Matt Covington Victorious In 2020 Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series Opener

Bryan Hulbert - PEORIA, Ariz. (February 28, 2020) Besting a stout field of 51 drivers at Canyon Speedway Park, the first payday of the 2020 season with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network went to Oklahoma's Matt Covington with the Lucas Oil/A-Rock Material No. 95 leading start to finish on the first night of the Sands Chevrolet Meltdown.

Having to chase the line around the one-third mile oval as it moved top to bottom through the 25-lap preliminary A-Feature, Covington held on through several late-race restarts to collect the night's $3,000 paycheck.

"Several times when the track gets like that and moves around, I've made the wrong choice and tonight I made the right choice," commented Covington of the race. "The car felt good all night, and I had a lot of fun. I didn't really need to start babying it until right there at the end. It felt like my right rear was starting to go down about the last five laps, but Mike [Davenport] did a great job on the car tonight and I'm glad we were able to put on a show for these fans."

Taking the lead from the pole, Covington kept pace over John Carney II. Working the bottom of the Speedway, Carney tried for the lead on Lap 12 but hooked the inside berm off the exit of the second turn; sending the No. J2 skyward before slamming hard on the front suspension. Dropping to third in the process, Carney went three-wide with the Scelzi brothers before going around on Lap 13.

Taking off with Sanders and Scelzi in tow, the race for the runner-up spot was stout as Dominic and Giovanni battled back-and-forth with Giovanni finally getting the advantage on Lap 16. Leaving Dominic to content with Justin Sanders, the No. 17s was able to keep the No. 41x at bay as Giovanni set his sights on the lead.

Taking a shot on a Lap 17, Giovanni came up short on the pass. Getting another restart on Lap 18, Covington was able to pull away with his advantage growing to nearly a second at the drop of the checkered flag. Giovanni Scelzi crossed second with Justin Sanders third. Dominic Scelzi in fourth was trailed by Colby Copeland to complete the top five.

Harli White grabbed sixth with Canada's Dylan Westbrook in seventh. Jason Solwold in eighth was trailed by Roger Crockett with D.J. Netto completing the top-ten.

The field of 51 teams was split into six SCE Gaskets Heat Races with wins going to Blake Hahn, Dylan Westbrook, Harli White, Matt Covington, Colby Copeland, and Roger Crockett. Hoosier Tire Qualifiers were topped by John Carney II, Dominic Scelzi, Chase Randall, and Giovanni Scelzi. BMRS B-Features went to Jordon Mallett and Mitchell Faccinto. Two Provisionals were used by Robbie Price and Alex Hill.

The Sands Chevrolet Meltdown at Canyon Speedway continues Saturday, February 29, 2020. Racing goes green at 7:00 P.M. (MT). Canyon Speedway Park is located at 9777 W Carefree Hwy. in Peoria, Ariz. Information and directions on the Arizona oval can be found online at https://www.canyonspeedwaypark.com/ or by calling (602) 258-7223.

Live coverage is available for those who cannot make the trip on http://www.racinboys.com.

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 2020, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, on Instagram, and Twitter (@LucasOilASCS).

Race Results:

Lucas Oil ASCS presented by MAVTV
ASCS Southwest Region
Canyon Speedway Park (Peoria, Ariz.)
Friday, February 28, 2020

Car Count: 51

SCE Gaskets Heat Races (Top 40 in Passing Points advance to Qualifiers)

Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 52-Blake Hahn[1]; 2. 17S-Justin Sanders[3]; 3. 9-Chase Randall[2]; 4. 83T-Tanner Carrick[4]; 5. 14-Jordon Mallett[8]; 6. 5H-Michael Faccinto[7]; 7. 38B-Blake Carrick[5]; 8. 12J-Josh Grady[9]; 9. 57-Stevie Sussex III[6]

Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[2]; 2. 8-Devon Borden[1]; 3. 115-Nick Parker[4]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki[8]; 5. 11C-Jeff Lowery[3]; 6. 14C-Cody Sickles[5]; 7. 3V-Jim Vanzant[7]; 8. (DNF) 45C-Lonnie Cox[9]; 9. (DNF) 7-Eric Wilkins[6]

Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 17W-Harli White[2]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[1]; 3. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 4. 18S-Jason Solwold[8]; 5. 75X-JT Imperial[5]; 6. 77X-Alex Hill[6]; 7. 21P-Robbie Price[7]; 8. (DNF) 11M-Mindy McCune[3]; 9. (DNS) 7K-Mason Keefer

Heat 4 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[2]; 2. 17-Seth Bergman[4]; 3. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[3]; 4. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi[5]; 5. 21K-Thomas Kennedy[8]; 6. 99X-Caleb Saiz[1]; 7. 22-Jesse Baker[7]; 8. 43-Ryan Oerter[6]

Heat 5 (8 Laps): 1. 01-Colby Copeland[1]; 2. J2-John Carney II[2]; 3. 44-Chris Martin[4]; 4. 19-Wes Wofford[3]; 5. 37-Mitchell Faccinto[6]; 6. 18-Lorne Wofford[7]; 7. 24D-Danny Sams III[5]; 8. (DNS) 2S-Shad Petersen

Heat 6 (8 Laps): 1. 11-Roger Crockett[1]; 2. 17B-Ryan Bickett[2]; 3. 41-Colton Hardy[5]; 4. 2-Alex Pettas[8]; 5. 88-Travis Reber[4]; 6. 24-Garet Williamson[3]; 7. 14T-Tim Estenson[6]; 8. 0J-Jeremy McCune[7]

