s a really tough event, because of how many cars there are from different areas of the country and people you don’t normally race against. You just really have to be on your game. This year will be a little different of a format, so we are looking forward to that. I feel like coming off a big win at Wheatland (Lucas Oil Speedway) is almost perfect timing heading to Little Rock (Arkansas) and going for another $10,000-to-win.”
After driving a family-owned and then self-owned car for most of his career, Hafertepe has had the opportunity to driver for car owners the last few seasons. This year, he is part of the Hill Racing Team, based out of Canada. Along with driving duties, Hafertepe also serves as Team Manager, handling most of the logistics for the team.
“The last two teams I have driven for, they have given me the reigns to run the operation,” explained Hafertepe. “Being that I have been in this so long, that’s the only way I would want to do it. Having people that really trust me, I am fortunate to have that. Miles and Pam (Hill) trust me and give me the leeway to make decisions that I believe will help the race team. As long as we do our job, nothing comes into question. If we keep doing our jobs, everything takes care of itself.”