Hafertepe Jr. Drops by Eagle Valley for First IRA Score
Earlier in the week, Sam Hafertepe Jr. pulled off the World of Outlaws trail to do some racing around the Midwest and after spending Friday in Attica, Ohio, and Saturday watching rain showers in Terre Haute, Indiana, the Sunnyvale, Texas, driver decided to drop in on the IRA Sprint show at Eagle Valley Speedway in Jim Falls, Wisconsin, on Sunday night. It was a decision he would not regret.
The Sprint feature was delayed nearly two hours by a brief but hard rain shower and once it began, the 30-lap feature got off to an ugly start when Matt Vandervere tangled with Steve Meyer and turn one and executed a wild series of flips. Vandervere climbed out under his own power but was later taken to a local hospital for observation. Second-starting Travis Whitney led the early going as Hafertepe quickly charged to second from fourth while Bill Balog moved from sixth to third. The lead trio raced in that formation until lap 12 when Hafertepe slipped by Whitney for the lead in lapped traffic. On the next lap, Phillip Mock looped his 1M in turn four directly in front of the leaders, who all managed to squeeze by him.
On the restart, Hafertepe pulled away from Whitney and Balog and remained untouchable following a late yellow flag for a stalled Wayne Modjeski. The win was the first IRA series win for Hafertepe while Whitney bested Balog, Scott Neitzel and 11th-starting Jerry Richert Jr. on a very fast racetrack.
Earlier in the evening, Hafertepe lowered the track record to 12.351 seconds, nearly a half second better than Whitney’s previous mark of 12.814 set in July of 2008. It was fourth consecutive night that the IRA has set a new track record. The trio of heat races were scored by Balog, Scott Uttech and Joe Symoens.
Bumper to Bumper IRA Sprints
Eagle Valley Speedway, Jim Falls, Wisconsin
Osborne and Sons Trucking Qualifications (22 Cars)
1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, Texas) 12.351
2. Brad Barickman (Richfield, Minnesota) 12.470
3. Travis Whitney (Coons Rapids, Minnesota) 12.603
4. Kris Spitz (Salem, Wisconsin) 12.678
5. Scott Neitzel (Beaver Dam, Wisconsin) 12.726
6. Scott Biertzer (West Bend, Wisconsin) 12.882
7. Wayne Modjeski (Oak Creek, Wisconsin) 12.923
8. Phillip Mock (Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin) 12.939
9. Jerry Richert Jr. (Forest Lake, Minnesota) 12.957
10. John Haeni (Brownsville, Wisconsin) 12.967
11. Scott Uttech (New Berlin, Wisconsin) 13.042
12. Steve Meyer (Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin) 13.042
13. Bill Balog (Eau Claire, Wisconsin) 13.097
14. Andy Hunt (Randolph, Wisconsin) 13.191
15. Joe Symoens (Franksville, Wisconsin) 13.362
16. Donny Goeden (Kewaskum, Wisconsin) 13.343
17. Russel Borland (Kewaskum, Wisconsin) 13.541
18. Matt Vandervere (Beach Park, Illinois) 13.648
19. Bill Wirth (Cudahey, Wisconsin) 13.758
20. Lance Fassbender (Burnett, Wisconsin) 13.853
21. Dave Uttech (Kenosha, Wisconsin) 14.094
22. Todd King (Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin) NT
Lane Automotive Heat 1
1. Bill Balog, 2. John Haeni, 3. Kris Spitz, 4. Wayne Modjeski, 5. Sam Hafertepe Jr., 6. Bill Wirth, 7. Donny Goeden (DNF)/ DNS: Todd King
VMAC Racing Heat 2
1. Scott Uttech, 2. Scott Neitzel, 3. Russel Borland, 4. Brad Barickman, 5. Andy Hunt, 6. Phillip Mock, 7. Lance Fassbender
Wesmar Racing Engines/DMI Heat 3
1. Joe Symoens, 2. Scott Biertzer, 3. Jerry Richert Jr., 4. Travis Whitney, 5. Matt Vandervere, 6. Dave Uttech, 7. Steve Meyer (DNF)
30-Lap Feature Finish (Starting Position in Parenthesis)
1. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (4), 2. Travis Whitney, (2), 3. Bill Balog (6), 4. Scott Neitzel (10), 5. Jerry Richert Jr. (11), 6. Scott Biertzer (9), 7. John Haeni (12), 8. Joe Symoens (5), 9. Kris Spitz (1), 10. Scott Uttech (7), 11. Phillip Mock (16), 12. Wayne Modjeski (8), 13. Andy Hunt (13), 14. Dave Uttech (20), 15. Russel Borland (14) (DNF), 16. Brad Barickman (3)(DNF) , 17. Bill Wirth (18) (DNF), 18. Lance Fassbender (19) (DNF) 19. Matt Vandervere (15) (DNF) , 20. Steve Meyer (17) (DNF) DNS: Donny Goeden, Todd King
