SPENCER, Iowa – Picking up win No. 4 of the season, Matt Covington had to hold off Blake Hahn in the debut of the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network at Clay County Fair Speedway Tuesday night.
“Man, this was an awesome track tonight, and the fans really made it a great show,” stated Covington. “It was perfect for how we like it with a bottom, slick to the top, and technical. Being open on one end and a wall on the other made it interesting, but just glad we could get the win here, especially with these massive trophies. I had to hold on and get one for my buddy, Josh [Hegwood].”
Leading every lap of Tuesday’s Battle of the Blue Ribbon, Covington never had much of a cushion to lean on as Hahn stalked him into slower traffic. Taking second on Lap 15, the CSR Garage No. 52 showed a nose to Covington a few times but never could get the pass. Chasing to the white flag, the caution lights came on for the stalled No. 6 of Jeremy McCune as the leaders raced into the first two turns.
Back to the last fully complete lap, the race set up into a green, white, checkered dash to the finish.
Working the top of the three-eighths-mile oval, Covington held Hahn to try and make the bottom work on the restart. Getting bite off the second turn, the pair rode the wall off the fourth turn to the wave of the white flag. Another run off the bottom, Hahn pulled back into Covington’s tire tracks before peeling to the hub of the final two turns.
Matching the A-Rock Material No. 95 in the middle of the third and fourth turns, the top proved to be the place to be as Covington held on by a couple of car lengths.
“I was worried on the restart. I knew I had to time it and get the best restart I could to get the gap and hustle it. Blake’s been fast all year, and he already showed me a nose a few times in traffic, so I knew it was going to be a fight to the finish,” stated Covington of the race to the finish.
Dylan Westbrook held on for third, with J.J. Hickle crossing fourth. Using the restart to his advantage, Skylar Prochaska grabbed fifth.
The finish:
1. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 3. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[2]; 4. 63-JJ Hickle[5]; 5. 35-Skylar Prochaska[8]; 6. 24-Terry McCarl[12]; 7. 5T-Ryan Timms[3]; 8. 17B-Ryan Bickett[10]; 9. 22X-Riley Goodno[7]; 10. 22-Kaleb Johnson[11]; 11. 24T-Chris Thram[9]; 12. 0-Brandon Stevenson[13]; 13. 55-Nate Eakin[14]; 14. 14-Jody Rosenboom[6]; 15. 13MJ-Brandon Halverson[17]; 16. 32-Dusty Ballenger[15]; 17. 6-Jeremy McCune[21]; 18. 69R-Damon McCune[22]; 19. 11-Mindy McCune[20]; 20. 1A-John Anderson[16]; 21. 88-Travis Reber[18]; 22. 18-Dalton Domagala[19]