BEDFORD, Pa. – Dusk has fallen on Jason Covert’s long racing career, but he hasn’t lost his luster in the twilight of it all.
Of the 43-car roster headlined by Scott Bloomquist, the 50-year-old finds himself once again in contention for another lucrative dirt late model prize, this time tonight’s 60-lap, $25,000-to-win Keystone Cup at Bedford Speedway.
During Friday’s qualifying night, Covert qualified fourth in his group and finished third in the 20-lap semi-feature, grabbing the final dash spot behind Mason Zeigler and Andy Haus.
Covert is guaranteed a top six starting spot for one of Pennsylvania’s biggest races of the year.
“Again, it’s like anything, if we get ourselves in position and if the car is good, we have a shot,” Covert said.
Only one weekend — the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte — remains on Covert’s schedule with his Cameron Mann Racing team before the end of the year. The team will be back together in 2022 and want to make the most of their remaining opportunities this year.
At the beginning of the season, upholding their status as one of the Mid-Atlantic’s premier late model teams didn’t look promising.
When Memorial Day approached in May, they had gone from a nine-win operation in 2019 to just one win over those previous 14 months, since the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown wreaked havoc last March.
Covert, however, has always found a way forward, his life a story of mountains moved and trials outlasted.
“If things aren’t going well, I just keep digging, digging, digging,” Covert said. “My dad told me a long time ago, nobody can stop you from working harder. You have to work hard. The crew gets the credit.”
Before dirt late model relevance and 92 wins, Covert battled through skeletal hip dysplasia and hip replacements.
When he finally learned how to drive, it took him a decade — from 1987 to ‘97 — in the 4-cylinder division to start winning races.
Few struggles surpass his upbringing, but on May 21 versus the World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series at Port Royal (Pa.) Speedway, Covert felt powerless.
“I couldn’t give the guys good feedback on the car,” said Covert, almost always outgoing and providing necessary input to make his team better. “Those were some of the issues. It wasn’t one thing or the other. I’ll take the blame. I couldn’t get our balance on the car. I wasn’t doing my job.”
Covert somehow made the main event, but a faulty water pump left his team in a dilemma and they couldn’t repair the car in time for the feature.
Matt Cosner, a Rocket Chassis teammate of Covert’s, noticed the dire situation.
“Hey, you want to drive my car?” said Cosner, who didn’t qualify for the main event.
Doing what they could in a 15-minute span, Covert and crew implemented their setup for the 40-lap main event. Covert ended up driving from the 26th-starting position to finish 12th that evening, and he received his revelation.
“The confidence started to get better,” said Covert, who quickly found out he hadn’t lost his luster.
Covert and his team made a visit to Rocket Chassis thereafter, reworking their race car and rethinking their ways. The following weekend at Port Royal, they rattled off their first of five wins on the year.
“When we finally got it to where I can do some things and feel things better, we found a nice centerpoint to start each night and work off that,” Covert said. “We slowly worked on our speed, if we can get ourselves to Outlaw speed and be competitive then we’re headed in the right direction.
“We’re close,” Covert added. “We’re probably 85 to 90 percent there, we’re not back to where I feel like we should be. That’s probably a goal you’ll never reach. You always want to be better than you are the night before.”
Covert has never raced for a living, and there’s never been such a need. He is now the owner of Phivtech Solutions in Gilbertsville, Pa., a dynamic IT support company offering telecommunications infrastructure solutions.
He is well occupied as he travels to nuclear and hydroelectric power stations, warehouses, factories, high education campuses and government agency facilities across the Northeast.
“It’s a fairly intense business,” Covert said. “It’s a lot, I’ll say that. It’s a lot but it’s worth it.”
Covert’s rise to prominence began with Barry Klinedisnt in 2006, a decorated eight-year run in which they collected six regional championships and 55 wins.
In 2009, they became Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series winners when Covert snookered Josh Richards with three laps to go at Ohio’s Muskinghum Speedway.
The moment reigns atop Covert’s bountiful catalog of accomplishments. Now, as the World Finals approach, he’ll try for his long-wanted win with the World of Outlaws.
“I look forward to going to the races, and I look forward to it even when we struggle,” Covert said. “I’m a racer. I love racing, I do. I love going to sprint car races when I can. I love dirt racing. I’ll say it that way.
“That’s the nice thing about Charlotte: everybody is there,” Covert added. “You get to see everybody.
“We’re going to go and enjoy it, and do the best we can,” Covert said.