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Kobyluck Off To Strong Start With Top-10 Finish At Greenville

            Easley, SC (April 12, 2009): The Camping World Series East kicked off its 2009 season Saturday night with the NASCAR Home Tracks 150 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway where defending champion Matt Kobyluck wheeled his No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet to an eighth place finish despite having no grip in the tires for the last 75 laps of the race.

            “About a third of the way through the race the rear grip just totally went away. It didn’t matter what I did. I couldn’t get into the corner, I couldn’t get through the middle, I couldn’t get off. The rear end was coming around on me coming in and in the middle. I couldn’t even touch the throttle. I don’t know what happened. It was unfortunate because we had a really good car.”

            Kobyluck and his crew, led by crew chief Perry Waite, used the entire two-hour practice session to get the Mohegan Sun Chevrolet set up perfectly. When they were done, they were confident they had a top-three car. In qualifying, Kobyluck turned a lap of 21.049 seconds. It was his fastest lap of the day and earned him an eighth place starting position.

            “We were happy with that,” Kobyluck said. “It’s not about starting on the pole or leading the most laps – although those things are great to do. It’s about being there at the end.”

            It only took a single lap for Kobyluck to get the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet into the top-five once the race got underway. He remained a staple in that position until the race reached the halfway mark when he suddenly fell off and dropped back to ninth.

            “At the end of practice I felt we had a top-three car – no question. I had a really solid car. When we dropped the green flag I just didn’t have the grip that I had during practice. It was unfortunate because we had a really good car. You bolt on a set of tires and you expect them to be the same. This is no fault of the team. It’s just a tire circumstance.”

            At lap 98, Kobyluck fell a lap down to the leader and eventual race winner Brian Ickler, but quickly regained it when the caution came out. On lap 110, Kobyluck brought the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet down pit road where the team adjusted the air pressure on the tires.

            The adjustment stopped his backward slide through the field, but Kobyluck was only able to gain one position before taking the checkers. He finished the race with an eighth place finish.

            The NASCAR Camping World Series East will return to action at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, N.C., on Saturday, April 25.

Fadden Racing Gets Collected In “The Big One”; Finishes 19^th

            Easley, SC: It doesn’t officially exist on the race report, but the NASCAR Home Tracks 150 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway had it’s own version of a bone-jarring “big-one”. The crash occurred before the first lap was even completed and collected a third of the field, including Fadden Racing’s #16 C Products LLC Chevrolet driven by Jonathan Smith. NASCAR decided to start all over, but with a bent frame, Fadden Racing could do no such thing.

            “I was sitting there for a good five or ten seconds and then I just got hit,” explained Smith. “I wasn’t ready for it. The panhard bar got bent, bolts were missing, we went down a left rear tire –that just screwed us up. The car was just acting pretty whacky and I had to try to just hold on.”

            Everyone at Fadden Racing was feeling pretty confident after a practice session yielded the sixth fastest time of the day.

            “I found out that Jonathan likes the car a lot like Mike (Olsen) did,” said crew chief Harry Norcross. “He’s doing a really great job out there today.”

            But qualifying didn’t fare as well. Smith posted a lap of 21.441 seconds on his time trial – a speed better than he posted in practice - but not enough to top the charts. He had to start the race in 19^th.

            Smith’s day took a dramatic turn as he entered turn one on the first lap of the event. Ten cars got tangled up, including the Fadden Racing entry, and a red flag was brought out to clean up the mess.

            The team opted to leave Smith out on the racetrack since he could move under his own power, however, at lap five a left rear tire went down and Smith was forced to head to pit road. There the team discovered the multiple issues with the car. They decided they would send him back into the race to get some valuable experience and championship points.

`           “I know that wasn’t fun for him, but we gained about six or seven spots by doing that. At the end of the year that might add up to something,” said Olsen.

            Smith took the checkers with a 19^th place finish – eight spots higher than if he had parked the C Products LLC Chevrolet after the flat tire.

            “I just went out and turned some laps, waited it out, and hoped for attrition. We’ll go back to Tri-County and do it all over again. We’ll get out front and stay there,” Smith concluded.

Delaney Perserveres To Finish 13^th

In Camping World Series East Opener

            Easley, SC (April 12, 2009): Dustin Delaney was well on his way to posting a top-10 finish in the NASCAR Home Tracks 150 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway Saturday night, but a late-race spin relegated the driver to a 13^th place finish at the checkers. Despite the setback, Delaney finished the race by gaining nine spots from his 22^nd place starting position.

            “We were the first car for the free pass, and the 17 car wanted it I guess. He just moved us out of the way. We had to work our way back up. We were looking for a top-10. We had a strong practice and then a tough qualifying, but we knew we had a good car.”

            Delaney was ninth fastest in practice, but turned a lap of 21.541 seconds in qualifying after the luck of the draw had them one of the first cars out in time trials. The entire team was confident, nevertheless. When the green flag dropped, Delaney had another hurdle to jump when he got mixed up in a 10-car pileup in turn one.

            “Cars just started going everywhere and I couldn’t see a thing. I got to the top and came out of it though. We were fine,” he explained.

            The race was started all over again since a single lap had not been completed. Everyone, except those drivers involved in the accident, were lined up as they qualified. Delaney focused on his task at hand and began to pick cars off one by one with a patient maturity typically seen in veterans. By the halfway mark, Delaney was running 12^th.