Hoosier Tire Qualifiers (Top 16 in combined Passing Points advance to the A-Feature)

Qualifier 1 (8 Laps): 1. J2-John Carney II[3]; 2. 21K-Thomas Kennedy[1]; 3. 18S-Jason Solwold[4]; 4. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[6]; 5. 83T-Tanner Carrick[7]; 6. 21P-Robbie Price[10]; 7. 5H-Michael Faccinto[8]; 8. 52-Blake Hahn[5]; 9. 77X-Alex Hill[9]; 10. 115-Nick Parker[2]

Qualifier 2 (8 Laps): 1. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[2]; 2. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[1]; 3. 01-Colby Copeland[5]; 4. 17W-Harli White[6]; 5. 17B-Ryan Bickett[3]; 6. 19-Wes Wofford[7]; 7. 22-Jesse Baker[10]; 8. 2-Alex Pettas[4]; 9. 88-Travis Reber[8]; 10. 14C-Cody Sickles[9]

Qualifier 3 (8 Laps): 1. 9-Chase Randall[1]; 2. 17S-Justin Sanders[4]; 3. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 4. 11-Roger Crockett[5]; 5. 37-Mitchell Faccinto[7]; 6. 44-Chris Martin[2]; 7. 8-Devon Borden[3]; 8. 24-Garet Williamson[9]; 9. 99X-Caleb Saiz[10]; 10. 18-Lorne Wofford[8]

Qualifier 4 (8 Laps): 1. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi[1]; 2. 88N-DJ Netto[3]; 3. 14-Jordon Mallett[2]; 4. 28-Scott Bogucki[5]; 5. 17-Seth Bergman[6]; 6. 41-Colton Hardy[4]; 7. 75X-JT Imperial[7]; 8. 11C-Jeff Lowery[8]; 9. 12J-Josh Grady[10]; 10. 3V-Jim Vanzant[9]

BMRS B-Feature (Top 6 advance to the A-Feature)

B Feature 1 (15 Laps): 1. 14-Jordon Mallett[1]; 2. 83T-Tanner Carrick[2]; 3. 41-Colton Hardy[3]; 4. 19-Wes Wofford[4]; 5. 21P-Robbie Price[6]; 6. 2-Alex Pettas[5]; 7. 11C-Jeff Lowery[8]; 8. 38B-Blake Carrick[14]; 9. 22-Jesse Baker[7]; 10. 115-Nick Parker[9]; 11. 77X-Alex Hill[10]; 12. 0J-Jeremy McCune[15]; 13. 12J-Josh Grady[11]; 14. 14T-Tim Estenson[13]; 15. 14C-Cody Sickles[12]; 16. 7-Eric Wilkins[17]; 17. 2S-Shad Petersen[16]; 18. (DNS) 11M-Mindy McCune

B Feature 2 (15 Laps): 1. 37-Mitchell Faccinto[2]; 2. 52-Blake Hahn[4]; 3. 5H-Michael Faccinto[6]; 4. 17B-Ryan Bickett[1]; 5. 24-Garet Williamson[8]; 6. 75X-JT Imperial[7]; 7. 24D-Danny Sams III[14]; 8. 57-Stevie Sussex III[16]; 9. 8-Devon Borden[5]; 10. 99X-Caleb Saiz[10]; 11. 44-Chris Martin[3]; 12. 88-Travis Reber[9]; 13. 45C-Lonnie Cox[13]; 14. 43-Ryan Oerter[15]; 15. 3V-Jim Vanzant[12]; 16. 18-Lorne Wofford[11]; 17. (DNS) 7K-Mason Keefer

Sawblade.com A-Feature

A Feature (25 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[1]; 2. 41S-Giovanni Scelzi[11]; 3. 17S-Justin Sanders[3]; 4. 41X-Dominic Scelzi[4]; 5. 01-Colby Copeland[5]; 6. 17W-Harli White[7]; 7. 47X-Dylan Westbrook[6]; 8. 18S-Jason Solwold[8]; 9. 11-Roger Crockett[12]; 10. 88N-DJ Netto[9]; 11. 52-Blake Hahn[20]; 12. 5H-Michael Faccinto[22]; 13. 41-Colton Hardy[21]; 14. 14-Jordon Mallett[17]; 15. 28-Scott Bogucki[13]; 16. 37-Mitchell Faccinto[18]; 17. 21K-Thomas Kennedy[15]; 18. J2-John Carney II[2]; 19. 9-Chase Randall[10]; 20. 83T-Tanner Carrick[19]; 21. 17-Seth Bergman[14]; 22. (DNF) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[16]; 23. (DNF) 21P-Robbie Price[23]; 24. (DNF) 77X-Alex Hill[24]

Lap Leader(s): Matt Covington 1-25
Hard Charger: Michael Faccinto +10
High Point Driver: Matt Covington
Provisional(s): Robbie Price (Points); Alex Hill (Points)

Driver Point Standings (Top 15): 1. Matt Covington 150; 2. Giovanni Scelzi 142; 3. Justin Sanders 135; 4. Dominic Scelzi 130, 5. Colby Copeland 125; 6. Harli White 122; 7. Dylan Westbrook 119; 8. Jason Solwold 116; 9. Roger Crockett 113; 10. D.J. Netto 110; 11. Blake Hahn 108, 12. Michael Faccinto 106; 13. Colton Hardy 104; 14. Jordon Mallett 102; 15. Scott Bogucki 100;