A trip to the reconfigured 3/8-mile Tri-City Speedway in Pontoon Beach, Illinois awaits the World of Outlaws on Thursday, June 14. The event was originally scheduled for last month and rain interfered with those plans. From there, the series will head north for their second visit of the season to Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. This will be the driver’s final tune-up for the 47th Annual Knoxville Nationals in August.
Winning Ways:
Sam Hafertepe Jr. bolted a 360-cubic inch engine in his car last Friday night and won the Budweiser Shootout at U. S. 36 Raceway in Osborn, Missouri, where the World of Outlaws competed earlier this season in the Missouri High-Banked Nationals. The native of Sunnyvale, Texas, bested a very strong field of 34 cars that included reigning Knoxville Raceway 410-sprint car champion Billy Alley. Hafertepe who is currently competing for the World of Outlaws Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award is the reigning American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) Sooner Region champion. “When you run with these guys (the World of Outlaws) for a while, it kind of beats up on you, ” explained Hafertepe. “You begin to wonder if you were as good as you were, or if you are learning anything. We proved last Friday that we are learning and we beat up on some guys. ”
A Different Look:
Donny Schatz ran the third of eight scheduled events this season in a specially painted red and black Snap-on Tool cars last Saturday night at Eagle Raceway. He has finished in the Top-10 in all three events for the machine, including a win in its debut at Knoxville Raceway on April 28. Schatz rallied for a 10th place finish on Saturday night, after getting caught in an incident on the fourth lap of the 40-lap event that took out several front running cars. Schatz and his team entertained nearly 300 people from Snap-on at the Eagle Nationals, with a meet and greet that included tours of the pit area and an up close look at his car.
Testing the Waters:
Tony Bruce Jr. one of the contenders for the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award recently welcomed veteran World of Outlaws crew chief Rob Hart to his team. The pair plans to work together for a month and then assess the progress of the team. Bruce earned his best career finish on May 25 in the Eckerd Outlaw Showdown at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway when he finished third. “The biggest thing is him trying to help us get to where we need to be, ” explained Bruce. “It will help speed up our learning curve, learning from a guy that has been around this game for quite a while. The only thing we have lacked this year is consistency and having someone there that knows what to do when we are not quite there will help a lot.
It will be an added bonus to have Rob around and hopefully we can make the most of it. ” Adding to the Team: Joey Saldana and his Kasey Kahne Racing team welcomed two new crew members during the Eagle Nationals at Eagle Raceway in Nebraska last Saturday. Kolton Gouse a recent graduate of Mechanicsburg High School in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and Jared Ridge, a recent graduate of Snohomish High School in Snohomish, Washington began turning the wrenches for the team, and will travel full-time with the team for the rest of the season. Also long time crew member Justin Adams assumed the role of Team Director at Eagle Raceway, with Willie Kahne continuing to serve as Team Manager.
“This is a total team effort, ” said Adams, who has helped the team to seven World of Outlaws wins this season. “We have a lot of smart guys working here. The new guys are racers themselves and want to learn about the World of Outlaws and how this all works. It will be a lot fun, and we are very excited. Our goal every day is to win a point title and we are sticking to it. ”
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