Matt Covington won the ASCS stop at I-96 Speedway Saturday (ASCS Photo) (Jay Eacker Video)
Bryan Hulbert – LAKE ODESSA, Mich. (May 8, 2021) Taking the green from the pole and never looking back, Matt Covington was unstoppable en route to Saturday’s Sprint Wars Victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network and Great Lakes Super Sprints at I-96 Speedway.
Stalked in traffic several times by Blake Hahn, the closing laps saw the No. 52 close in for the pass, but a slip over the cushion coming to the white flag was all Covington needed to secure his first victory for of the season.
On the run-through traffic, Covington said, “I felt pressured. I knew Blake was behind me and getting close, and I wasn’t sure because the bottom looked like it was coming in, but the top was good too, but I wanted that one. I wanted it really bad, especially for my crew guy, Matthew Howard, he’s been working his butt off, and we’ve been top-five and running up front, but he hasn’t had that taste of victory, so I had to get this for him.”
While tripping over the cushion nearly cost him in the end, Hahn was able to regain his speed and hold on for second, with Dylan Westbrook working the bottom from 12th to complete the night’s podium. Indiana’s Zane Devault was the highest finishing GLSS driver in fourth, with J.J. Hickle moving up from ninth to complete the top five.
Charging 11th to first out of the second BMRS B-Feature, Seth Bergman proceeded to make up 11 more positions for a seventh-place finish and the night’s Hard Charger Award. Mark Smith moved up two spots to eighth, with Ohio’s Max Stambaugh making up 10 spots. Ending up using a provisional into the event from GLSS, Danny Sams, III flew from 23rd to complete the top ten.
A field of 39 drivers assembled at the Michigan oval with five SCE Gaskets Heat Race wins going to Chase Ridenour, Colby Thornhill, Dustin Daggett, Matt Covington, and Scott Bogucki. BMRS B-Features were topped by Brad Lamberson and Seth Bergman. Two Provisionals were used by Danny Sams, III and Linden Jones.
The next outing for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network is Saturday, May 15, at Volunteer Speedway in Bulls Gap, Tenn. The Great Lakes Super Sprints head for Tri-City Motor Speedway in Auburn, Mich. on Friday, May 21.
The 2021 season is the 30th year of competition for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
For the first time, the series can be seen live on two platforms, with Racinboys.com and FloRacing.com featuring National Tour events in tandem. Both are subscription-based sites. FloRacing.com is $20 per month, billed annually at $150 per year. Racinboys.com is $29.99 per month.
For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2021, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
Great Lakes Super Sprints
I-96 Speedway (Lake Odessa, Mich.)
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Car Count: 39
SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points advance to the A-Feature. Top 8 Redraw)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 16W-Chase Ridenour[2]; 2. 17B-Ryan Bickett[1]; 3. 7C-Phil Gressman[4]; 4. 49T-Gregg Dalman[6]; 5. 2-Ricky Peterson[3]; 6. 17-Jared Horstman[5]; 7. 46-Ryan Coniam[8]; 8. 71H-Ryan Ruhl[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 19-Colby Thornhill[1]; 2. 63-JJ Hickle[3]; 3. 16B-Zane Devault[8]; 4. 86-Keith Sheffer Jr[7]; 5. 07-Shane Simmons[4]; 6. 70-Eli Lakin[6]; 7. 11-Joe Conway[5]; 8. 88N-Frank Neill[2]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 85-Dustin Daggett[3]; 2. 88-Travis Reber[1]; 3. 5T-Ryan Timms[7]; 4. 27-Brad Lamberson[4]; 5. 24D-Danny Sams III[2]; 6. 10S-Jay Steinebach[6]; 7. 14-Linden Jones[5]; 8. 1-Levi Poortenga[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[4]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[6]; 3. 5S-Max Stambaugh[2]; 4. 24-Kobe Allison[1]; 5. 12-Corbin Gurley[5]; 6. 84-Kyle Poortenga[7]; 7. 16-Gary Fritts[8]; 8. (DNF) 77X-Alex Hill[3]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Scott Bogucki[1]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[2]; 3. M1-Mark Smith[5]; 4. 27W-Tyler Gunn[4]; 5. 8-Justin Ward[7]; 6. 31-Mike Astrauskas[6]; 7. (DNF) 23-Seth Bergman[3]
