Matt Covington won the ASCS event in Wichita Thursday (David Smith Jr. Photo)
Bryan Hulbert – PARK CITY, Kan. (July 28, 2022) Making it two wins with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network in 2022, Oklahoma’s Matt Covington took off from the pole and never looked back at 81-Speedway in Park City, Kan.
Taking the fifth round of the 2022 ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek, the win is Matt’s 16th with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series since 2010 and marks the14th different state that Covington has won a National Tour event in.
"It’s been an up and down year, but it’s not all bad. We’re still out here racing Sprint Cars, so I can’t complain too much. It’s just part of it, so you better love it,” said Covington when asked about the season’s ups and downs.
“Big thanks to my crew guy, Matthew Howard, and his Mom, Linda Howard. It’s her engine in the car tonight. I had some engine problems, and she was nice enough to let me borrow it, and we’ve been running it the past two nights with some good runs, so I’m really glad to get the win for them tonight.”
Able to pull away from Wayne Johnson through the first part of the A-Feature, a brief slide through traffic allowed the No. 2c to close slightly, but for only a moment before caution lights displayed on Lap 14 for Brandon Anderson, who ran into the back of a slowing Blake Hahn, who suffered front suspension damage after slapping the wall. Both were able to continue.
Back to green with lapped cars in the mix, Covington would have to fend off a restart charge on Lap 17 as Dylan Westbrook went for a tumble in Turn 4 after getting into the wall.
Rolling down to the closing laps, the difference between Covington and Johnson began to decrease. From over 1.5-seconds, the gap dropped quickly as the leaders raced to the white flag. Barring down through the final two turns, time ran out as Covington found the checkered flag with 0.549-seconds to spare.
Holding on to second despite a souring engine, Wayne Johnson went from 19 points trailing to 19 points ahead. A fourth podium finish during his Speedweek run, Tim Crawley crossed third with Jason Martin holding off Landon Britt to complete the top five.
Rolling from 11th, Whit Gastineau ran sixth with Dale Howard seventh. Recovering from his accident, Brandon Anderson was the night’s Hard Charger, going 15th to eighth. Zach Blurton and Kyler Johnson made up the top ten.
The 20-car field rolled into a trio of SCE Gaskets Heat Races, with wins going to Wayne Johnson, Dylan Westbrook, and Danny Wood. The Driver’s Project Quick Qualifier was Dylan Westbrook at 13.959-seconds.
The sixth round of the ASCS Sizzlin’ Summer Speedweek takes place Friday, July 29, at Creek County Speedway in Sapulpa, Okla.
The 2022 season will mark the 31st year of competition for the American Sprint Car Series. Spearheaded by the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the ASCS Nation includes Regional Tours that encompass both wing and non-wing competition.
For fans not able to attend, the series can be seen live on two platforms, with RaceOnTexas.com on 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. RaceOnTexas.com All Access is $39.99 per month.
For other news, notes, and information on any of the tours under the ASCS banner, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour
81-Speedway (Park City, Kan.)
Thursday, July 28, 2022
Speedweek - Night 5
Car Count: 20
The Driver's Project Group Qualifying
The Drivers Project Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 2C-Wayne Johnson, 14.074[3]; 2. 14-Jordon Mallett, 14.157[7]; 3. 36-Jason Martin, 14.294[2]; 4. 45X-Kyler Johnson, 14.302[1]; 5. 187-Landon Crawley, 14.333[5]; 6. 2W-Whit Gastineau, 14.377[4]; 7. 10C-Jeremy Campbell, 14.394[6]
The Drivers Project Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook, 13.959[3]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn, 13.996[4]; 3. 1X-Tim Crawley, 14.219[6]; 4. 10-Landon Britt, 14.481[2]; 5. 55B-Brandon Anderson, 14.481[1]; 6. 10P-Dylan Postier, 14.512[5]; 7. 31M-Eric Matthews, 14.747[7]
