Covington Motorsports- Matt Covington came home with a second place finish with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour on Friday night at Devils Bowl.
The runner-up finish was his first top-5 of the young 2014 season. The finish put the Triple X Chassis/ Wesmar powered entry into 8th position in the championship standings after a rough start to the season.
"I really wanted that win bad," he said. "We were just a little too tight for me to be able to pick up the throttle where I needed on corner exit. But whenever you get a top four finish and are able to lock in for the following night, it always helps.”
On Friday, Covington started on the outside front row of his heat race. After getting the jump on the start, Matt was able to pull away for the heat race win. That earned him enough points to advance to the feature redraw.
"I was able to get a good start and take the lead," he said. "After that it’s just a matter of hitting your marks and staying out front to get the heat win.”
Covington was able to pull the No. 2 pill in the redraw, which lined his Simpson Racing Products/Winters Performance machine on the outside pole for the 25-lap feature.
"It’s not very often that I get the chance to start up front with the national boys, and it has been hit or miss the few times I have in the past," he said. "Tony got a pretty good jump on the start, almost too good and I was thinking they were going to call it back. But it stayed green and I was able to settle in and find a rhythm. The car was a little on the snug side and I struggled in traffic without the air on my nose wing.”
Covington was being challenged for second when the caution light came on late in the race to bring out the yellow. Matt was able to regroup under the caution and once back underway survive to the finish and come home second. The runner-up finish locked him into the feature redraw for Saturday's race, which was postponed a week because of the threat of rain.
Matt will return to Devil's Bowl Speedway this Saturday for the conclusion of the Lucas Oil ASCS National Tour doubleheader. Matt is assured to start in the first four rows of the main event.
"It's nice to be locked in," he said. "We will only get a handful of hot laps before the feature next week. Not sure if that is a good thing or disadvantage come next weekend. But at least we know we will have a solid starting spot, and hopefully a chance to have another solid points night and top-5 finish.
Matt and his Covington Racing team would like to thank T&L Foundry, Triple X Chassis, Winters, Brodix, C.G. Martin Company, Factor 1 Racing, All-Star Performance, Outlaw Wings, Pro Shocks, DMI Components, Keizer Wheels, ButlerBuilt, Simpson Race Products, GME Steering, Wesmar Racing Engines, Bob Hurley RV, Eaton Industrial, Maxwell Industries, and Schoenfeld Headers for their support in 2014.
2014 BY THE NUMBERS: Starts-3, Wins-0, Top 5’s-1, Top 10’s-1
ON TAP: Covington will be in action at the Devil's Bowl Speedway on 3/29/2014.
STAY CONNECTED: For all the latest news of Matt Covington, visit his website, www.mattcovingtonracing.com, Like him on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/mattcovingtonracing, or follow him on twitter, @mattcovington11.
- Matt Covington on Mar 24, 2014
- Article Date: 3/24/2014