Uncasville, CT (April 6, 2008): The number seven has defied the law of averages and is a symbol of luck and good fortune. In the casino, seven is lucky in dice because there are more combinations that exist for a roll of seven. Matt Kobyluck, driver of the #40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet, is hoping the same holds true for his seventh career start at Phoenix International Raceway this week. The Uncasville, Conn. driver will make the trek out west to compete in the NASCAR Camping World Series West division’s Jimmie Johnson Foundation 150.
“We’re all pretty excited about this race,” said Kobyluck of his team. “We’ve performed really well there. In the last three years, we’ve had things happen that were out of our control, and it ended up hurting us. We have to have a little bit of luck to get a victory there, but we’ll be running a car more than capable of winning that race.”
Kobyluck has been a contender in this event every year – either leading the pack or running with the top-five. The team wants to raise the bar, and tested last week to prepare for that.
“The test session proved to be critical,” admitted Kobyluck. “On the first day of testing, we blew an engine in the car so we had to pull out a backup car, which incidentally happened to be a new car we were planning on shaking down for the Iowa race. We were so pleased with the results that we’ve decided that’s the car we’re taking back.”
Matt Kobyluck began racing in NASCAR’s Camping World Series East in 1999 and has become a top contender and elder statesman of the series. Kobyluck owns 12 wins, 49 top-five, and 72 top-10 finishes in the NCWS East. Kobyluck is also the 2006 winner of the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown.
Stats from Phoenix International Raceway
|
Date |
Start |
Finish |
Laps Completed |
Laps Possible |
|
2/02/03 |
3 |
23 |
45 |
151 |
|
1/25/04 |
24 |
3 |
150 |
150 |
|
1/30/05 |
10 |
7 |
100 |
100 |
|
1/22/06 |
6 |
3 |
125 |
125 |
|
4/20/06 |
3 |
30 |
75 |
153 |
|
4/19/07 |
4 |
36 |
38 |
158 |
|
AVERAGE |
8.3 |
17 |
63.6% lap completion rate |
|