Matt Covington Masters the Fred Brownfield Classic with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series
ELMA, Wash. (June 29, 2019) A preliminary night winner in 2017, Oklahoma’s Matt Covington added the Fred Brownfield Classic championship night to his list of accomplishments on Saturday night with his first Sawblade.com A-Feature victory of the year with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network.
Covington’s ninth career victory with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network, the win as a much-needed one for the team who saw Dirt Cup ripped from their hands one week ago.
“We needed this. Man, we needed this win. I thought we had Dirt Cup in the bag and had a Rod Bolt let go. Nothing on our engine builder, I tried to take old parts and make them last too long. Mark at Shark Racing Engines definitely stepped our program up,” stated Covington, who is the season’s 10th different winner.
Winning the race for the lead into the first two turns, Covington set a quick pace around the Grays Harbor Raceway with Colton Heath in tow. Caution working Lap 7 for Jay Cole who rolled to a stop entering the first turn, Heath tried for the lead on the restart but was denied as Reece Goetz and Jason Solwold set their sights on the Triple X Race Co. No. 33. Grabbing the runner-up spot on Lap 8, the run for Goetz was short lived as Solwold slid both drivers to move from fourth to second off the fourth turn on Lap 9.
Allowing Covington to open a sizable advantage, the Scottie Plumbing No. 18 began searching around the track. Finding a line just off the cushion of the Grays Harbor Raceway, Solwold began picking away at Covington’s lead. Moving the gap to 0.855 seconds in clean air, traffic loomed for the leaders, but the caution would come out instead as Chris Bullock looped his No. 17c in the second turn; directly in the path of the leaders. Everyone was able to avoid.
Diving low in the Lap 12 restart, Solwold pulled even for the race lead as the pair hit the back straightaway. Diving to the bottom the close the door on Solwold’s run, Covington forced the No. 18 out of the throttle. Letting the car drift off the bottom through the fourth turn, the T&L Foundry No. 95 was again pressured. Rushing the bottom again into the first turn, this time Covington stuck the hub to protect the race lead.
On the challenge for the lead, Matt explained, “He showed by a nose and I had to chop him hard. It was for the win, and I knew I wasn’t going to get another chance if he got the run. It was fun and I’m glad we came out on top. We’ve got a couple wins this year, but the National Tour has tough to get. I’ve run second a lot, and flat gave a few away and I was determined not to let that happen here.”
Working back into slower traffic in the closing laps, Covington’s pace was nearly unchanged as he crossed under the checkered flag 3.849 seconds ahead of Jason Solwold. Running out of laps to contend for the runner-up spot, Scott Bogucki picked up his fourth podium finish of the season in the Sawblade.com No. 28. The night’s Hard Charger from 14th to fourth, Sam Hafertepe, Jr. reclaimed the point’s lead by 44 markers with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network. Washington’s Austen Wheatley ended up fifth after racing as high as third during the race’s mid-point.
Colton Heath slipped to sixth with Reece Goetz to seventh after racing for second early on. Robbie Price picked up eight positions to eighth with Roger Crockett rebounding from a Friday DNF to a ninth-place finish. New Zealand’s Brayton Davison completed the top ten.
A total of 35 drivers took part in the Fred Brownfield Classic weekend with 31 making the call on Saturday night. A four pack of SCE Gaskets Heat Races went to Austen Wheatley, Seth Bergman, Colton Heath, and Matt Covington. The BMRS B-Feature was won by Cam Smith. One Provisional was used by Blake Hahn.
With the Independence Day Weekend off, the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network goes green again at the NAPA of Montana Grizzly Nationals at Gallatin Speedway in Belgrade, Mont. on Friday, July 12 and Saturday, July 13. The race where it takes more guts to stand in Victory Lane than it did to win, the winners will stand with a nine-foot-tall Grizzly Bear named Adam. Information on the track is online at http://www.galatinspeedway.com.
For other news, notes, and information on the American Sprint Car Series, from the National Tour to any of the nine Regional Tours that make up ASCS Nation in 2019, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).
Race Results:
Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV
Summer Thunder Sprint Series
Grays Harbor Raceway (Elma, Wash.)
