3/3/2020
Matt Covington
Covington Starts the Year Off With a Win and 4th Place Run at Canyon
CG Motorsports – Glenpool, OK (March 3, 2020) Covington and team start the season with a bang, grabbing the first victory lane photo of the 2020 Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour season at Canyon Speedway Park Friday night. Saturday’s feature concluded with 4th place in the feature, keeping Matt in the points lead as they head into the weekend in California.
The team was a little worried about the start of the season, as it began with their trailer roof blowing off passing through Amarillo on the way to Arizona. High winds prevented the guys from being able to inspect the damage by climbing up themselves, but the rearview mirror did not paint a pretty picture. Fortunately, the exit they took happened to be right next to King Country Trailers, who was able to fix them up and get them back on the road early Thursday morning. They arrived at the track in time for practice.
Friday night made up for the trailer problems by granting the 95 team a good draw, placing him on the outside pole of the stacked 4th heat with 51 cars drawing in. Matt was able to get the jump on Seth Bergman on the start. He stayed out front until the checkers waved. The effort placed him 6th in the 3rd qualifier where he was able to move up to 3rd, earning him the high point driver of the night.
From his pole position in the night’s feature, Covington once again jumped into the lead. He was challenged by John Carney II mid race, but was able to hold him off. With some Shark power under the hood, Matt was able to keep the lead despite several yellows pausing the action. Riding the top in 3 and 4, and taking the bottom in 1 and 2, the A-Rock Materials/Triple X mount lead from start to finish, claiming the 1st victory of the season.
“I was very pleased with the speed right out of the gate,” Matt commented. “Shark put a new fuel system tune on my engine this year and our car takes off on the starts and accelerates off the corner better than ever right now. Huggins cam combo has played a big role in that as well. It’s a total package combined of many brands we have surrounded ourselves with. It started paying off and showing results last season and looks like the trend will continue this year.”
Saturday night wasn’t so kind, giving Matt a 6th position in the heat race. He was able to gain 2 spots and land on the pole of a qualifier, where he finished 1st. That put him 7th in the A feature. Matt gained positions early and was in 4th when his right rear seemed to be taking severe damage due to the slick and abrasive track conditions. Struggling to preserve his tires, Matt chose to ride it out in 4th until the end of the race.
“This was a great weekend to start out the season,” said Matt. “Mike kept the car good both nights. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into California this weekend and stay at the top of the points.”
Matt and his CG Motorsports team would like to thank all partners who will make this 2020 season possible. We look forward to the continued relationship throughout the end of the year, along with future seasons to come: Triple X Chassis, A-Rock Materials, All-Star Performance, Outlaw Wings, Winters Performance, Smiley’s Racing Products, Hoosier Tire, Keizer Wheels, Lucas Oil Racing Products, Factor 1 Racing, Wilwood Brakes, Smith Titanium, Best Graphics, Simpson Race Products, Shark Racing Engines, Huggins Cams, Eaton Industrial, Hot Rod Powder Coating, Rod End Supply, Maxwell Oil, Schoenfeld Headers, CSI Shocks, KSE Steering, Edison Auto Body, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Swindell Bleeders, and T&L Foundry.
2020 STATS: Starts-2, Wins-1, Top 5’s-2, Top 10’s-2
ON TAP:
3/6/2020 Merced Speedway - Merced, CA
3/7/2020 Placerville Speedway - Placerville, CA
3/8/2020 Petaluma Speedway - Petaluma, CA
LIVE RACE COVERAGE: Visit http://www.RacinBoys.com for free, live audio and Live feature video to subscribers during the season to catch all the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour events.
MERCHANDISE: New 2019/2020 shirts available now on the website at www.mattcovingtonracing.com or at the races in the trailer.
STAY CONNECTED: For all the latest news of Matt Covington during the 2020 season, visit his website, www.mattcovingtonracing.com, like him on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mattcovingtonracing, or follow him on twitter, @mattcovington95 along with Instagram @mattcovingtonracing
Submitted By: Eric Covington
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