(Image Credit: Jennifer Newkirk)
Bryan Hulbert – LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (July 24, 2021) Two nights through Arkansas in Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Week presented by Smiley’s Racing Products action with just as many winners, Oklahoma’s Matt Covington jumped the lead on the start at I-30 Speedway and kept that position through Saturday’s SawBlade.com A-Feature with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
“This is one of my favorite tracks. It’s where I started Sprint Car racing in 2008 before I ever started running ASCS, so I’ve got more laps at this track any track really,” said Covington who has once again taken over the points lead.
Covington’s 13th career victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the win is a series of firsts for the Glenpool, Okla. driver despite his years around the Arkansas quarter-mile. Covington’s first career win in Speedweek competition, the win is also his first at “Hammer Hill” against the National Tour, as well as his first tour score in the state of Arkansas.
Officially leading every lap, Covington’s lead was lost at one point when J.J. Hickle worked under the No. 95 on Lap 19. Crossing over the finish line, Hickle was joined by seven more drivers before the caution lights came on for Michael Faccinto who spun racing for second after tagging an infield tire. Reverting the field back to Lap 18, that put Covington back to the point.
“Thank God for the caution because J.J. showed by the bottom,” stated Covington when asked about the near pass.
“I don’t think I would have found it on my own. I couldn’t see it, and I thought I might have seen turn four getting a little darker, but I just didn’t know where it was going to take, but fortunately, the caution came out. Good for me, bad for J.J., but that’s why that call it racing and now winning all the time, but the track was good all night considering how hot it was, and with this many cars.”
Adjusting his line on the restart, Covington was unchallenged, despite a few more cautions before the race found its conclusion. Pulling away by 1.239-seconds, second went to J.J. Hickle with Dylan Westbrook, after falling back early on, fighting back for his second podium run of the weekend. Battling viciously throughout the event, Tim Crawley held on for fourth with Brandon Hanks in fifth.
Hayden Martin from 13th made it to sixth with Ryan Bickett rolling to seventh after a multi-lap battle with Marshall Skinner, who ended up eighth. Spinning on Lap 9 while battling for sixth, Blake Hahn rebounded to a ninth-place finish. Despite the use of a provisional, Washington’s Colby Thornhill made an impressive run from 23rd to complete the top ten.
A field of 47 filled the pits at the I-30 Speedway with SCE Gaskets Heat wins going to Ryan Timms, Matt Covington, Tim Crawley, Landon Britt, Blake Hahn, and Scott Bogucki. Hoosier Tire Qualifiers were topped by Marshall Skinner, J.J. Hickle, Matt Covington, and Cody Gardner. BMRS B-Features went to Cody Gardner and Ernie Ainsworth. Provisional were utilized by Colby Thornhill, Greg Hamilton, and Paxton Gregory.
The Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Week presented by Smiley’s Racing Products continues at Riverside International Speedway on Sunday, July 25. Racing gets underway at 7:30 P.M. (CDT). Riverside International Speedway is located at 151 Legion Rd. in West Memphis, Ark. More information on the track can be found at https://riversideinternationalspeedway.com or by calling (901) 840-1970.
The 2021 Lucas Oil ASCS Sprint Week presented by Smiley’s Racing Products continues on Saturday, July 24 at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Ark. Gates open at 5:00 P.M. with racing at 7:30 P.M. (CDT). I-30 Speedway is located on the I-30 Frontage Road, eastbound at Exit 126. More information on the Speedway can be found at https://www.i-30speedway.com or by calling (501) 455-4567.
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
ASCS Mid-South Region
I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, Ark.)