SCE Gaskets Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Danny Wood[1]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[3]; 3. 47-Dale Howard[2]; 4. 17B-Ryan Bickett[5]; 5. 2J-Zach Blurton[4]; 6. 2-Dylan Opdahl[6]
SCE Gaskets Heat Races (All drivers advance to the A-Feature)
SCE Gaskets Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 36-Jason Martin[2]; 2. 45X-Kyler Johnson[1]; 3. 2C-Wayne Johnson[4]; 4. 2W-Whit Gastineau[6]; 5. 14-Jordon Mallett[3]; 6. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[7]; 7. 187-Landon Crawley[5]
SCE Gaskets Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 1X-Tim Crawley[2]; 2. 10-Landon Britt[1]; 3. 52-Blake Hahn[3]; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[4]; 5. 55B-Brandon Anderson[5]; 6. 10P-Dylan Postier[6]; 7. 31M-Eric Matthews[7]
Lineup SCE Gaskets Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 55-Danny Wood; 2. 47-Dale Howard; 3. 95-Matt Covington; 4. 2J-Zach Blurton; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett; 6. 2-Dylan Opdahl
A-Feature
Lucas Oil A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 2. 2C-Wayne Johnson[1]; 3. 1X-Tim Crawley[4]; 4. 36-Jason Martin[3]; 5. 10-Landon Britt[8]; 6. 2W-Whit Gastineau[11]; 7. 47-Dale Howard[10]; 8. 55B-Brandon Anderson[15]; 9. 2J-Zach Blurton[13]; 10. 45X-Kyler Johnson[7]; 11. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[16]; 12. 14-Jordon Mallett[14]; 13. 52-Blake Hahn[6]; 14. 10P-Dylan Postier[17]; 15. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[9]; 16. 187-Landon Crawley[20]; 17. 17B-Ryan Bickett[12]; 18. 2-Dylan Opdahl[18]; 19. 31M-Eric Matthews[19]; 20. 55-Danny Wood[5]
Lap Leader(s): Matt Covington 1-25
Hard Charger: Brandon Anderson +7
Quick Time: Dylan Westbrook - 13.959-seconds
High Point Driver: Tim Crawley
Provisional(s): N/A
2022 Race Winners: Wayne Johnson – 4 (3/18 – Devil's Bowl Speedway; 6/18 – Boothill Speedway, 6/25 - I-70 Motorsports Park; 7/23 – I-30 Speedway); Tim Crawley – 2 (7/22 – Batesville Motor Speedway; 7/26 – Tulsa Speedway); Derek Hagar – 2 (3/25 – I-30 Speedway; 6/17 – Texarkana 67 Speedway); Dylan Westbrook – 2 (5/28 – Lake Ozark Speedway; 7/27 – Caney Valley Speedway); Matt Covington – 2 (7/1 – Boone County Raceway; 7/28 – 81-Speedway); Seth Bergman – 1 (3/19 – Devil's Bowl Speedway); Aaron Reutzel – 1 (3/26 – I-30 Speedway); Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – 1 (5/29 – Thunderbird Speedway); Jake Bubak – 1 (7/2 – WaKeeney Speedway); Zach Blurton – 1 (7/3 – WaKeeney Speedway); Gunner Ramey - 1 (7/15 – U.S. 36 Raceway);
2022 Driver Points (Top 15): 1. Wayne Johnson 2,180 2. Blake Hahn 2,161; 3. Tim Crawley 2,153; 4. Matt Covington 2,063; 5. Jason Martin 2,058; 6. Brandon Anderson 1,982; 7. Landon Britt 1,793; 8. Landon Crawley 1,786; 9. Kyler Johnson 1,780; 10. Garet Williamson 1,751; 11. Ryan Bickett 1,707; 12. Dylan Postier 1,597; 13. Dylan Opdahl 1,495; 14. Dylan Westbrook 1,164; 15. Dale Howard 890;
ASCS National Tour Drivers:
1x - Tim Crawley (Benton, AR)**
2c - Wayne Johnson (Oklahoma City, OK)**
2d-Dylan Opdahl (Madison, SD) (R)
10 - Landon Britt (Atoka, TN) (R)
10p - Dylan Postier (Stillwater, OK) (R)
17b - Ryan Bickett (Romona, SD)
24 - Garet Williamson (Columbia, MO)
36 - Jason Martin (Liberal, KS) (R)
45x - Kyler Johnson (Quinter, KS) (R)
52 - Blake Hahn (Sapulpa, OK)**
55b - Brandon Anderson (Glenpool, OK) (R)
95 - Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK)
187 - Landon Crawley (Benton, AR) (R)
(R) Signifies Brodix National Rookie
** Signifies past ASCS National Champion.
Sponsors:
The American Sprint Car Series is brought to you by Lucas Oil Products (https://lucasoil.com) and presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network (https://www.mavtv.com). Heat Races are presented by SCE Gaskets (https://www.scegaskets.com), B-Features are sponsored by BMRS (https://www.bmrs.net).
All Champions of the American Sprint Car Series, from National to Regional Tours, will receive a new Superior Steering Wheel (https://superiorsteeringwheel.com). Hard Luck Award provided by Vahlco Wheels.