Kobyluck Runs Race of Patience For Adirondack Victory

Matt Kobyluck’s 10-year career in the NASCAR Camping World Series East has taught him about one of the most important attributes a driver can possess: patience. Saturday night, Kobyluck, driver of the #40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet, used that virtue to his advantage when he took the lead from Trevor Bayne on a lap 148 restart to win the Edge 150 at Adirondack International Speedway. It was Kobyluck’s second straight win in as many weeks, and his third this season.

“There are 10 different guys that can win one of these

races every week. Anytime you can get a win is a huge accomplishment,” Kobyluck said. “We’re going for three in a row at Lime Rock!”

Kobyluck started the race from the seventh position and was a top-five car throughout most of the event. In the final 25 laps, however, Kobyluck came on strong and moved into second following a lap 136 restart. He took the lead on the final green-white-checker.

“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,” Kobyluck admitted. “I guess he had a problem on the final restart there and I was able to get by him. I’ll tell you, what a battle. Trevor ran me clean, and everyone ran me pretty clean. There was just a little bit of rubbing and nothing too dramatic out there. It was good, hard short track racing. It was a good night of racing for the fans.”

The Mohegan Sun Casino race team is always a favorite at Adirondack International Speedway. With two previous wins at the track, Kobyluck knows how to get around the tricky ½ mile oval. Still, the team changed their strategy for this race, and it paid off big.

“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,” said Kobyluck. “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. Tonight I kind of laid back. I tried never getting myself to be on the outside on a restart.”

But it was the outside groove that paved the way for Kobyluck’s victory. On the final restart, Kobyluck was running second to then-leader Trevor Bayne. Bayne appeared to miss a shift and Kobyluck darted to the front. After taking the white flag, multiple cars collided in turn four and blocked the track. NASCAR threw the checkers with the caution flag and the Mohegan Sun Casino race team secured the win.

“The outside groove I felt was the place to be on the restarts because it had a ton of grip out there and I could get out there and sail it right in. The track came around and was probably one of the best it’s been at anytime we’ve ever raced here,” said Kobyluck. “We’re going for the championship this year so this is what matters.”

In eight starts this season, Kobyluck has a series leading three wins, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

Kobyluck’s weekend was capped off the following day when his son, Kyle, won behind the wheel of a Junior Novice unrestricted quarter midget at Little T Speedway in Thompson, Conn. It was Kyle’s first start in the unrestricted division.

“I won, Kyle won, and my wife Lori won a 50/50 raffle,” said Kobyluck. “What a winning weekend! It doesn’t get any better than this.”

The NASCAR Camping World Series East takes a two week break and returns to action at Lime Rock Park on Saturday, August 16th.