Five-time ASCS National Tour champion Sam Hafertepe Jr. from Sunnyvale, Texas, drove under Canadian Thomas Kennedy on lap seven and then pulled away to take the win in the twenty-lap main event on the opening night of the 32nd 360 Knoxville Nationals presented by Great Southern Bank. Thursday's victory is Hafertepe's second win at the famed Knoxville Raceway half-mile oval in 2022, but under the event's unique qualifying method where drivers earn points in qualifying, heat races and the main events his effort puts him third in the points after night one of two for qualifying.
Kennedy would outduel fellow front row starter Garet Williamson to take the early lead with Hafertepe looking strong from the fourth starting slot. The Texan would drive by Williamson on lap four and using a low line he would pass Kennedy on the seventh circuit just before the only caution of the event waved for a two car tangle on the front straightaway. Contact between Matt Covington and Alex VandeVoort would send VandeVoort sliding sideways while Covington would suffer a flat left rear tire that he would be able to change prior to the restart.
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| Sam Hafertepe Jr. - Barry Johnson photo |
After the restart Gio Scelzi, Ayrton Gennetten and Aaron Reutzel would make their moves to try to get to the front with some great racing action using the entire width of the race track. Scelzi, the defending champion of this event would move to second with six laps remaining and while he was able to cut into the lead a bit, Gio was unable put a challenge on Hafertepe who would take the convincing victory.
Aaron Reutzel's drive from seventh to third, along with his efforts earlier in the evening would put him on top of the points list for the night at 487,. Williamson would fade a bit to fourth with Kennedy holding on for fifth. Briefly getting as high as third during the second half of the race, Gennetten slipped to sixth at the checkers, but still earned the second highest point total for the evening. Chase Randall moved from eleventh to seventh, Matt Juhl finished eighth, Cory Eliason was ninth and Parker Price-Miller advanced six positions to complete the top ten.
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| Early leader Thomas Kennedy - Barry Johnson photo |
Following Reutzel, Gennetten and Hafertepe in the first night point standings are Sclezi, Kennedy, Eliason, Williamson, Justin Henderson, Randall and Juhl. They will now wait to see how their points match up with Friday's qualifiers to see how Saturday's Championship race will lineup.
The Rest of the Story.......Considered to be one of the pre-race favorites, Shane Golobic would start his night in fine fashion earning 200 points with the quick time in qualifying. But the highs and lows of Knoxville would be quickly demonstrated when Golobic hopped the right rear tire of McKenna Hasse in turn three on the opening lap of the first heat race sending him hard into the guardrail. The mangled car would then take a couple of tumbles before coming to rest and thankfully Shane climbed out uninjured, but with his chances for a Saturday night championship all but washed away......He did somehow tally 361 total points ranking him 28th in the standings for the night so apparently drivers still earn points for races that they do not participate in. This assumption is backed up by the fact that Chase Porter earned 230 points despite never taking a lap after popping a motor in hot laps......Once back to green in that first heat race, Scelzi would come from fourth to nip Hasse at the line on lap one and then cruise to an easy victory. McKenna would then ward off a late charge from Ryan Giles to secure the fourth and final transfer position.....After starting third, seventeen-year-old Chase Randall would charge to the lead on the second lap and then drive away for the win in heat race number two. Sawyer Phillips who had posted the second best time in qualifying would have his night come to an end on lap two with mechanical issues and the battle for the fourth and final transfer spot would get wild on the final lap. Matt Covington had passed Garet Williamson for the position, but when Covington got a little out of shape in turn two, Williamson would have a big run on him down the back stretch. Entering turn three Covington went toward the bottom, the same line that Williamson was heading for and that would lead to nose-to-tail contact as Williamson tried to make a quick lane change to the top. Covington would save his car from a spin while Williamson also tried to salvage momentum and they would now exit turn four side-by-side. One more bit of contact would occur as Covington tried to ride him out, but it would be Williamson who would take the position that would eventually land him on the front row of the main event. This is what I love about Knoxville's format, because if this battle for fourth comes out differently, it completely changes everything else for the remainder of the night!.....Heat three would see Parker Price-Miller win from the front row with Kennedy, Eliason and Henderson coming from fourth, fifth and sixth respectively to make the transfer.....A three-car battle for fourth during the early laps of the fourth heat was worth the price of admission in itself as Aaron Reutzel, Austin McCarl and Sam Hafertepe Jr. duked it out trading sliders and crossovers amongst themselves before Reutzel was able to clear himself from that battle and then charge to second at the checkers behind Rookie-of-the-Nationals contender Corey Day. McCarl had to stand on the brakes to keep from being pinched into the guardrail by Hafertepe exiting turn two mid-race and once again the results of one of these heat race battles goes a long way in determining the outcome of the evening as Hafertepe would race on to third while McCarl was not able to catch Alex VandeVoort in time to crack the top four.....Hometown driver Devin Kline would be the only pole-sitter to win a heat race tonight in the fifth qualifier with Ayrton Gennetten moving from sixth to second to help him toward his second best point total on the night.....The B-Main had some trouble getting started as on the first attempt a scramble mid-pack would send Ryan Giles backing into the guardrail just before the entrance to turn one. On the second try Scott Bogucki would get crossed up exiting turn two with Nathan Mills being the victim of a rollover as drivers tried to avoid. Once the twelve lap event was able to get underway four of the top five starters, McCarl, Covington, Jack Dover and Riley Goodno would claim the final four starting spots in the night's A-Main while pole-sitter, and the first driver to take time earlier in the night, Tyler Blank would fade to sixth.
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| Scelzi, Hafertepe and Reutzel joined by Mt. Pleasant native Abby Liechty in Victory Lane - Barry Johnson photo |
My evening started with the most friendly and happy young lady at the Credentials building who greeted me as if I were a long lost friend. I wish that I had asked her name, because she deserves a mention for her hospitality especially when some of us media folk can be real jerks at times. I hope that she maintains that smile throughout the next ten days because it is infectious. (Saturday follow up, her name is Angie) I then made my anticipated visit to the Italian restaurant on the square, Baggio's for a great meal followed by a cold one and some good conversation with Spencer Watts and his crew who have to have one of the best camping spots in town.
We do it all again tonight with an absolutely stacked field of drivers including Kyle Larson, Terry McCarl, Brian Brown, Tyler Courtney, Blake Hahn, fifteen-year-old sensation Ryan Timms and Thursday night's BC39 Midget feature winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's dirt track, Buddy Kofoid all in action. Hot laps will get underway sometime after 7 p.m. with racing to follow. Tickets are primarily General Admission and if you cannot attend in person be sure to tune in the action on DirtVision.
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