BMRS B-Features (Top 3 in each advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. 27-Brad Lamberson[2]; 2. 5S-Max Stambaugh[1]; 3. 2-Ricky Peterson[5]; 4. 46-Ryan Coniam[8]; 5. 88N-Frank Neill[10]; 6. 24-Kobe Allison[3]; 7. 70-Eli Lakin[6]; 8. 07-Shane Simmons[4]; 9. 11-Joe Conway[7]; 10. (DNF) 31-Mike Astrauskas[9]; 11. (DNS) 77X-Alex Hill; 12. (DNS) 1-Levi Poortenga
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman[11]; 2. 17-Jared Horstman[7]; 3. 71H-Ryan Ruhl[10]; 4. 27W-Tyler Gunn[2]; 5. 14-Linden Jones[9]; 6. 24D-Danny Sams III[5]; 7. 12-Corbin Gurley[3]; 8. 84-Kyle Poortenga[4]; 9. 8-Justin Ward[1]; 10. 16-Gary Fritts[8]; 11. (DNF) 10S-Jay Steinebach[6]
Sawblade.com A-Feature
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[12]; 4. 16B-Zane Devault[4]; 5. 63-JJ Hickle[9]; 6. 5T-Ryan Timms[8]; 7. 23-Seth Bergman[18]; 8. M1-Mark Smith[10]; 9. 5S-Max Stambaugh[19]; 10. 24D-Danny Sams III[23]; 11. 28-Scott Bogucki[6]; 12. 49T-Gregg Dalman[16]; 13. 19-Colby Thornhill[7]; 14. 2-Ricky Peterson[21]; 15. 71H-Ryan Ruhl[22]; 16. 14-Linden Jones[24]; 17. 85-Dustin Daggett[2]; 18. 16W-Chase Ridenour[5]; 19. 17B-Ryan Bickett[13]; 20. 27-Brad Lamberson[17]; 21. 88-Travis Reber[14]; 22. (DNF) 7C-Phil Gressman[15]; 23. (DNF) 86-Keith Sheffer Jr[11]; 24. (DNF) 17-Jared Horstman[20]
Lap Leader(s): Matt Covington 1-30
Hard Charger: Seth Bergman +11
High Point Driver: Matt Covington
Provisional(s): Danny Sams III (GLSS); Linden Jones (GLSS)
ASCS Online:
American Sprint Car Series: http://www.ascsracing.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lucasoilascs
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lucasoilascs (@lucasoilascs)
Instagram: LucasOilASCS
Broadcast: FloRacing.com and Racinboys.com
Live-Scoring (Where Applicable): MRP Live
2021 Driver Standings (Top 15): 1. Matt Covington 777; 2. Blake Hahn 771; 3. J.J. Hickle 764; 4. Dylan Westbrook 717; 5. Seth Bergman 705; 6. Scott Bogucki 688; 7. Ryan Bickett 619; 8. Colby Thornhill 618; 9. Devon Borden 535; 10. Travis Reber 518; 11. Alex Hill 470; 12. Roger Crockett 350; 13. Garet Williamson 292; 14. Chase Randall 244; 15. Ryan Timms 235;
2021 A-Feature Winner(s): JJ Hickle – 2 (3/19 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway; 3/20 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway); Blake Hahn – 1 (4/17 – Park Jefferson Speedway); Blane Heimbach – 1 (5/1 – Selinsgrove Speedway); Matt Covington – 1 (5/8 – I-96 Speedway);
ASCS National Tour Drivers Online:
Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA.): http://www.sethbergmanracing.com
Ryan Bickett (Ramona, SD): https://www.facebook.com/rynotrucking
Scott Bogucki (McLaren Vale, S. Aust.): https://www.facebook.com/ScottBogucki89
Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK): http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Blake Hahn (Sapulpa, OK): http://www.blakehahnracing.com
JJ Hickle (Quilcene, WA): https://www.facebook.com/JJHickleRacing
Alex Hill (Six Nations, Ontario, Can.): https://twitter.com/alexhill77x
Travis Reber (Rapid City, SD): https://bit.ly/2P3Ok2r
Colby Thornhill (Enumclaw, WA): https://www.facebook.com/colby.thornhill.92
Dylan Westbrook (Scotland, Ont. Can.): https://twitter.com/westbrook47x
ASCS Sponsors:
Lucas Oil Products is the title sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. More information can be found on Lucas Oil Products at www.lucasoil.com. MAVTV Motorsports Network is the presenting sponsor of the American Sprint Car Series. Log onto http://www.mavtv.com for more information.
Sawblade.com is the official SawBlade of the American Sprint Car Series and title sponsor of every National Tour A-Feature and Victory Lane. For more information, log onto https://www.sawblade.com and follow Social Media at @SawBladecom on Twitter, on Instagram at Sawblade.com_, and Facebook.
Associate sponsors for the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented the MAVTV Motorsports Network include Hoosier Racing Tire and Brodix. All Heat Races are brought to you by SCE Gaskets. All B-Features are presented by BMRS.
Team Lucas Sponsors for the American Sprint Car Series consist of Protect the Harvest, Geico, SRI, General Tire, MAVTV Motorsports Network, MAVTV Plus, and General Tire.
Product and Contingency Sponsorship provided by SCE Gaskets, K&N Filters, BMRS, SpeedMart, Engler Machine and Tool, FSR Radiator and Racing Products, Schoenfeld Headers, MyRacePass.com, Weld Wheels, Maxwell Industries, Simpson, Wesmar Racing Engines, Hinchman Indy Racewear, Rod End Supply, Smiley's Racing Products, and Triple X Race, Co.