Kobyluck Pulls Off 12th Place Finish At Elko Speedway

Matt Kobyluck salvaged a 12th place finish in the Minnesota 150 at Elko Speedway Friday night after having to come from the back of the field twice. Kobyluck went back initially because of overheating problems, but was then sent to the rear of the field for what NASCAR deemed to be aggressive driving. Kobyluck worked his way up to 12th despite an accident that tore a portion of the right side of his No. 40 Mohegan Sun Chevrolet right off.

“It’s frustrating, but I have to hand it to my guys,” said Kobyluck. “They just kept plugging all night long. They gave me a really good car, but we weren’t able to capitalize on it. That happens at short tracks like this. It’s part of racing.”

Kobyluck started the race from the 17th position after posting a qualifying speed of 94.333 mph (14.311). After running the eighth fastest lap in a two-hour practice session, Kobyluck was a little disappointed.

Matt escaped Elko with a 12th-place finish

“We drew an early qualifying time,” he said. “I expected a faster lap than that, but we’ll take it.”

Kobyluck was on a mission and his on-track performance proved it. By lap 21, Kobyluck was running 13th and only four laps of those had been run under green. After the restart, Kobyluck was making his way through the traffic when an accident happened unfolded. He tried to avoid another car by driving down into the grass.

“There was a wreck that happened in front of me. I thought I had avoided the whole thing, but I got into the back of someone’s bumper just a little bit,” he admitted. “The edge of the hood bent down and covered the upper grill opening. We had to pit.”

When Kobyluck came down pit road, the Mohegan Sun Chevrolet was running temperatures of 260 degrees. The team made the necessary changes to cool the car down including removing tape and straightening the hood.

The close calls were not over, and at lap lap 51, Kobyluck was again running through the field when an accident evolved in front of him. Kobyluck, though not damaging enough to stop him, made contact with someone and tore off the right side sheet metal. The damage exposed the roll cage.

The field lined up for another restart at lap 103 with Kobyluck just shy of the top-10 in eleventh place, but after the green flag dropped, NASCAR radioed to Kobyluck’s crew that the he must drop to the rear of the field for aggressive driving.

“I was behind the 32 car and for whatever reason he wasn’t picking a lane, and I couldn’t get by him. I went to make a move by him going into turn one. I went low and when I did, he went low as well. He hadn’t been running there so I ended up getting in the back of him because I didn’t anticipate him being there,” Kobyluck said. “It was not intentional. It was a racing deal and I wish NASCAR had recognized it as that.”

Kobyluck was still determined, and did as NASCAR asked by dropping to the rear. By lap 132, Kobyluck broke into the top-20, and a late-race caution extended the event to 156 laps. By the time the checkers dropped, Kobyluck had worked his way into 12th place.