Kobyluck Inches Closer To Point Lead With Nashville Win

A late race restart paid big dividends for Matt Kobyluck Saturday night at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tenn. Kobyluck, , driver of the #40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet in the NASCAR Camping World Series East, took the lead for the third and final time from Trevor Bayne at lap 146 and soared to his second win of the 2008 season. The Uncasville, Conn. native had to work the bottom groove to get by Bayne, but pulled away to a commanding 1.127-second advantage as he crossed the checkers.

“Any win is spectacular. These races are so hard to win these days that anytime you get one is great. This being the 50th anniversary of Music City Motorplex, and taking into consideration that we bettered what we did here last year, it’s pretty cool. I knew coming in here that we had a good car. It’s the same one I used at Thompson and New Hampshire and it was fast at both places. I was confident. These short tracks are so tough to win that its great to have one under my belt.”

With his victory, Kobyluck moved into second in points just 20 points out of the lead.

“We got a win at the road course this year at Watkins Glen, one here on the short track, and now we’re going after the superspeedway,” Kobyluck said. “Today was a great points day for us and we just have to keep plugging. Austin (Dillon) is a consistent and talented driver so we have to be at the top of our game every race. Right now, it’s his lead to lose and ours to gain.”

Kobyluck qualified sixth fastest earlier in the day with a lap time of 19.637 seconds (109.263 mph). At the drop of the green, Kobyluck worked the outside groove to get by Ickler for fifth, where he remained for the first half of the race.

“I wanted to pace myself and not get too worked up. My strategy going in was to just lay back as much as I could and save the tires for when it got to crunch time,” said Kobyluck. “I didn’t have a problem just riding around there at a good pace. I just didn’t let them get too far ahead of me up front. We had cautions that closed the field back up so there was no real rush to be right on someone’s bumper.”

Kobyluck initially took the lead from Bayne on a restart at lap 136 after an intense side-by-side battle that lasted the entire length of the track. Kobyluck’s Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet had the advantage at the start/finish line with Bayne settling into second.

A caution brought the duo back together again for a lap 144 restart, but it was Bayne who took the lead from the outside groove. Kobyluck retaliated and first went high, then low, and finally back to the front.

“When that caution came out I thought I was a sitting duck because Trevor was going to have the preferred line at the restart,” said Kobyluck. “I just drove that car as hard as I could, and because I saved the tires earlier in the race, we had something when it counted.”

The finish marked Kobyluck’s 14th career win in the NASCAR Camping World Series East. Kobyluck hopes to add to that win column as they prepare to head to Adirondack International Speedway, a track that he has found much success at.

“We have two wins at Adirondack and should have won a third one last year,” he said. “We feel really good heading into that race, and with this win, we’ve built up a lot of momentum. We’re pretty excited about that.”