Bryan Hulbert
PARK CITY, Kan. (June 17, 2023) Standing in Victory Lane as Mother Nature made her presence known Saturday night, Liberal, Kan. native Jason Martin held off the last lap charge of Matt Covington for his fifth win of the season with the American Sprint Car Series and ninth of his career.
A turnaround from the start of the three-day run for Jason, who got tangled up at Creek County Speedway, Martin explained he’d been chasing the car ever since.
Until Thursday, we’d been pretty good, just got tangled at Creek and it actually bent this car. It’s taken me two nights to figure out what the hell was wrong with it. I just kept messing with it because we were absolutely horrible earlier. I think we were 17th out of 19 in Hot Laps. I was mad, so I just started changing stuff.”
The first time for Martin to top the National Tour at 81 Speedway, the No. 36 shot to the lead on the opening lap with a pass on Kyler Johnson through the third and fourth turns.
Into traffic by the fifth lap, the No. 36 was slowed trying to navigate the back markers, allowing Brandon Anderson, who made it to second on Lap 2, to close the gap. Getting the shot at the top spot, Anderson took advantage on Lap 8.
Red on Lap 12 as Jeremy Campbell, Forest Sutherland, and Landon Britt tangled in the first turn, the restart would spell disaster for Anderson. With a massive puff of smoke at the end of the front stretch, the engine let go for the second race in a row down the backstretch.
Advancing Martin back to the point, the No. 36 sped away several times as Matt Covington came up to chase. In traffic again with less than three laps to go, the white flag saw Covington close from over a second to only 0.198-seconds behind. Mounting a charge down the backstretch, it was not enough to deny Jason Martin, who won by 0.297-seconds.
Kyler Johnson, third, was followed by Chris Morgan for his second career top-five finish with the American Sprint Car Series. Jordon Mallett completed the top five.
A rebound of sorts for Howard Moore after a flip at Humboldt Speedway, the No. 3 crossed sixth, with Chase Porter seventh. Tanner Conn from 13th made it to eighth, followed by Michael Day, Fred Mattox, and Zach Blurton from 18th to complete the top ten.
The field of 19 was led in The Driver’s Project Qualifying by Matt Covington at 14.354-seconds. A trio of AR Dyno Specialty Heat Races went to Matt Covington, Fred Mattox, and Chris Morgan. The KSE Hard Charger was Zach Blurton, with seven positions gained.
The next event for the American Sprint Car Series is Thursday, June 22, at Lawton Speedway. It was announced during Saturday’s Driver’s Meeting that the event will pay $4,000 to win but will increase to $500 to start. Saturday, June 24, at Caney Valley Speedway, is $5,000 to win, $500 to start.
The 2023 season will mark the 32nd year of competition for the American Sprint Car Series. Spearheaded by the American Sprint Car Series National Tour, the ASCS Nation includes Regional Tours that encompass both wing and non-wing competition.
Live coverage of the American Sprint Car Series can be found at http://www.racindirt.com.
For other news, notes, and information on any of the tours under the ASCS banner, log onto http://www.ascsracing.com, follow on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@ASCSRacing).
Race Results:
ASCS National
81-Speedway (Park City, Kan.)
Saturday, June 17, 2023
Car Count: 19
The Driver’s Project Group Qualifying (Top 4 in each group invert into Heat Races)
The Drivers Project Qualifying 1 (3 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington, 14.354[4]; 2. 10-Landon Britt, 14.371[2]; 3. 36-Jason Martin, 14.421[5]; 4. 3X-Tanner Conn, 14.574[3]; 5. 2J-Zach Blurton, 14.620[1]; 6. 2-Chase Porter, 14.824[6]; 7. 31M-Eric Matthews, 15.859[7]
The Drivers Project Qualifying 2 (3 Laps): 1. 10C-Jeremy Campbell, 14.543[2]; 2. 3-Howard Moore, 14.559[1]; 3. 26M-Fred Mattox, 14.727[4]; 4. 91-Jeff Stasa, 14.762[6]; 5. 91D-Michael Day, 14.875[3]; 6. 16S-Steven Shebester, 14.942[5]
The Drivers Project Qualifying 3 (3 Laps): 1. 55B-Brandon Anderson, 14.516[1]; 2. 14-Jordon Mallett, 14.614[6]; 3. 45X-Kyler Johnson, 14.679[3]; 4. 7C-Chris Morgan, 14.780[4]; 5. 85-Forrest Sutherland, 15.495[2]; 6. 6-Christopher Townsend, 16.049[5]
AR Dyno Specialty Heat Races (All drivers advance to the A-Feature)
AR Dyno Specialty Heat 1 (8 Laps): 1. 95-Matt Covington[4]; 2. 36-Jason Martin[2]; 3. 3X-Tanner Conn[1]; 4. 10-Landon Britt[3]; 5. 2-Chase Porter[6]; 6. 2J-Zach Blurton[5]; 7. 31M-Eric Matthews[7]
AR Dyno Specialty Heat 2 (8 Laps): 1. 26M-Fred Mattox[2]; 2. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[4]; 3. 91-Jeff Stasa[1]; 4. 91D-Michael Day[5]; 5. 3-Howard Moore[3]; 6. 16S-Steven Shebester[6]
AR Dyno Specialty Heat 3 (8 Laps): 1. 7C-Chris Morgan[1]; 2. 45X-Kyler Johnson[2]; 3. 55B-Brandon Anderson[4]; 4. 14-Jordon Mallett[3]; 5. 85-Forrest Sutherland[5]; 6. 6-Christopher Townsend[6]
A-Feature
RacinDirt A-Main (25 Laps): 1. 36-Jason Martin[2]; 2. 95-Matt Covington[6]; 3. 45X-Kyler Johnson[1]; 4. 7C-Chris Morgan[7]; 5. 14-Jordon Mallett[9]; 6. 3-Howard Moore[11]; 7. 2-Chase Porter[12]; 8. 3X-Tanner Conn[13]; 9. 91D-Michael Day[10]; 10. 26M-Fred Mattox[3]; 11. 2J-Zach Blurton[18]; 12. 91-Jeff Stasa[14]; 13. 31M-Eric Matthews[19]; 14. 16S-Steven Shebester[16]; 15. 55B-Brandon Anderson[4]; 16. 10C-Jeremy Campbell[5]; 17. 10-Landon Britt[8]; 18. 85-Forrest Sutherland[15]; 19. 6-Christopher Townsend[17]
Lap Leader(s): Jason Martin 1-7; 13-25; Brandon Anderson 8-12
KSE Hard Charger: Zach Blurton +7
Driver’s Project Quick Time: Matt Covington 14.354-Seconds
High Point Driver: Matt Covington
Provisional(s): N/A