Sooner Region Cowtown results 2006-06-10

Hafertepe Handles ASCS Sooner Region at Cowtown

KENNEDALE, Tex. (June 10, 2006) -- Sam Hafertepe, Jr., hammered home his third American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region feature win of the year by topping Saturday night's 30-lap main event at Cowtown Speedway. Hafertepe took quick advantage of Kevin Ramey's turn four bobble on the tenth round to take command then fought off a late barrage from Travis Rilat to secure the win aboard the Wells-powered G-H Plumbing/Smiley's Racing Products No. 15 Maxim.

After the initial start was waved off for Brad Best's inverted encounter with the turn three wall, it was outside front row starter Johnny Miller outgunning polesitter Ramey for the early lead. Miller's lead was short-lived however, as he slipped high in turn two on the second round, allowing both Ramey and third-starter Hafertepe to charge by.

Ramey set the pace for the next eight circuits before nearly sliding off the top of turn four on the tenth round, with Hafertepe, Miller and sixth-starter Rilat slipping by underneath. Rilat soon battled past Miller for second and as lapped traffic came into play, a wild three-car battle for the point between Hafertepe, Rilat and Miller began to develop with Ramey, Sherman Davis and eleventh-starter Sean McClelland in the lead trio's wake.

As quickly as it began though, the intense battle was then interrupted when Jimmy Taylor came to a halt on the high side of turn two with 18 laps in the books. Back under way, the fight for the lead resumed in short order with Hafertepe and Rilat swapping the lead in successive corners on the 19th and 20th rounds before Hafertepe seized command. Three laps later, Miller surrendered the third position when he looped his machine in turn two and collected McClelland. McClelland rejoined the chase at the tail, while Miller retired to the pit area.

Following one final caution for Derek Cottrell's turn two spin a pair of laps later, Hafertepe broke away from the pack to snare the win. Rilat held on to the runner-up slot, with Davis outdueling Ramey for the show position. Ramey took fourth despite battling a nearly deflated left rear tire from the outset, with Brad Welborn slicing through the field from the 14th starting position to round out the top five.

Skip Wilson raced from 12th to snare sixth in front of 15th-starter Jeff Day, with McClelland recovering from the lap 23 mishap to finish eighth. Claud Estes advanced eight positions to finish ninth, with J.P. Bailey completing the top ten. Rilat, Bailey, Ramey and Miller topped heat race action for the 34-car field, with Day and Cody Branchcomb splitting victory honors in the twin "B" Mains.

ASCS Sooner Region Results:

First Heat (10 Laps): 1. 29-Travis Rilat, 2. 72-Sherman Davis, 3. 25-Derek Cottrell, 4. 99-Justin Melton, 5. 14b-Robert Byrom, 6. 15b-Michael Brown, 7. 02y-Harry Yerrington, 8. 10w-Cody Wampler. DNS: 92-Zach Chappell.

Second Heat (10 Laps): 1. 45-J.P. Bailey, 2. 35-Brad Best, 3. 17w-Brad Welborn, 4. 1s-George White, 5. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 6. 23-Jimmy Taylor, 7. 12-Trey Robb, 8. 59-Dex Eaton, 9. 26m-Shelly Ward.

Third Heat (10 Laps): 1. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 2. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 3. 74e-Claud Estes, 4. 6d-Jeff Day, 5. B4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 6-Mike Sanders, 7. 76-John Ricketts, 8. 55d-David Doyle.

Fourth Heat (10 Laps): 1. 64J-Johnny Miller, 2. 10-Brian McClelland, 3. 1-Sean McClelland, 4. 65-Skip Wilson, 5. 2-Tina Creswell, 6. 78-Kevin Pickard, 7. 7y-Todd Yarber, 8. 11p-Preston Peebles II.

First "B" Feature (12 Laps): 1. 6d-Jeff Day, 2. 74e-Claud Estes, 3. 23-Jimmy Taylor, 4. 6-Mike Sanders, 5. 26m-Shelly Ward, 6. 78-Kevin Pickard, 7. 76-John Ricketts, 8. 55d-David Doyle. DNS: 10w-Cody Wampler, 14b-Robert Byrom.

Second "B" Feature (Cut to 8 Laps due to attrition): 1. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 2. 59-Dex Eaton, 3. 2-Tina Creswell, 4. 12-Trey Robb, 5. B4-Eric Baldaccini, 6. 02y-Harry Yerrington, 7. 15b-Michael Brown. DNS: 11p-Preston Peebles II, 7y-Todd Yarber, 92- Zach Chappell.

"A" Feature (30 Laps): 1. 15-Sam Hafertepe, Jr., 2. 29-Travis Rilat, 3. 72-Sherman Davis, 4. 7m-Kevin Ramey, 5. 17w-Brad Welborn, 6. 65-Skip Wilson, 7. 6d-Jeff Day, 8. 1-Sean McClelland, 9. 74e-Claud Estes, 10. 45-J.P. Bailey, 11. 99-Justin Melton, 12. 23-Jimmy Taylor, 13. 1s-George White, 14. 2-Tina Creswell, 15. 25-Derek Cottrell, 16. 59-Dex Eaton, 17. 64J-Johnny Miller, 18. 94-Cody Branchcomb, 19. 35-Brad Best, 20. 10-Brian McClelland. American Bank of Oklahoma ASCS Sooner Region Points (Top Ten): 1. Sean McClelland 1,156, 2. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 1,130, 3. Kevin Ramey 1,106, 4. Brian McClelland 981, 5. J.P. Bailey 935, 6. Johnny Miller 901, 7. Jimmy Taylor 882, 8. Dex Eaton 867, 9. Justin Melton 822, 10. Derek Cottrell 755.

-ascs