Kobyluck Continues Momentum With Adirondack Win by Penny Aicardi
Old Guard Beats Young Guns in CW East
It was a battle of the old guard and the young guns at Adirondack International Speedway Saturday night in the NASCAR Camping World East Series' Edge 150, and on the final green-white-checker restart, it was Matt Kobyluck, a seasoned 10-year veteran of the series that came out on top. On lap 148, Kobyluck capitalized on a missed shift by DEI development driver Trevor Bayne to soar to his third victory of the season and his second straight this month.
“Running with these young kids, they want to put a (fast) lap down in practice, and they generally do. There's no question they out qualify me, but on the long runs I know what these cars can take. I've been doing it long enough to have the experience and I know how I want the car to feel. That's what I focus on and it proves to be pretty beneficial to us.”
Kobyluck ran in the top-five all race long, but didn't come out as a threat for the win until he picked off Austin Dillon for second following a lap 136 restart. The final laps were caution plagued setting up the opportunity for Kobyluck to take the lead.
“When it got down to the end there, and it was time to go, I thought I had a pretty decent car but I didn't think I had enough to get by the #1. I guess he had a problem on the final restart there and I was able to get by him,” said Kobyluck.
Matt Kobyluck (#40) chases down Trevor Bayne (#1) at Adirondack. (Ken Spring Photos)
“I look back at the years that we've ran here and I wouldn't classify this as one of the best cars that we've had here,” he continued. “I had a different strategy going into this race though where I would conserve my right front tire. In past years we've ran hard here and in the last stages of the race I hadn't had as much right front to get through those last 15-20 laps.”
Kobyluck's good luck continued throughout the weekend when his son, seven-year-old Kyle, won a Junior Novice Unrestricted quarter-midget race at Little T Speedway in Thompson, Conn. the following day.
“It's just a winning weekend!” Kobyluck said. “We're going to give it our all to continue this momentum at Lime Rock in a couple of weeks. We're going for three in a row. We're going in the right direction. It was a good points night for us and a great night for Mohegan Sun Casino. We got some great exposure for them and put on a great show for the fans - that's what it is all about.”
Bayne's restart problem was the result of the carburetor loading up.
“You never get wide open here and it just builds up a lot of fuel (in the carburetor),” explained Bayne, who finished second. “I'm sure there were other people that had the same problem. I tried to get a final clean out, and when I went to go, it loaded up just enough to where I went to shift it was around 4000 rpms. It barely caught the gear. It was enough to delay me that Matt could get up there. He had a really good restart too so that didn't help my matters. Once I got it into gear it was kind of too late.”
Kobyluck and his team' celebrate their third win of the year.
Another veteran, Bryon Chew, earned the Coors Light Pole Award for the event and brought the field to green. He dominated the early going of the race having built up a half a track lead over the rest of the field before rain brought the race under red flag conditions. Chew lost the lead to Peyton Sellers when the race went back to green, but remained a top-five contender until lap 137 when he spun in turn one.
Sellers, too, was a dominant force in the race and led for a total of 49 laps before getting struck by Dillon. Sellers spun and had to restart the race from the tail end of the field after losing several spots.
“We were here to win tonight. I had a four car length lead going down the backstretch. I got in the middle of one and two and I was just riding and being patient. I was up a little bit in the track and the next thing I know I'm being turned around. If (Austin) had been running on my bumper for 20 laps I could have dealt with it, but on lap 80 of a 150 lap race, it was way too early. He has way more to lose than I do because he's leading the points. It's just frustrating.”
Dillon inherited the lead and, though tackling the track for the first time in his career, commanded the field by leading a total of 40 laps in the latter part of the race. Beginning with lap 112, Dillon and Bayne swapped the lead a total of three times before Bayne took over for good at lap 130.
“On the back of the pace car it says rubbing is racing and that's what we did tonight,” said Dillon before talking about losing the lead for good to Bayne. “We had a good restart. Trevor kind of jumped us on the outside and kept us down there. We raced hard there for two laps and finally I got the lead and he pulled in behind me. I guess he got a good run and shoved me up the track a little bit. I couldn't hold the bottom when he pushed me off in there. I tried to get it back but I hit the inside bump and I couldn't hold it. That's when Matt got on the inside of me too. It just cost us two positions. It was a hard fought battle and I wish I could have kept the lead, but Trevor got me and there was nothing I could do.”
Dillon held on for a third place finish - a bittersweet ending for someone who had led so close to the race conclusion.
“It's disappointing, but it's a third,” he said. “It didn't help us any in points, but it kept us the same. We were a little worried about this track when we came here. I didn't have any experience here at all so a top-three is good and I had a lot of fun.”
Eddie MacDonald and Jeffrey Eanhardt rounded out the top five.
NASCAR Camping World Series East-Edge Hotel 150 Unofficial Results
Saturday
At Adirondack International Speedway
Beaver Falls, NY
Lap length: 0.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (7) Matt Kobyluck, Uncasville, Conn., Chevrolet, 150 laps, 34.678 mph, $8,000.
2. (3) Trevor Bayne, Knoxville, Tenn., Chevrolet, 150, $4,615.
3. (2) Austin Dillon, Lewisville, N.C., Chevrolet, 150, $3,700.
4. (9) Eddie MacDonald, Rowley, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $4,500.
5. (5) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Mooresville, N.C., Chevrolet, 150, $2,500.
6. (17) Jody Lavender, Hartsville, S.C., Ford, 150, $2,250.
7. (20) Ricky Carmichael, Clearwater, Fla., Chevrolet, 150, $2,550.
8. (21) Jesus Hernandez, Fresno, Calif., Chevrolet, 150, $1,950.
9. (8) John Salemi, Nashua, N.H., Chevrolet, 150, $1,350.
10. (4) Peyton Sellers, Danville, VA., Chevrolet, 150, $2,250.
11. (10) Marc Davis, Mitchelville, MD., Toyota, 150, $1,700.
12. (1) Bryon Chew, Mattituck, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $2,670.
13. (12) Max Dumarey, Gent, Belgium, Chevrolet, 150, $1,150.
14. (15) Craig Goess, Greenville, N.C., Toyota, 150, $1,125.
15. (19) Steve Park, East Northport, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $1,550.
16. (11) Ryan Duff, Hazard, Ky., Chevrolet, 150, $950.
17. (18) Dustin Delaney, Mayfield, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $930.
18. (25) Levi Arthur, Boonville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 150, $920.
19. (24) Scott Bouley, Wolcott, Conn., Chevrolet, 150, $900.
20. (13) Rogelio Lopez, Aquascalientes, Mexico, Chevrolet, 150, $1,400.
21. (14) Jeff Anton, Russell, Mass., Chevrolet, 150, $1,400.
22. (16) Jamie Hayes, Norlina, N.C., Chevrolet, 149, $1,400.
23. (23) Jonathan Smith, Beacon Falls, Conn., Dodge, 148, $900.
24. (22) James Pritchard, Wharton, N.J., Dodge, 148, $900.
25. (6) Brian Ickler, San Diego, Calif., Chevrolet, 120, accident, $1,400.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 2 hours 9 minutes 46 seconds
Margin of Victory: under caution
Fastest Qualifier: B.Chew, (109.296 mph, 16.469 seconds)
Caution Flags: 12 for 55 laps.
Lead Changes: 8 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B.Chew 1-37; P.Sellers 38-86; A.Dillon 87-112; T.Bayne 113; A.Dillon 114-125; T.Bayne 126-127; A.Dillon 128-129; T.Bayne 130-147; M.Kobyluck 148-150.
