By Jordan Delucia
CONCORD, NC (May 19, 2025) — Matt Covington’s recent return to Victory Lane with the American Sprint Car Series (ASCS) signaled more than just the end of a 21-month-long dry spell. It highlighted his unrelenting drive to compete, even in the wake of recovery from invasive surgery.
Covington, a 13-year veteran of the nation’s premier 360 Sprint Car racing series, took the checkered flag last Saturday night at Paducah International Raceway after leading all 30 laps, marking his 20th career Series Feature win and first since Aug. 25, 2023, at Lakeside Speedway.
Six hundred twenty-four days had passed since then, and after going the entire 2024 season shut out of Victory Lane, many of his fans were wondering — what was holding the Glenpool, OK-native back?
“I had elbow surgery over the winter — a pretty extensive surgery — with a six-month recovery time,” Covington said. “We’re at the six-month date right now. It still bothers me a little bit, but my mobility behind the wheel is where it needs to be.”
For the past several years, Covington had been dealing with various nerve issues in his hands and arms, causing numbness and a decreased ability to grip objects, such as his steering wheel. To combat these issues, he underwent multiple surgeries on his hands in the late 2010s, but the procedures did not fix the problems.
That’s when he and his doctor turned to cubital tunnel release surgery — a procedure that relieves pressure on the ulnar nerve as it passes behind the elbow.
However, the procedure came with a six-month recovery period, so Covington was forced to wait until after the 2024 season to go through with the operation. In that time, he managed to record nine podium finishes and wrapped up a third-place finish in the championship points standings.
“I just limped myself through the season, running the points thing,” he said. “Not that I couldn’t drive the car and still finish podium, but it takes everything you got to win one.”
Following his final race of the season in November, Covington went in for the operation and began his road to recovery. Once the cast was off and he regained mobility in his arm, Covington returned to the seat of his car to open the 2025 season with the Series in Florida.
“In 2022–23, I felt pretty good, but I could tell I wasn’t fixed all the way,” Covington recalled. “I ended up having to go to a sports surgeon before they started to talk about the ulnar nerve thing.
“Then, once they did [the surgery], I was like four months into recovery time when we went to Volusia and I was already like, ‘Oh man, that’s the cat’s meow. I forgot what that felt like.'”
Covington recently crossed the six-month mark in his recovery period — fittingly, right before his return to Victory Lane at Paducah.
“That surgery really seemed to fix my problem,” he said. “I think that’ll help us out a lot, especially late in races where [my hands] start to go numb.”
Covington said he plans on having the same procedure done on his left elbow in the near future to prevent any further issues. But for now, he’s focused on winning his first Series championship — and he’s never had a single doubt about his capabilities, with or without nerve issues.
“I thought we could do it even unhealthy in the past, and we’ve come close before,” Covington said. “We’re confident that we can get it done, and our car’s fast right now.
“I’d say that I’m the healthiest I’ve been in years prior. All of those things combined I think gives us a good shot.”
Covington returns to action with the American Sprint Car Series in the next race weekend — Friday–Saturday, May 30–31, at Salt City Speedway (Hutchinson, KS) and Dodge City Raceway Park (Dodge City, KS).
Tickets for both events will be on sale at the gate on race day. If you can’t be there to watch in person, stream every lap live on DIRTVision.