LOCUST GROVE, AR (June 11, 2026) — Matt Covington has seen this script before.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. leads the American Sprint Car Series points, while Covington remains on his tail for the title fight entering the summer stretch.
In years past, that story has ended with Covington having to watch Hafertepe or another driver run away with the title. This year, the Glenpool, OK driver wants to flip the script.
Sitting second in points – 22 points behind Hafertepe – with one win, five top fives and eight top 10s in the first 11 races, including three straight top fives, the veteran is primed to keep his stout run going throughout the summer, starting this weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway, June 13.
“We’re pretty par for the course if you look at years past,” Covington said. “We’re kind of right where we always are, but I think the real difference is going to be what happens from here forward. Being in the same place we are, it doesn’t sound great because we seem to be pretty decent at running second and third in the championship. We’re hoping to be where we are right now, but the points are real close, and I feel like it depends on where we go from here.”
Hafertepe’s recent engine issue at Creek County Speedway, helped Covington keep a close points gap, but capitalizing on others’ woes and minimizing his own will be key to determining this year’s champion, he said.
“It’d be nice to have more of a lead on Sam,” Covington said. “I’ve seen him do it before, but come mid-summer, the guy goes on a tear. I know he and Bergman are capable of doing it. You can go back over 10 years, where he goes on a four-win streak, and that’s in the back of our minds. Sam is not a guy that typically DNFs a lot, and if you took his whole career, he’s not a guy that does so very often.
“We’ve been good at not taking a DNF; some of that goes back to my sponsorship situation, where we got to be a little more conservative. Because not only are we trying to win the championship, but we’re trying to stay out there all season. We’ve tried to not be so much of a points racer, but at the same time, I know who we’re doing battle with, and we can’t let them get away from us.”
Covington is the meat in the three-driver points sandwich entering Batesville, with Seth Bergman also in the title hunt, only one point behind Covington. While the Series has not reached the halfway point, the urgency to secure the lead and reach his five-win goal is prominent.
“The urgency is already there,” Covington admitted. “Sam’s got us by (22) points, and we’re going into mid-summer, which seems to be his part of the year. If I had a 100-point lead at this point, then maybe I’d approach points races a little bit differently. But right now, we have the sense of urgency where we still need to win at least four more Series races to get to our five-win number. We better bring a fast car to Batesville because we need to rack off a few more wins, and they’re not easy to come by.
“At 81, we didn’t have the car to win, but we put ourselves in a position to win. We’re only going to be able to get away with that so many times before we start falling back to the No. 15H. You don’t want to lose the title from something stupid or taking chances that weren’t necessary, but we’re not in that spot right now. We just need to show up, win, and get in their heads like, ‘Hey, the 95 car is the fastest right now,’ and make these guys think they need to do something different.”
After Batesville, the Series will close out June with The Big One at Belleville High Banks. While Covington has never won at either facility, he knows the balance of having speed and maneuverability at the tracks, with career-high finishes of third at Batesville (2024) and fourth at Belleville (2025).
“I think it’s been proven before that if a guy’s car is good, you’re going to be able to drive around some people,” Covington said. “There’s certain conditions that make it tougher than others, so you can’t beat the track position. But it’s not impossible. A guy can have a car with front-running speed, but isn’t maneuverable enough to get through traffic good.
“Qualifying brought a different element to the Series. We used to do a blank field draw, but you could get stuck in a bad draw, and it’d be damn near impossible to recover. There’s a car that is better in clean air than a car that is maneuverable in traffic, and I hear some of the younger guys struggle with that. Eventually, these guys are going to figure it out, but right now, it’s me, Sam, and Bergman that have it figured out, and it’s why you see us consistently qualifying in the front.”
Covington will get back to work with the American Sprint Car Series on Saturday, June 13, to chase a $4,000 payday at Batesville.
Covington Holding ASCS Title Fight Within Reach Entering Summer Stretch LOCUST GROVE, AR (June 11, 2026) — Matt Covington has seen this script before.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. leads the American Sprint Car Series points, while Covington remains on his tail for the title fight entering the summer stretch.
In years past, that story has ended with Covington having to watch Hafertepe or another driver run away with the title. This year, the Glenpool, OK driver wants to flip the script.
Sitting second in points – 22 points behind Hafertepe – with one win, five top fives and eight top 10s in the first 11 races, including three straight top fives, the veteran is primed to keep his stout run going throughout the summer, starting this weekend at Batesville Motor Speedway, June 13.
“We’re pretty par for the course if you look at years past,” Covington said. “We’re kind of right where we always are, but I think the real difference is going to be what happens from here forward. Being in the same place we are, it doesn’t sound great because we seem to be pretty decent at running second and third in the championship. We’re hoping to be where we are right now, but the points are real close, and I feel like it depends on where we go from here.”
Hafertepe’s recent engine issue at Creek County Speedway, helped Covington keep a close points gap, but capitalizing on others’ woes and minimizing his own will be key to determining this year’s champion, he said.
“It’d be nice to have more of a lead on Sam,” Covington said. “I’ve seen him do it before, but come mid-summer, the guy goes on a tear. I know he and Bergman are capable of doing it. You can go back over 10 years, where he goes on a four-win streak, and that’s in the back of our minds. Sam is not a guy that typically DNFs a lot, and if you took his whole career, he’s not a guy that does so very often.
“We’ve been good at not taking a DNF; some of that goes back to my sponsorship situation, where we got to be a little more conservative. Because not only are we trying to win the championship, but we’re trying to stay out there all season. We’ve tried to not be so much of a points racer, but at the same time, I know who we’re doing battle with, and we can’t let them get away from us.”
Covington is the meat in the three-driver points sandwich entering Batesville, with Seth Bergman also in the title hunt, only one point behind Covington. While the Series has not reached the halfway point, the urgency to secure the lead and reach his five-win goal is prominent.
“The urgency is already there,” Covington admitted. “Sam’s got us by (22) points, and we’re going into mid-summer, which seems to be his part of the year. If I had a 100-point lead at this point, then maybe I’d approach points races a little bit differently. But right now, we have the sense of urgency where we still need to win at least four more Series races to get to our five-win number. We better bring a fast car to Batesville because we need to rack off a few more wins, and they’re not easy to come by.
“At 81, we didn’t have the car to win, but we put ourselves in a position to win. We’re only going to be able to get away with that so many times before we start falling back to the No. 15H. You don’t want to lose the title from something stupid or taking chances that weren’t necessary, but we’re not in that spot right now. We just need to show up, win, and get in their heads like, ‘Hey, the 95 car is the fastest right now,’ and make these guys think they need to do something different.”
After Batesville, the Series will close out June with The Big One at Belleville High Banks. While Covington has never won at either facility, he knows the balance of having speed and maneuverability at the tracks, with career-high finishes of third at Batesville (2024) and fourth at Belleville (2025).
“I think it’s been proven before that if a guy’s car is good, you’re going to be able to drive around some people,” Covington said. “There’s certain conditions that make it tougher than others, so you can’t beat the track position. But it’s not impossible. A guy can have a car with front-running speed, but isn’t maneuverable enough to get through traffic good.
“Qualifying brought a different element to the Series. We used to do a blank field draw, but you could get stuck in a bad draw, and it’d be damn near impossible to recover. There’s a car that is better in clean air than a car that is maneuverable in traffic, and I hear some of the younger guys struggle with that. Eventually, these guys are going to figure it out, but right now, it’s me, Sam, and Bergman that have it figured out, and it’s why you see us consistently qualifying in the front.”
Covington will get back to work with the American Sprint Car Series on Saturday, June 13, to chase a $4,000 payday at Batesville.