MILL HALL, Pa. — It was nearing midnight Friday at Clinton County Speedway, more than an hour after the conclusion of Appalachian Mountain Speedweek’s long-awaited opening night revival, and Jason Covert couldn’t turn out the lights on his gleaming smile quite yet.

“I haven’t smiled at the races in a while,” the 52-year-old Covert said. “It’s really good. Really good.”

The York Haven, Pa., veteran put himself back in the happiest of places at the third-mile oval with the most satisfying of $4,000 paydays he can recall. But Covert, like practically every competitor this Appalachian Mountain Speedweek, doesn’t race for a living. He never has, thus finding his reward through the deeper meanings of Dirt Late Model racing, like Friday where he virtually lived his own scene akin to the movie Back to the Future.

Covert last raced at the Clinton County Fairgrounds in April 2000, a time that’ll endure within forever because it was the debut race with an aluminum-block engine. Oh, and he ended up winning that night, too.

“It will always be special,” Covert said. “Once I drove that race, I was like, I want to run Supers. We were running 4-cylinders and Limiteds, and the power and the torque you get (in the Super), it just fits what I wanted.

“This place, I grew up racing like this,” he added. “I have a knack for feeling these kinds of place. I’m 2-for-2 so I may not come back. … It’s so special.”

This season for Covert is more laid back and throwback than ever. Laid back in the sense that one of the Northeast’s most outwardly competitive drivers doesn’t stress over results in the way he used to. He’s savoring the twilight of his career, one that’s led to a 15- to 30-race campaign this season in reconnecting with car owner Bryan Klinedinst.

And alongside Klinedinst is the throwback to the most significant period of Covert’s career, the 2006-13 seasons when he drove for Bryan’s father, Barry, the former Pennsylvania car owner well-known for his familiar yellow-and-red No. 43A machines. Bryan Klinedinst’s kept the family legacy of the No. 43A Late Model alive fielding entries for Mason Zeigler of Chalk Hill, Pa., and Tyler Bare of Rockbridge Baths, Va., and others through the years.

After leaving behind a nine-year run driving for Cameron-Mann Motorsports, Covert is back in the Klinedinst No. 43A, the ride that brought him 55 victories, six regional touring titles and a 2009 Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory at Portsmouth (Ohio) Raceway Park. This time, there’s no pressure to be King of the Hill.

“At one time, I could say five out of 10 races we were going to be competitive,” Covert said. “Now, (if we’re competitive) two out of 10 races, I’d be happy. If we can get the car good, I can still hang on to it … a little bit. I mean, there’s so many good cars here (at Clinton County). We’re just fortunate tonight. It happened to fall our way. It can fall another way. Tomorrow night (at Port Royal) we may be on the truck after the B-mains. You don’t know with this racing today.”

Even if he’s logged just three starts this year — he’s finished sixth at Lincoln Speedway in Abbottstown, Pa., on May 6, and eighth two times at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway in May — Covert was as fast as ever Friday. His lap of 13.903 seconds earned fast-time honors, plus it was the only qualifying lap in the 13-second bracket.

He did leverage the miniseries open tire rule, employing American Racers on all four corners of the car in time trials and in the two-lap time dash, before reverting to Hoosiers for the 35-lap main event. But all of the above goes into the gamesmanship of the sport, according to Covert, who’s tactful as they come.  

“Everybody was on different tires, which I feel makes the racing so much better when you have different compounds and different brands,” Covert said. “There’s comers and goers. There at the end, I was going the wrong way. But the lapped cars, they were doing fine. It’s a small track. They gave me plenty of room.”

Covert, who started third in Friday’s feature, made an opening-lap statement when he knifed across the bottom better than anyone, driving by both Dylan Yoder and outside front-row starter Austin Berry with ease. From there, Covert’s game plan unfolded ahead as he tracked down Drake Troutman.

“The idea at the beginning of that race, if I could get to that bottom and hook that bottom on the first lap, I could get into second,” Covert said. “I knew Drake would run the top, so we rode a while.”

Though Covert said he “waited about two laps too long” before finally pouncing on the 17-year-old Troutman on lap nine — the leaders in dicy traffic by then — he was never out of position the whole race.

“I could turn down the racetrack and still stick. That’s where I knew I had an advantage,” Covert said. “When we got right to lapped traffic, I knew it was time to go. So I went. And that’s just experience. I’ve just known over the years. I’ve had that done to me multiple times. 

“Listen, Drake does a good job. I mean, he does a really good job. It was fun racing with him. That was a lot of fun. And then we got into lapped traffic. We only had a couple little tight spots, but everything else was really good. I grew up racing tight quarters. Whatever it is, it is. You just shove her in there and see what happens.”

Covert attacked the third-mile oval’s tightest areas as he would his two favorite racetracks, Path Valley Speedway in Spring Run, Pa., and the now defunct Hill Valley Speedway formerly of Orbisonia, Pa. 

“It’s a mix of Path Valley and Hill Valley. That’s where I cut my teeth,” Covert said. “Three and four is Hill Valley. One and two is round like Path Valley. (Clinton County) is bigger, but Path Valley is round. Both ends are different. I don’t get uncomfortable, I guess you could say. As I said, fortunate to have good stuff and good guys, and good equipment. It worked out. Very, very fortunate tonight … very.”

Covert admitted he’s “been struggling” as a racer the past three years, really since the Covid-19 pandemic. Not struggling emotionally, but struggling to find victory lane. He did win five times in 2021 — one of those in the Klinedinst No. 43A at Lincoln — but his two-victories season last year does whet appetite, which is perfect with more miniseries events over the next week or so.

“Yeah, we’re going to get our confidence up,” Covert said. “The bigger tracks we need to be a little better. We’ve gotten better on these small tracks. We just need to get better on the big tracks. Listen, we’re going to work on it. Hagerstown (Speedway in Maryland) I don’t feel very uncomfortable. Other places, there’s places I have a good rhythm and places I don’t. This place I have a good rhythm. … If we ran one race, Path Valley would be the one I’d want to go to.”

If Covert can get through Port Royal on Saturday, Bedford on Thursday and Friday, and Selinsgrove (Pa.) Speedway unscathed — hanging with half-mile ace Gregg Satterlee, who’s 35 points behind Covert in the miniseries title race — then he could have a legitimate shot at the title.

While his four miniseries victories are tied for third all-time with Tim McCreadie and Josh Richards, Covert never won the miniseries championship in his heyday when the event ran from 2009 to ’17. So, with a 32-point over nearest competitor Austin Berry after one round, is a miniseries title within reach?

“We’ll see … we’ll see. I’m not going to say I can,” Covert said. “I think it’ll jinx me. But we’re going to race to race. I want to win races. The title is something else. I just want to win races. My goal was decided to race the races, get to them, and see where the chips fall. I’m not worried about that other than to win races.”

That is, win races and find contentment no matter how many wins and however many seasons are still left to come.

“The last two years have been rough on people,” Covert said. “I’m just glad we’re getting back to racing the way we always like to race a little bit. My work’s busy. Bryan’s work is busy. It’s just the way it is. We’re happy.”