Saturday, July 31, 2021 - ASCS Sprint Week Night 2
Car Count: 47
SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 40 in Passing Points advance to Qualifiers)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 5T-Ryan Timms[6]; 2. 74-Tucker Boulton[1]; 3. 13-Chase Howard[4]; 4. 27J-Joseph Poe Jr[8]; 5. (DNF) 15J-Jeremy Middleton[5]; 6. (DNF) 77X-Greg Hamilton[3]; 7. (DNF) 99-Blake Jenkins[2]; 8. (DNF) 187-Landon Crawley[7]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 2. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[8]; 3. 67-Hayden Martin[3]; 4. 38-Rick Pringle[2]; 5. 10P-Dylan Postier[1]; 6. 0-Mike Vaculik[7]; 7. 23C-Keith Ainsworth[4]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 1X-Tim Crawley[3]; 2. 84-Brandon Hanks[5]; 3. 5H-Michael Faccinto[8]; 4. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[4]; 5. 41-Colton Hardy[2]; 6. 19-Colby Thornhill[7]; 7. 9-Josh McCord[1]; 8. 1-Brenham Crouch[6]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 10L-Landon Britt[1]; 2. 3-Howard Moore[6]; 3. 14-Jordon Mallett[7]; 4. 26-Marshall Skinner[4]; 5. 91T-Tyler Thomas[5]; 6. G6-Cody Gardner[8]; 7. 88-Travis Reber[2]; 8. 19J-Jason Long[3]
Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[7]; 2. 63-JJ Hickle[5]; 3. 21-Gunner Ramey[1]; 4. X-Charlie Louden[4]; 5. 91-Zach Pringle[3]; 6. 24W-Jeffrey West Jr[2]; 7. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[6]; 8. 3G-Paxton Gregory[8]
Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 28-Scott Bogucki[3]; 2. 17B-Ryan Bickett[5]; 3. 6-Dustin Gates[6]; 4. 21B-Brandon Hinkle[1]; 5. 1S-Joey Schmidt[4]; 6. 44-Ronny Howard[2]; 7. (DNS) 47-Dale Howard
Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. 26-Marshall Skinner[1]; 2. 6-Dustin Gates[3]; 3. 84-Brandon Hanks[4]; 4. 52-Blake Hahn[6]; 5. 3-Howard Moore[5]; 6. 19-Colby Thornhill[8]; 7. 21B-Brandon Hinkle[7]; 8. 13-Chase Howard[2]; 9. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[10]; 10. 10P-Dylan Postier[9]
Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 63-JJ Hickle[4]; 2. 67-Hayden Martin[2]; 3. X-Charlie Louden[1]; 4. 5T-Ryan Timms[6]; 5. 5H-Michael Faccinto[5]; 6. 10L-Landon Britt[3]; 7. 77X-Greg Hamilton[9]; 8. 91-Zach Pringle[8]; 9. 91T-Tyler Thomas[7]; 10. (DNS) 15J-Jeremy Middleton
Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 2. 21-Gunner Ramey[2]; 3. 1X-Tim Crawley[5]; 4. 17B-Ryan Bickett[4]; 5. 24W-Jeffrey West Jr[9]; 6. 38-Rick Pringle[1]; 7. 1S-Joey Schmidt[7]; 8. 99-Blake Jenkins[8]; 9. 27J-Joseph Poe Jr[3]; 10. 23C-Keith Ainsworth[10]
Qualifier 4 (8 Laps): 1. G6-Cody Gardner[1]; 2. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[2]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[6]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 5. 14-Jordon Mallett[4]; 6. 41-Colton Hardy[8]; 7. 74-Tucker Boulton[3]; 8. 3G-Paxton Gregory[10]; 9. 0-Mike Vaculik[7]; 10. 44-Ronny Howard[9]
BMRS B-Feature (Top 3 from each advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature 1 (12 Laps): 1. G6-Cody Gardner[1]; 2. 24W-Jeffrey West Jr[3]; 3. 91T-Tyler Thomas[8]; 4. 1S-Joey Schmidt[7]; 5. 74-Tucker Boulton[4]; 6. 77X-Greg Hamilton[14]; 7. X-Charlie Louden[2]; 8. 13-Chase Howard[6]; 9. 0-Mike Vaculik[9]; 10. 10P-Dylan Postier[10]; 11. 23C-Keith Ainsworth[11]; 12. 9-Josh McCord[12]; 13. (DNF) 23P-Hunter Poe[13]; 14. (DNS) 27J-Joseph Poe Jr; 15. (DNS) 15J-Jeremy Middleton; 16. (DNS) 47-Dale Howard
