HAHN CAPTURES FREEDOM TOUR WIN AT CREEK COUNTY

By: Lonnie Wheatley

Blake Hahn found himself right at home atop the cozy confines of the ¼-mile Creek County Speedway clay oval on Thursday night, as the Sapulpa native raced to his second USAC Southwest Sprint Cars “Freedom Tour” win in the past three years in the 30-lap main event.

Hahn battled past fellow front-row starter and Tulsa-area shoe Dustin Morgan on the third round and then denied a furious bid from Stevie Sussex over the closing circuits to picks up the $2,500 winner’s share in the Round Two of the Fifth Annual “Freedom Tour” mini-series.

After a pair of aborted feature starts, Morgan broke into the lead from the pole position only to surrender the point to Hahn after pacing two rounds.  Morgan kept the heat on much of the way until Tempe, Arizona’s Sussex threw his hat into the ring by sliding into second after on a lap 22 restart.

Sussex threw a couple of sliders and pounded the topside but to no avail, falling just short of Hahn’s Lucas Oil Products No. 52 Sprint Car at the line.  Sussex settled for runner-up honors in a strong rebound from a rough “Freedom Tour” opener while Morgan filled out the podium for his second top-five of the week.

After transferring from “B” Main action, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma’s Jonathan Beason rallied through the field from 17th to capture fourth with reigning USAC Southwest Sprint Car champion R.J. Johnson of Phoenix rounding out the top five.

Ty Hulsey advanced a half-dozen positions to claim sixth with Arizona’s Shon Deskins making the most of a promoter’s provisional to charge through the field from 21st to seventh.  Memphis’ Anthony Nicholson earned an eighth-place finish with Tulsa’s Craig Carroll and Arizona rep Chris Bonneau completing the top ten.

Sussex, Forrest Sutherland, Fred Mattox and Charles Davis, Jr., topped heat race action for the 32-car field with Kyle Clark and Carroll winning the twin 12-lap “B” Main.

Fifth Annual USAC Southwest Sprint Car “Freedom Tour” action resumes with Round Three at 81 Speedway near Wichita, KS, on Friday night.

SANDS CHEVROLET USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SPECIAL EVENT RACE RESULTS: August 17, 2017 – Sapulpa, Oklahoma – Creek County Speedway – “5th Annual Freedom Tour”

FIRST HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Steve Sussex (#4 Price), 2. Anthony Nicholson (#16X Nicholson), 3. David Stephenson (#22 Stephenson), 4. Danny Smith (#5$ Smith), 5. Shon Deskins (#7 Richards), 6. Michael Tyre II (#11 Tyre), 7. Chance Morton (#7 Morton), 8. Will Scribner (#54 Scribner). NT

SECOND HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Forrest Sutherland (#85 Sutherland), 2. Ty Hulsey (#24H Hulsey), 3. Seth Bergman (#23 Bergman), 4. Craig Carroll (#24C Carroll), 5. Andrew Deal (#21 Deal), 6. Tye Mihocko (#5 Mihocko), 7. Jonathan Beason (#36 Beason), 8. Brian McClelland (#87F McClelland). NT

THIRD HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Fred Mattox (#26M Mattox), 2. Tim Kent (#79 Kent), 3. Blake Hahn (#52 Hahn), 4. Mike Martin (#16 Martin), 5. Kevin Cummings (#97 Cummings), 6. Dennis Gile (#13 Gile), 7. Cameron Hagin (#5H Hagin), 8. Casey Wills (#31 Wills). NT

FOURTH HEAT: (10 laps) 1. Charles Davis Jr. (#50 Massey), 2. R.J. Johnson (#77M Michael), 3. Dustin Morgan (#93 Morgan), 4. Kyle Clark (#9$ Clark), 5. Chad Boespflug (#34 Team AZ), 6. Chris Bonneau (#78 Bonneau), 7. Roy Entze II (#2E Entze), 8. Grant Wresche (#13W Wresche). NT

FIRST SEMI: (12 laps) 1. K.Clark, 2. Beason, 3. Boespflug, 4. Deskins, 5. Entze, 6. Cummings, 7. Scribner, 8. Tyre. NT

SECOND SEMI: (12 laps) 1. Carroll, 2. Deal, 3. Bonneau, 4. Mihocko, 5. Gile, 6. Hagin, 7. McClelland, 8. Morton, 9. Wresche. NT

FEATURE: (30 laps) 1. Blake Hahn, 2. Steve Sussex, 3. Dustin Morgan, 4. Jonathan Beason, 5. R.J. Johnson, 6. Ty Hulsey, 7. Shon Deskins, 8. Anthony Nicholson, 9. Craig Carroll, 10. Chris Bonneau, 11. Danny Smith, 12. Kyle Clark, 13. Charles Davis Jr., 14. Forrest Sutherland, 15. Mike Martin, 16. Andrew Deal, 17. Tye Mihocko, 18. Tim Kent, 19. Seth Bergman, 20. Fred Mattox, 21. Chad Boespflug, 22. David Stephenson. NT

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**Clark flipped during the feature.

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-2 Morgan, Laps 3-30 Hahn.

HARD CHARGER: Shon Deskins (21st to 7th)

BEAVER STRIPES TOP QUALIFIER: Fred Mattox

NEXT SANDS CHEVROLET USAC SOUTHWEST SPRINT CAR SPECIAL EVENT: August 18 – Wichita, KS – 81 Speedway – “5th Annual Freedom Tour”