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Hafertepe Jr. Looks Towards Month of Money

Sam Hafertepe Jr. and The Plumbfast Racing Team are looking to build on what has already been a successful 2011 season as they look towards the upcoming "Month of Money". Hafertepe has spent much of the past 2 months racing in the Pennsylvania and Ohio area but is planning on heading to Knoxville Raceway this weekend in preparation for both the 360 and Knoxville Nationals which will take place at the same race track in August. In addition to racing at Knoxville Sam will also be headed to Huset's on Sunday night as he tries to take home the $5000 first place prize.

"The 2011 season has gone really well so far," stated Sam. "We've been racing a lot in The Factory Pancho's #93 in Pennsylvania but their schedule sort of calms down for a bit so we are using the opportunity to try and build towards The Nationals."

The Factory Pancho's schedule saw Sam race in both The Keystone Cup and Pennsylvania Speedweek. Hafertepe found plenty of success at The Keystone Cup but struggled early in The Speedweek before finding success late.

"It seemed like during The Keystone Cup we could do nothing wrong," reflected Hafertepe. "We had 3 top 10's in 4 races and were able to earn 4th in points. I was really pleased about that and I think it spoke volumes about the team that Pancho has put together. Unfortunately it took us a little bit to get going during Speedweek and we weren't able to turn in the same results until later but by then it was already too late to have a good run in the standings."

Hafertepe struggled on big tracks early on in Speedweek but was fast around the smaller ones initially.

"We were okay at Lincoln," said Sam. "The car was off and we got collected in a wreck. Fortunately we had some open reds later on and we were able to get the car better and earn a top 10 finish."

The biggest heartbreak for the team took place at Grandview following a disappointing run at Hagerstown. Hafertepe had been fast all night and was leading the feature early when contact with a lapped car eliminated both himself and 2nd place running Brian Leppo.

"That was just a bad deal all the way around," said Sam. "Our car was a rocket and they had some guys in the field who really should have pulled off once the green came out that decided to stay out. I came up to the first one and he had gone high in turns 3 and 4 the lap before and looked like he was going high again so I went low. At the last second he changed his line and there was nothing I could do to avoid the contact. Leppo had nowhere to go as well and piled into the mess. It was a real shame because that guy took out two very good cars to make $350."

The Factory Pancho's Team set out to fixing the car and two nights later were rewarded with their first solid run on a big track as they earned a 7th at Williams Grove. Hafertepe started from the pole but the car was just a tick off all feature long as he battled hard to keep the car up front.

"We threw something at the car for the feature that we thought might work but we weren't totally sure," explained Sam. "Fortunately we almost got the car where we needed it. I was able to make the top work in turns 1 and 2 but we just didn't quite have enough in turns 3 and 4. I had some pretty intense battles with Tyler Walker and Fred Rahmer though and I drove the car about as hard as I could so despite going from the pole to 7th it was actually a very satisfying race in terms of car setup and my driving."

The following evening at Port Royal the team built on what they had learned and were even better.

"We went a little father with the changes we'd made at The Grove and the car was great," stated Sam. "We were having a really good feature race, I was learning more and more every lap about the track and we were catching Mark Smith for 6th when I could feel a vibration coming off the left rear and I knew we were in trouble."

Finally with 6 laps remaining Sam's luck ran out and the left rear tire exploded sending Sam spinning in turn 4.

"The motor was running 260 while we were out there and it spiked at over 300," explained Sam. "I asked Pancho if he wanted me to go back on the track and we decided that since the motor had 14 nights on it and it was our only one that we were done for the night."

The motor trouble also meant a premature end to the Speedweek for the team as they were forced to miss the finale at Selinsgrove.

"It's really unfortunate," said Sam. "I know it means a lot to Pancho to run the whole deal but we just had to be smart about it. We have 14 nights on the motor, it's our only one, it doesn't have the same steam as it had earlier and it's overheating. So we're going to send it to Ott and now we'll have it fresh and ready to go for The Outlaw shows in a few weeks at The Grove."

Hafertepe will now turn his focus to his family owned #15H Lone Star Speedway Maxim-Fisher.

"It feels like forever since I've driven our own car," said Sam. "We've got it ready to go though and we feel like this is a perfect week to head to Knoxville and get dialed in for The Nationals. Normally we get there with The Outlaws but since we've done our own schedule this year we weren't there when they went there and this was the date that made the most sense for us. It's a twin feature night so we get two cracks at the track and with Husets putting up $5000 on Sunday it just makes sense for our team to head out there this weekend."

The team also knows they are rapidly approaching other big races as well.

"Right now it seems like those big races are so far away but they are really just around the corner," said Sam. "When we head back from Knoxville we'll be headed to Lima for The Brad Doty Classic which isn't a big paying race or anything but it carries a lot of prestige and then from there we head into The Kings Royal which is a race I've had circled on my calendar for the last 3 years. I feel like we are really ready as a team to win that race. If you look back at the last 2 years we've been right there in contention and we learned some things in the spring Outlaw show there that we think are going to pay big dividends in that race. People may not think of us as a favorite to win that race but I'll tell you right now we're going there to win it and anything less will be a disapointment to us."

Sam would like to thank the following supporters: Plumbfast Mechanical, Lone Star Speedway, Keizer Aluminum Wheels, Pancho's Racing Products, Kear's Speed Shop, PPM Titanium Products, GPC Race Products, Butlerbuilt, Infinity Shocks, DMI, Finish Line Machining, Torco Racing Oils, Smiley's Racing Products, Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Vortex Wings, AFCO Racing Shocks, Simpson Racing Products, Quick Sand Express Inc.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE ADDED TO SAM'S PRESS RELEASE LIST PLEASE SEND A MESSAGE TO: sam15press@gmail.com

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