B Feature 2 (12 Laps): 1. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[1]; 2. 41-Colton Hardy[4]; 3. 10L-Landon Britt[2]; 4. 38-Rick Pringle[5]; 5. 187-Landon Crawley[15]; 6. 21B-Brandon Hinkle[6]; 7. 3G-Paxton Gregory[8]; 8. 99-Blake Jenkins[14]; 9. 44-Ronny Howard[10]; 10. 91-Zach Pringle[7]; 11. 1-Brenham Crouch[12]; 12. 19J-Jason Long[13]; 13. 21K-Kevin Hinkle[9]; 14. 19-Colby Thornhill[3]; 15. 88-Travis Reber[11]
Sawblade.com A-Feature
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 2. 63-JJ Hickle[3]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[2]; 4. 1X-Tim Crawley[6]; 5. 84-Brandon Hanks[7]; 6. 67-Hayden Martin[13]; 7. 17B-Ryan Bickett[10]; 8. 26-Marshall Skinner[14]; 9. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 10. 19-Colby Thornhill[23]; 11. 21-Gunner Ramey[16]; 12. 14-Jordon Mallett[15]; 13. 91A-Ernie Ainsworth[18]; 14. 91T-Tyler Thomas[21]; 15. 5T-Ryan Timms[5]; 16. 24W-Jeffrey West Jr[19]; 17. 41-Colton Hardy[20]; 18. 10L-Landon Britt[22]; 19. 28-Scott Bogucki[9]; 20. 3-Howard Moore[11]; 21. 5H-Michael Faccinto[12]; 22. 6-Dustin Gates[8]; 23. 3G-Paxton Gregory[25]; 24. G6-Cody Gardner[17]; 25. 77X-Greg Hamilton[24]
Lap Leader(s): Matt Covington 1-30
Hard Charger: Hayden Martin +7
High Point Driver: Matt Covington
Provisional(s): Colby Thornhill (Points); Greg Hamilton (Points); Paxton Gregory (Regional)
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 10): 1. Matt Covington 2,563; 2. Blake Hahn 2,535; 3. JJ Hickle 2,500; 4. Dylan Westbrook 2,343; 5. Scott Bogucki 2,196; 6. Colby Thornhill 2,031; 7. Ryan Bickett 1,953; 8. Alex Hill 1,651; 9. Travis Reber 1,618; 10. Seth Bergman 1,553;
2021 A-Feature Winner(s): Blake Hahn – 4 (4/17 – Park Jefferson Speedway); 5/15 – Volunteer Speedway; 6/24 – Skagit Speedway; 7/9 – Gallatin Speedway); JJ Hickle – 3 (3/19 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway; 3/20 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway; 6/20 – Grays Harbor Raceway); Matt Covington – 3 (5/8 – I-96 Speedway; 7/16 – U.S. 36 Raceway; 7/25 – I-30 Speedway); Scott Bogucki – 3 (5/21 – Tri-City Speedway; 5-29 – Lake Ozark Speedway; 7/10 – Gallatin Speedway); Dominic Scelzi – 2 (June 25 – Skagit Speedway; June 26 – Skagit Speedway); Blane Heimbach – 1 (5/1 – Selinsgrove Speedway); Ryan Timms – 1 (5/30 – Lake Ozark Speedway); Cam Smith – 1 (6/19 – Grays Harbor Raceway); Dale Howard – 1 (7/23 – Batesville Motor 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
Devon Borden (Raymond, WA): https://www.facebook.com/DevonBordenRacing
Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK): http://www.mattcovingtonracing.com
Roger Crockett (Broken Arrow, OK): http://www.rocketdesignsllc.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
Garet Williamson (Columbia, MO.): https://twitter.com/garetw3
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.
- Bryan Hulbert on Jul 25, 2021
- Article Date: 7/25/2021