Hafertepe leads American Sprint Car Series into three-night showdown at Cocopah Speedway
Defending champ looking to go back-to-back Somerton oval no stranger to ASCS title deciders
The end of the 2017 season is in sight for Sam Hafertepe Jr. who leads the way with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Tour presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network as the series rolls into Cocopah Speedway on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the 2017 series season finale.
The final stop of the series one year ago, Hafertepe rode off into the sunset with $60,000 and his first career National Tour Championship. For his 2017 visit, the Sunnyvale, Texas, native will again look to pocket the five-figure payday and second consecutive title.
“We set out last year to win the championship and achieved that, and this year, we wanted to make sure we proved that our win wasn’t by chance, and I think we did that,” said Hafertepe. “We have a
If Green Bay, Wisc., is known as “Title Town USA,” perhaps Cocopah Speedway should be known as “Title Track USA.” Making the argument for the Somerton oval’s nickname is the fact that in the three years the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series National Tour has ended its season here, it has seen national titles decided on each of the last nights, including one of the most dramatic finishes ever in 2013.
That was the first year of the Cocopah Cup, a special cash prize established for any driver who could win the first two races of the season, also at Cocopah Speedway, and the final two races. And Jason Johnson, from Eunice, La., proved he was up for the challenge as he swept all four wins, collected the big prize and the national championship to boot.
Of course some could argue that the finish to the next championship season in 2014