Story By: SPENCE SMITHBACK / ASCS – CONCORD, NC – For the first time since 2022, Speedweek is back on the American Sprint Car Series National Tour schedule.
The longest week in 360 Sprint Car racing begins in Arkansas on Tuesday, June 11, at Texarkana 67 Speedway. After a day off on Wednesday, the week concludes with three consecutive nights of racing in Oklahoma at Creek County Speedway (Thursday, June 13), Arrowhead Speedway (Friday, June 14) and Tri-State Speedway (Saturday, June 15).
All four nights will see a $4,000-to-win/$400-to-start Feature purse. The Sprint Cars will be joined by USRA Limited Modifieds at Texarkana; USRA Modifieds and NOW600 Dwarf Cars at Creek County; USRA Modifieds, Stock Cars, B-Mods and Tuners at Arrowhead; and the USRA American Racer Modified Series, Factory Stocks, Stock Cars and B-Mods at Tri-State.
Tickets will be available at the gate at all four tracks, but tickets to the Arrowhead Speedway event can be purchased online as well.
Here are the top storylines entering the weekend:
DIFFERENT CAR, SAME BERGMAN: After spending the first two National Tour races of 2024 competing with TwoC Racing, Seth Bergman elected to return to the seat of his family-owned No. 23 machine for the remainder of the season. While some drivers may take a few nights to find their footing after a team change, Bergman assured everyone at Rush County Speedway that no such transition period would be necessary, finding Victory Lane in his first night back in the ride.
A sixth-place effort the following night at Dodge City Raceway Park gives Bergman a 57-point lead entering Speedweek.
The list of tracks on the Speedweek docket have been a mixed bag for Bergman over the years. In ASCS regional competition, he’s a 12-time winner at Creek County and has two wins in three starts at Arrowhead. On the other hand, Bergman has never competed at Tri-State under the ASCS banner and hasn’t raced at Texarkana in over a decade.
“HOMECOVING”: Midway through the Feature at Dodge City, it looked like Matt Covington was well on his way to capturing his first victory of the season and establishing himself as Bergman’s top threat atop the standings. Instead, a collision with a slower car cut Covington’s night short and gave him a 20th-place finish.
Covington picked up the Dash victory on both nights in Kansas, highlighting the No. 95’s speed. Carrying that success over from a five-lap Dash into a 30-lap Feature will be key for Covington if he’s going to return to Victory Lane on the National Tour for the first time since Lakeside Speedway last August.
Now sitting fifth in the standings – 97 points behind Bergman – Covington will have four chances during the week to turn his luck around and close in on the leaders. Three of those chances will come at tracks in Covington’s native Oklahoma, and he’s a former winner at all four tracks on the itinerary.
HAFERTEPE’S TIME: When you’re the third-winningest driver in National Tour history, finishes of seventh and 18th aren’t exactly an ideal start to a season. Things got back on track for the No. 15H team in Kansas though, as they picked up their first top five of 2024 at Rush County and backed that up with their first Series win of the year at Dodge City, vaulting them up to fourth in the standings.
Hafertepe will look to extend his hot streak into Speedweek, and as a former champion of the miniseries in 2016 and 2019, he knows how to do exactly that.
The Texan took the checkers in his most recent visit to Creek County for a local show on May 11, defeating a field that included several National Tour full-timers. Hafertepe has also had recent success at Tri-State, finishing first and second in a doubleheader with the Bandit Outlaw Sprint Series last November.
THE CHAMP IS BACK: Reigning champion Jason Martin is quietly having another season that could put him in contention yet again down the stretch. While he hasn’t won a race yet in 2024, he has come close, leading several laps at Dodge City before ultimately falling short to Sam Hafertepe Jr. in a hard-fought battle.
While matching his 2023 total of nine wins on the year is unlikely given the level of competition with the Series this season, Martin is keeping pace in other metrics. His average finish through four races in 2024 of 5.2 is better than the 2023 average of 5.5 that won Martin a championship.
Martin will have experience on his side throughout Speedweek, as he will be one of the only drivers in the field who has made starts with the National Tour at all four tracks. With a win at Creek County in 2022 and a second-place finish at Arrowhead last September, there’s no reason to believe Martin won’t stay towards the front next week.
SOONER SHOWDOWN: The final three nights of Speedweek at Creek County, Arrowhead and Tri-State will be co-sanctioned races with the ASCS Sooner Region, bringing a host of challengers for the National Tour regulars to contend with.
Sean McClelland leads the Sooner standings through two races with finishes of fourth at Creek County and sixth at Red Dirt Raceway. The Tulsa native is a two-time winner with the National Tour, with his most recent triumph coming at the Series’ last visit to Creek County on June 15, 2023.
Trailing McClelland in points is Kyle Clark, who is fresh off a career-best 10th-place finish with the National Tour at Red Dirt, and Alex Sewell, who won with the Series last season at Caney Valley Speedway.