Kobyluck Rallies To Seventh Place Finish At Lee
Lee, N.H. (July 31, 2010): Matt Kobyluck and the Mohegan Sun Casino race team had their work cut out for them in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East 125 at Lee USA Speedway Friday night. After bottoming out in qualifying, the team knew they were going have to pit early and come up through from the back of the pack. Despite more than a handful of wrecks, Kobyluck was able to stay out of trouble and take home an impressive seventh place finish without a scratch on the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet.
“The car is in one piece, and I don’t think there’s one other car if you walk down this pit area that’s clean. We don’t have any bangs, no dents, no tore-up stuff,” said Kobyluck. “The car was really good right up through to the end. When the temperature got cooler we lost a little forward bite, and we had to hold on for what we could get.”
Kobyluck was sixth fastest in the first practice session of the day and played around with some changes in second practice that affected his qualifying effort. The No. 40 Mohegan sun Casino Chevrolet bottomed out during his two lap time trial and the team was left with a 17th place starting position.
“We made a last minute change right before the end of practice and we didn’t get a chance to get back out on the track to try it,” explained Kobyluck. “The left front spring we changed had a little bit more travel to it than we anticipated. The car bottomed out real bad during qualifying.”
Kobyluck knew he wasn’t going to be able to pit to get the car raised up until the first caution flag on a tight 3/8th’s mile like Lee USA Speedway. So for the first 35 laps all Kobyluck could do was maintain a position in the top twenty.
Kobyluck was 20th when the race resumed at lap 38, but it was evident right away that the changes on the pit stop helped. By lap 50, he was 13th and by lap 60, he was running seventh. Kobyluck made it up as high as fifth before the lap 100 mark but began to taper off as the laps ticked off.
“The cooler it got the free’r I got,” said Kobyluck. “Overall, a seventh place finish after coming from a 17th place starting position – you’ve got to be happy with that. The guys gave a 110 percent effort today and you can’t ask for more. We’re happy.”
The K&N Pro Series East 125 from Lee USA Speedway will air on SPEED this Thursday, August 5 at 6 p.m. ET.
Kobyluck and the Mohegan Sun Casino race team return to action on Saturday, August 28 with the K&N Pro Series East at Gresham Motorsports Park in Georgia. For more information on Matt Kobyluck or the Mohegan Sun Casino, visit www.mattkobyluck.com.