Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hahn a winner
Blake Hahn of Sapulpa, Okla., made the most of qualifying for the Short Track Nationals’ feature event for the first time. Hahn led the final 28 laps to win the 31st Comp Cams Short Track Nationals sprint car event at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock on Saturday night.
Blake Hahn of Sapulpa, Okla., has been a frequent visitor to the Short Track Nationals throughout his career, but he had never qualified for the feature event.
At least until Saturday night, and he made the most of it.
Hahn led the final 28 laps to win the 31st Comp Cams Short Track Nationals sprint car event at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock on Saturday night. The victory was worth $10,141.
“Wow, we’re here in victory lane,” Hahn said on the front stretch after the race. “To win a race like this, the Short Track Nationals … this is a special win. I ran micros a lot here early in my career. This is pretty close to home for us, so this is awesome.”
It was the second major victory of the season for Hahn. He also earned $13,000 in March after winning at 81 Speedway in Park City, Kan.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. of Sunnyvale, Texas, who won Friday night’s preliminary feature, took the runner-up spot for the second consecutive year. Pole-sitter Howard Moore of Memphis posted his best career STN finish in third.
Moore took the lead at the green flag. Hahn and Joe B. Miller of Millersville, Mo., battled side-by-side for second place for several laps in the early going, and they quickly closed the gap on Moore as he entered lapped traffic.
Hahn made his first attempt to take the lead on the 12th lap when he tried to slide under Moore in turns one and two. Moore battled past Hahn on the backstretch, but Hahn took the lead for good on the next lap.
The race was slowed by a caution when John Carney II of El Paso, Texas, and Ernie Ainsworth of Bartlett, Tenn., tangled on the 22nd lap. The red flag waved on the 30th lap when Chris Martin of Ankeny, Iowa, sailed off the turn-one embankment.
Hafertepe was in fifth place
on the restart and quickly charged to third. He charged around Moore for second on lap 35. But there was no catching Hahn.
Seth Bergman of Snohomish, Wash., charged from his 14th starting spot to finish a career-best fourth. Miller was fifth.
Greenbrier’s Jordon Mallett was the top finishing Arkansan in sixth. Benton’s Cody Gardner finished ninth.
Benton’s Tim Crawley, the 1998 winner, was running in third place at the final restart, but he faded considerably over the final 11 laps and finished 12th. Marshall Skinner of West Memphis finished 15th, and Benton’s Zach Pringle was 21st.
Five-time champion Sammy Swindell of Bartlett, Tenn., who entered as the two-time defending champion, struggled throughout the weekend and didn’t qualify for Friday’s prelim or the main event. He broke a throttle linkage in his heat race Friday night and didn’t advance out of his B-Main. On Saturday, he tangled with national USAC ace Brady Bacon of Broken Arrow, Okla., and failed to qualify from a C-Main.