Matt Covington rode his Missile Motorsports #95 into Paducah International Raceway on a 47-race winless streak in the American Sprint Car Series, a schedule on which he’s been full-time since 2014. It wasn’t for lack of effort or ability, but that doesn’t offer much solace for those with a competitive spirit. “I’d be lying to you if I said it didn’t bother me a little bit,” quipped Covington. “It’s good to get that off our shoulders early in the season,” he added.

Covington jokingly said Paducah was his favorite track when he asked in victory lane, who knows if that’s true, but it has certainly been a strong track for him over the years. He won in the series’ first-ever stop in 2018. And last October, a flat tire and ensuing crash ended his night while fighting for the lead with eventual winner Hank Davis. It wasn’t a matter of if Convington would win, but when and where. The answers to those questions came into focus quickly at Paducah. From the time the cars hit the track, he was on a mission. The car looked bad fast from the trailer; he was quick in qualifying, won his heat, won the dash, and then put on a clinic in the feature, leading all 30 laps and easily surviving several restarts, including two for flips involving Aaron Rixmann and Kyler Johnson. The final restart was maybe the biggest challenge of the day, but he could expel Sam Hafertepe Jr by the exit of turn two and drive away. When asked about the battle, Hafertepe noted “Out in clean air, i don’t think anyone had anything for Covington. We were battling a few guys just because the right rear was low on us on the restarts. But I felt like once we got some speed up and I got some air pressure built back up, we could hang in there pretty well. And actually, I felt like we had a shot at Covington right before that last caution came out.”.

The win is Covington’s 20th with the ASCS, good for a three-way tie for 14th on the all-time list. It also puts him second in the season standings, just seventeen points behind leader Hafertepe. You can watch the full ASCS schedule on DirtVision.

All Images Credited to Clay Guthrie