— The pages of the calendar have flipped to October, which means just one thing in the Mid-South and the Sprint Car racing community. Friday is the official opener of the 36th Annual Short Track Nationals that culminates with twin 25-lap feature events, setting the stage for Saturday’s $20,000-to-win STN Championship card. At latest count, 61 drivers from 15 different states have filed entries for the Short Track Nationals including past race champions Sammy Swindell, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Blake Hahn and Wayne Johnson with past car-owning winner Rains Motorsports fielding an entry for Howard Moore. Hafertepe Jr., brought the curtains down on Little Rock’s I-30 Speedway by topping last year’s Short Track Nationals finale for the second time in three years after he and Aaron Reutzel posted preliminary feature wins the previous night. Hafertepe Jr., joined Paul McMahan and Tony Bruce Jr., as two-time Short Track Nationals winners with other multiple-time champions including Hahn and Steve Kinser (three times each) and Swindell and Gary Wright atop the charts with five wins each.

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