6/22/2016
Matt Covington
Covington Ready For Northern Swing and Dirt Cup After Missed Opportunities During Speedweek
CG Motorsports- Glenpool, Ok. (June 21, 2016) Matt Covington heads northwest after a challenging 2016 Bob Westphal ASCS National Summer Speedweek.
Covington demonstrated speed, creating a promising outlook for podium finishes on various nights throughout the annual summer speedweek. But set-up and tire failures prevented him from doing such.
“It was an up and down week,” stated Matt. “Besides maybe the first night at Amarillo, we were fast and had speed in the car. But like I said, the first night we just flat out struggled and ended up 13th. I was looking forward to Devil’s Bowl because we usually run good there. But with the rainout, our next race was on Wednesday at Lawton. We did well in our heat and had a good starting spot for the feature. But, unfortunately, we missed the setup and, between the handling and the missed slide job on my part, we ended up 17th. We may have run 8th, but I jumped the cushion on the last lap. We were able to pull off some solid heats and qualifiers that resulted in decent top-10 runs the next couple of nights. All week we were fast early, we just didn’t make the right adjustments late that we needed in order to finish up front. Saturday was the only night I felt we put the whole thing together and had a shot at the win.”
Covington was able to obtain an 8th place finish Thursday at Creek County Speedway and a solid 5th place on Friday at Missouri State Fair Speedway.
Saturday was the final leg of the 2016 ASCS Speedweek at the “Diamond of Dirt Tracks”, Lucas Oil Speedway.
Covington picked up the heat and qualifier win to acquire the needed points to earn the outside pole starting position for the feature.
At the drop of the green, Covington led for a few laps. But he soon lost the lead during an early restart. Matt fell back to 3rd as the race progressed. Near the halfway point he was able to begin closing the gap on the leaders as they battled through lap traffic. With less than five laps to go, Covington had run back down the 2nd place car and was set to attempt a pass. But his luck came to a halt when the right rear tire on the Triple X Chassis/ A-Rock materials mount came apart and exploded. The results relegated Covington from a solid podium finish to 17th and back to the pits, unable to finish the last laps of the race.
“I really hated that we lost the tire Saturday night.” Matt said. “We were good all night on Saturday. I fell back to 3rd and was just riding it out. I adjusted my line and made a run back up to the front guys. If things went right, I think we may have had a chance at a slide and a better finish. But it was just one of those deals. We just have to move on and go up to Dirt Cup along with this summer northern swing and do better. Maybe with the new adjustments that seem to have put us on the right track speed wise, we can hit the changing track conditions and be more successful.”
Matt and his Covington Motorsports team would like to thank all partners who have helped make the current 2016 season possible and look forward to the continued relationship throughout the year: T&L Foundry, Triple X Chassis, A-Rock Materials, Winters, Brodix, C.G. Martin Company, Factor 1 Racing, All-Star Performance, Outlaw Wings, Pro Shocks, DMI Components, Keizer Wheels, ButlerBuilt, Best Graphics, Simpson Race Products, Wesmar Racing Engines, Bob Hurley RV, Eaton Industrial, Maxwell Oil, Schoenfeld Headers, Schure Built Suspension, GME Steering, and STW Trailer sales
2016 STATS: Starts-25, Wins-0, Top 5’s-8, Top 10’s-18
ON TAP:
6/23/2016 Skagit Speedway - Alger, WA
6/24/2016 Skagit Speedway - Alger, WA
6/25/2016 Skagit Speedway - Alger, WA
LIVE RACE COVERAGE: Visit http://www.RacinBoys.com for free, live audio (Select Pay-Per-View video) during the season to catch all the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour events.
MERCHANDISE: Leftover 2015 Shirts still available now on the website at www.mattcovingtonracing.com or at the races in the trailer! 2016 Shirts coming SOON!.
STAY CONNECTED: For all the latest news of Matt Covington during the 2016 season, visit his website, www.mattcovingtonracing.com, like him on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mattcovingtonracing, or follow him
Submitted By: Matt Covington