Fred Brownfield Classic – Night 2
Saturday, June 29, 2019
Car Count: 31
Event Count: 34
SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 16 in Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)
Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 44W-Austen Wheatley, [1]; 2. 18-Jason Solwold, [3]; 3. 77X-Alex Hill, [4]; 4. 17W-Harli White, [2]; 5. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [7]; 6. 52-Blake Hahn, [6]; 7. J2-John Carney II, [8]; 8. 8-Devon Borden, [5]
Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 23-Seth Bergman, [2]; 2. 33S-Lance Sargent, [1]; 3. 6-Breyton Davison, [4]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett, [6]; 5. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [3]; 6. 97R-Jason Reed, [5]; 7. 6A-Kyle Miller, [7]; 8. 22X-Travis Jacobson, [8]
Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 33-Colton Heath, [4]; 2. 9R-Reece Goetz, [6]; 3. 17C-Chris Bullock, [2]; 4. 21P-Robbie Price, [3]; 5. 11-Roger Crockett, [7]; 6. 151-Duke Johnson, [1]; 7. 96-Andrew Caruana, [8]; 8. 66-Brett McGhie, [5]
Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, [2]; 2. 28-Scott Bogucki, [4]; 3. 0J-Jay Cole, [1]; 4. 17-Cam Smith, [3]; 5. 14B-Bailey Sucich, [6]; 6. 9-Shawn Rice, [5]; 7. 71-John Stuart, [7]
BMRS B-Feature (Top 6 advance to the A-Feature)
B Feature (12 Laps): 1. 17-Cam Smith, [1]; 2. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [4]; 3. 8-Devon Borden, [14]; 4. 14B-Bailey Sucich, [2]; 5. J2-John Carney II, [8]; 6. 17W-Harli White, [3]; 7. 52-Blake Hahn, [5]; 8. 6A-Kyle Miller, [10]; 9. 9-Shawn Rice, [7]; 10. 96-Andrew Caruana, [9]; 11. 71-John Stuart, [11]; 12. (DNF) 97R-Jason Reed, [6]; 13. (DNF) 66-Brett McGhie, [13]; 14. (DNF) 22X-Travis Jacobson, [15]; 15. (DNF) 151-Duke Johnson, [12]
Sawblade.com A-Feature
A Feature (30 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, [1]; 2. 18-Jason Solwold, [8]; 3. 28-Scott Bogucki, [6]; 4. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr, [14]; 5. 44W-Austen Wheatley, [5]; 6. 33-Colton Heath, [3]; 7. 9R-Reece Goetz, [4]; 8. 21P-Robbie Price, [16]; 9. 11-Roger Crockett, [15]; 10. 6-Breyton Davison, [10]; 11. 52-Blake Hahn, [23]; 12. 77X-Alex Hill, [9]; 13. 14-Jordon Mallett, [11]; 14. 17-Cam Smith, [17]; 15. 8-Devon Borden, [19]; 16. J2-John Carney II, [21]; 17. 17W-Harli White, [22]; 18. 2X-Tucker Doughty, [18]; 19. 33S-Lance Sargent, [7]; 20. 14B-Bailey Sucich, [20]; 21. 17C-Chris Bullock, [12]; 22. (DNF) 0J-Jay Cole, [13]; 23. (DNF) 23-Seth Bergman, [2]
Lap Leader(s): Matt Covington 1-30
Hard Charger: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. +10
High Point Driver: Colton Heath
Provisional(s): Blake Hahn (Points)
2019 National Tour Driver Standings (Top 15): 1. Sam Hafertepe, Jr. 2,218; 2. John Carney II 2,174; 3. Blake Hahn 2,165; 4. Scott Bogucki 2,158; 5. Matt Covington 2,138; 6. Roger Crockett 2,034; 7. Robbie Price 1,935; 8. Harli White 1,847; 9. Jordon Mallett 1,793; 10. Alex Hill 1,691; 11. Tucker Doughty 1,634; 12. Jamie Ball 1,063; 13. Seth Bergman 826; 14. Jason Solwold 633; 15. Colton Heath 604;
2019 Race Winners: Sam Hafertepe, Jr. – 5 (5/17 – I-96 Speedway; 5/18 – I-96 Speedway; 5/25 – Lake Ozark Speedway; 6/5 – Lawton Speedway; 6/8 – Salina Speedway); Scott Bogucki – 2 (6/14 – Brown County Speedway; 6/15 – Black Hills Speedway); Thomas Kennedy – 2 (4/25 – Eagle Raceway, 4/26 – U.S. 36 Raceway); John Carney II – 1 (5/26 – Lake Ozark Speedway); Travis Rilat – 1 (6/4 – Devil’s Bowl Speedway); Blake Hahn – 1 (6/20 – Skagit Speedway); Roger Crockett – 1 (6/21 – Skagit Speedway); Robbie Price – 1 (6/22 – Skagit Speedway); Devon Borden – 1 (6/28 – Grays Harbor Raceway); Matt Covington – 1 (6/29 – Grays Harbor Raceway);
Weather Related Cancellations – 8: Devil’s Bowl Speedway (3/15 and 3/16); Williams Grove Speedway (5/3); Selinsgrove Speedway (5/4); Lakeside Speedway (5/9); I-30 Speedway (5/11); Route 66 Motor Speedway (6/1); Creek County Speedway (6/6)
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Twitter: http://www.twitter.
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Audio Broadcast: http://www.
Live Scoring (Where Applicable): MRP Live
Seth Bergman (Snohomish, WA.): http://www.
Scott Bogucki (McLaren Vale, S. Aust.): https://www.facebook.
John Carney II (El Paso, TX): https://www.facebook.com/
Matt Covington (Glenpool, OK): http://www.
Roger Crockett (Broken Arrow, OK): http://www.
Tucker Doughty (Rockwall, TX): https://twitter.com/
Sam Hafertepe, Jr. (Sunnyvale, TX): http://www.sam15.com
Blake Hahn (Sapulpa, OK): http://www.
Alex Hill (Six Nations, Ontario, Can.): https://twitter.com/
Jordon Mallett (Greenbrier, AR): https://www.facebook.com/
Chris Martin (Ankeny, IA): https://twitter.com/cmr_
Robbie Price (Cobble Hill, BC, Can.): http://www.
Harli White (Lindsay, OK): http://www.
Sources: Bryan Hulbert/ASCS PR