Hahn repeats
Blake Hahn of Sapulpa, Okla., led the final 23 laps Saturday night to win the Comp Cams Short Track Nationals sprint car event for the second year in a row at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway.
For Blake Hahn of Sapulpa, Okla., the second time was twice as nice.
Hahn led the final 23 laps Saturday night to win the Comp Cams Short Track Nationals sprint car event for the second year in a row at Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway.
“This is amazing,” said Hahn, who has qualified for the STN main event twice, winning both times. “We’ve been running well lately, and to win this race twice in a row is incredible.”
With the victory, Hahn joins an elite list of drivers to earn consecutive STN titles: Indiana’s Steve Kinser (1988-89), Texan Gary Wright (2003-04), Kansas’ Tony Bruce Jr. (2008-09) and Tennessee’s Sammy Swindell (2016-17).
The battle up front in Saturday night’s main event was mostly between Hahn and John Carney II of El Paso, Texas, who finished second in Friday night’s preliminary feature.
Hahn bounced back from failing to qualify for Friday’s prelim and started second in the main event alongside pole sitter Seth Bergman of Snohomish, Wash. Hahn gunned to the lead off the green flag, but Carney raced by him for the top spot a lap later.
Carney maintained the advantage though the opening laps, fending off a couple of challenges by Hahn along the way.
The race was slowed by three caution periods during the first 18 laps. The most significant came on the seventh lap when Benton’s Zach Pringle, Bruce and Greg Wilson of Benton Ridge, Ohio, tangled and went over the turn three embankment. None of the drivers were injured, but they were done for the night.
Hahn began to close in on Carney at the midway point of the 41-lap race. On the 21st lap, Hahn dove underneath Carney to regain the top spot.
While Hahn built nearly a straightaway lead, Carney and Bergman battled for the the second position. Bergman finally took the spot during a tense moment in lapped traffic. Racing the cushion on the upper groove, Bergman began chipping away at Hahn’s advantage, only to fall a few car lengths short.
“I think we may’ve had something for him if the cautions would have fallen a little different,” said Bergman, who earned his best career STN finish.
Carney took third and Sam Hafertepe Jr. was fourth after starting 13th. Harli White of Lindsay, Okla., started 15th but finished fifth, becoming
the first female driver to earn a top-five finish in the event.
Marion’s Derek Hagar, who won Friday’s prelim, finished sixth. Howard Moore of Memphis was seventh, Dylan Westbrook of Scotland, Ontario, took eighth, and Chris Martin of Ankeny, Iowa, was ninth. Camden’s Charlie Louden finished 10th after qualifying for the STN main event for the first time.