            The torrid pace of eventual race-winner Brian Ickler put Delaney a lap down on the 125^th circuit. The string of late-race cautions made Delaney confident he would gain the lap back through the free pass. That is, until lap 127 when the #39 Delaney Infrastructure Chevrolet spun around in turn four after contact from another competitor.

            The incident brought out the caution flag and Delaney lost his chance at gaining his lap back. The field lined up for a restart at lap 133 with Delaney in the 14^th position. He was able to gain one spot back before the checkered flag at lap 150 to bring home a 13^th place finish.

            “It’s a respectable finish, but we had a better car than that,” said Delaney. “I’m really proud of the job my crew chief Jamie Aube and the guys did to prepare this car. When you have a good car, and you’re prepared, the results will come. It also takes a little luck and respect and that’s what we were missing here tonight. It’ll come.”

            Delaney will return to action in two weeks when the NASCAR Camping World Series East heads to North Carolina’s Tri-County Speedway. For more information on Dustin and his 2009 schedule, visit www.dustindelaney.com.

Brett Moffitt Leaves First Impression With Pole, Top-Five Finish

            Easley, SC (April 12, 2009): Iowa native Brett Moffitt caught the attention of everyone Saturday night when he earned the Coors Light Pole Award for the NASCAR Home Tracks 150 at Greenville-Pickens Speedway and backed it up with a fifth place finish. Moffitt was a contender race long in the season opening event for the NASCAR Camping World Series East and left an impression on his competitors that he will be a force to reckon with this season.

            “I got to know the competition and how strong these drivers are,” said the 16-year-old driver. “I was really good for a really long run. As the tires got more heat cycles in them, they just started falling off and I got loose in the end, but overall, the car was pretty good.”

            Good enough for Moffitt to set the No. 44 Andy Santerre Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole for the race. After a strong practice session, Moffitt wheeled his way around the historic half-mile oval at a time of 20.691 seconds (86.994 mph) to lead the 29-car field in qualifying and earn his first pole award.

            “It feels pretty amazing actually,” Moffitt, who became the second youngest driver in the history of the series to win a pole, said. “I knew we’d have a good run because the car was pretty good in practice all day, but I wasn’t expecting the pole. I was definitely going for it. I just drove her in there, hope she stuck, and she did.”

            Moffitt went off the pace at the drop of the green flag when he missed a shift, but got a rare opportunity at a second chance when a multi-car pile-up in turn one called for a complete restart of the race.

            “When I was shifting from second to third, it just popped right back out,” explained Moffitt. “I got it into third, but it just popped right back out.”

            On the restart, Moffitt lost the lead to eventual race-winner Brian Ickler, but settled into second, where he remained until a lap 14 restart where Eddie MacDonald was able to edge by him coming off turn one. A long green flag run that last 30 laps followed with Moffitt riding MacDonald’s bumper the entire distance.

            As the laps ticked off, Moffitt dropped back to fourth and then fifth, but the late race cautions helped him and he was able to gain some ground back returning as high as third. He made the final green-white-checkered restart in fourth, but Josh Richards got by him for the finish and team completed their first race of the season in the top-five.

            “I would have liked to done better, but it’s not too bad,” said Moffitt about his start.

            The NASCAR Camping World Series East takes a week off before returning to action at Tri-County Speedway in North Carolina.

THIRD PLACE FINISH FOR EDDIE MACDONALD AT GREENVILLE-PICKENS

     The Home Tracks 150 at legendary Greenville-Pickens Speedway opened the season for the NASCAR Camping World East Series with a very satisfying third place finish for Eddie MacDonald and the #71 Grimm Racing team.

     “ It was a great start to the season and I am very happy that we ran so well at this track,” said MacDonald after the race. “It was a little disappointing not to finish second after running most of the race in that spot. But overall, everyone is pleased with the run.”

      MacDonald started third after a solid qualifying run. “We improved nearly a second from our best practice run and the car was fast. It was almost the same set-up we had last year so it felt great to run that well (20.937 sec.-85.972 mph). We had a brake problem in practice but we were able to fix it in time for qualifying.”

      A huge wreck at the start of the race forced a restart and when the green flag flew the rookie Moffitt missed a shift and the Grimm Chevy slid under the rear of the #44 causing considerable damage to the nose of MacDonald’s car. “The car started overheating right away and it was a problem for the rest of the race but fortunately everything worked out.”

     When the race finally got underway, MacDonald quickly grabbed second and was able to maintain a good lead over the third place car with the Rowley, Mass. driver saying, “ It was great to start up front because I was able to run the car hard for five to ten laps then save the tires for the end. I could get the car to run a little cooler since I didn’t have to run hard all the time. My strategy was to run hard, then get a few lapped cars between me and the third place car.”

     MacDonald lead the race three times but it was readily evident Ickler was the dominant car. “Ickler’s car was awesome. I knew we did not have the car to beat him. We had a great car today but he was better.”

     A late race caution for debris forced MacDonald to restart on the outside giving the #88 the inside lane. The two raced for position with the #71 making a move under the #88 when the fourth place car hit MacDonald’s rear bumper driving the car sideways. “I was able to save it but with only eight laps to go I couldn’t get around Jody. We were just washing up the track in turns one and two after that. We had a second place car today but finishing third is pretty good. Rollie and the team did an excellent job preparing the car and now we have to get ready for Tri-County. It feels great knowing we have a car that will compete for the win every time we race.”

     The NASCAR Camping World East Series will take the green flag again at Tri-County Motor Speedway in Hudson, N.C. on Saturday, April 25.