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Moffitt Captures
CWSE Race at South Boston, Race Results Moffitt Scores Record Setting Win At
“This is just awesome,” said Moffitt after the race. “I don’t even know how to describe it. We’ve been strong all season, but to get a win under our belts is just great. The car was perfect, and all the guys at Andy Santerre Motorsports are awesome. We couldn’t have had a more perfect night.” Moffitt started the race on the outside pole after missing fast time by 2/1000th’s of a second. Moffitt wheeled the No. 44 Brettmoffitt.com/Red Line Oil Chevrolet to a time of 16.178 seconds (89.010 mph), but lost the pole position to Ryan Truex, who’s best time was 16.176 seconds. At the drop of the green flag, Moffitt took the initial lead but succumbed to Truex on the second circuit. The two were side-by-side in the battle for the lead, but Moffitt opted for tire management and settled into the second position. Moffitt reclaimed the lead on a lap 46 restart using the outside groove, and led for the next 14 laps before a restart allowed Truex to use the outside groove to his advantage. “The outside was definitely better on the restarts because you could carry your momentum, but you definitely had to get to the bottom so that you could save your tires there,” Moffitt said. A caution tightened the field up for a restart at lap 103, and after an intense side-by-side battle, Moffitt took the lead for the third and final time. “You just never know with this place so I was kind of up in the air as to what to change in the car, but I just got it as good and balanced as I could. He did the rest. I can’t say enough about him: he’s a heck of a talent. I knew he would be good,” said car owner Andy Santerre. Moffitt is currently second in the NASCAR Camping World Series East point standings – 26 points out of the lead. The next stop on the schedule is Watkins Glen International road course on Saturday, June 6th. Delaney Rallies For South Boston, Va. (May 31, 2009): Dustin Delaney continued his 2009 short track success with a solid tenth place finish in the Camping World Series East’s 150-lap feature at South Boston Speedway Saturday night. It was Delaney’s third top-10 of the young season, and solidifies a sixth place position in the championship point standings for the Mayfield, N.Y. driver. Delaney came out of the box strong by topping the speed charts in the final practice session of the day. His fast lap of 16.082 seconds bested Ryan Truex, Ryan Gifford, Ryan Duff, and Brett Moffitt, and was 7/10th’s quicker than his fastest lap in the first practice session. “We struggled getting a handle on the car in the first practice session, but the guys worked real hard and turned it right around,” said Delaney. “We’ve been getting better and better at each race, and we’re still getting better.” The team had high expectations for qualifying, but a lap time of 16.473 seconds (87.416 mph) in the Delaney Infrastructure Chevrolet earned him a 15th place starting position. “We had a good car in practice, but both the guys and I thought the track was going to tighten up. We set it up loose expecting the track to tighten up and it never did,” Delaney said. Patience and tire management were the key to surviving the tight confines of South Boston Speedway. Delaney was a solid top-15 contender in the first half of the race as few cautions stretched out the field. “Last year we were pretty tore up when we left here,” explained Delaney. “You just have to be patient. You kind of want to let things settle down. It’s a long race and you have to know when to go and when not to.” Once things got tightened up, Delaney was on his march forward. He was in the top-10 by lap 80 and became a mainstay there for the remainder of the event. Delaney advanced to ninth, but lost it to Eddie MacDonald just before taking the checkers. “We’re on top of the charts in practice and having consistent finishes so I think we have some momentum going. The guys are all into it and so am I so we’re only going to get better,” said Delaney. “We’re pretty excited with the results we’ve been having.” The NASCAR Camping World Series moves on to Watkins Glen International road course for the 28th running of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on Saturday, June 6th. Smith Garners Hard-Fought Top-15 Finish At South Boston
South Boston, Va. ( May 31, 2009): Jonathan Smith had the confidence, the car, and the know-how for a promising performance in the South Boston 150 Saturday night at South Boston Speedway. The NASCAR Camping World Series East driver sat the No. 16 Fadden Racing entry on the second row for the start of the race, but suffered the ill fates of short track racing and had to settle with a 14th place finish. In time trials, Smith was the last of 23 cars to take to the track and his lap of 16.261 seconds (88.555 mph) earned a fourth place starting position for the No. 16 C Products LLC Chevrolet. It was his best qualifying effort of the season. “Qualifying was really good. We didn’t really know what we were going to have because our mock run went backwards during practice. We made a couple of changes and tried to free it up a bit. We came out with a good run and I was really excited with fourth,” Smith said. At the drop of the green, Smith settled in fifth behind Ryan Truex, Brett Moffitt, Sean Caisse, and Matt Kobyluck. He remained strong and kept his position through the first 37 laps of the race. On the 38th circuit, however, Smith went high in one of the corners and brushed the wall. He dropped back to ninth. “The car was really good early. I was just hanging in there and I was just trying to run laps and learn from the guys that run up front every week. I got high at one point and hit the wall. I went back a little bit, but I got my composure,” Smith explained. From that point on, Smith faced nothing but obstacles. He dropped back to tenth and got involved in a battle for position. Three drivers going for the same spot on a narrow racetrack could only spell disaster. “I got the right front driven over. We were three wide, and we shouldn’t have been three-wide. Nobody wanted to back out so I did, but it was too late. After that I just got driven up into the wall. There was just no give and take out there.” The second half of the race was more about survival than racing. Smith held on for a 14th place finish and moved up to 12th in the point standings.
Kobyluck Finishes 11th At South Boston, Va. (May 31, 2009): Mohegan Sun Racing driver Matt Kobyluck is not coming to terms with his finishes so far this season easily. The defending 2008 NASCAR Camping World Series East Champion completed the first third of the season with an 11th place finish at South Boston Speedway Saturday night, a track he’s had a lot of success on in the past. For some, that finish would have been considered a good day, but not for the 39-year-old driver of the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet. “We didn’t just win the championship last year. We ran well, and we ran well everywhere we went. We dominated short tracks, we dominated road courses, and we ran well at the speedways,” he said. “We are trying the same things we had success with last year and its not working. I guess we’re going to have to try something different.”
Kobyluck was forced to a back up car at In qualifying, things only got better. Kobyluck turned a lap of 16.308 seconds (88.300 mph) to earn a fifth place starting position. The first half of the race reinforced the team’s optimism with Kobyluck being a solid top-five contender. By the 20th circuit, Kobyluck had moved up to fourth and it seemed nothing was going to slow him down. The field was tightened up by caution at lap 40 and racing resumed at lap 46. Kobyluck moved up to third and was holding off the challenges of Sean Caisse by lap 50. Caisse went low and got up to Kobyluck’s door for an intense side-by-side battle. The duo battled it out for two full circuits before Caisse got the advantage in turn two. Caution came out at lap 55 and set the field up for a restart at lap 60. When racing got back underway, Kobyluck got caught up in the high groove and was relegated back to eighth before getting down on the bottom groove. He continued to fall back in the field as the handling went away on him. At lap 102, Kobyluck brought the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet down pit road for an adjustment. “The right rear just went away on me and I had no grip,” Kobyluck said. “We tried tightening it up and it doesn’t have any effect on the car. We’re not just trying to tighten it up a little bit. We are going to extremes and the tires are just not responding to that.” Kobyluck made up some ground before the checkers fell, but settled with a disappointing 11th place finish. “We want to race to win – not run around somewhere in eighth or tenth. I can understand if that’s all you are capable of, but we know we are capable of more. We’ve proven that. That’s what is frustrating about it. We have got to get it figured out,” he concluded. Kobyluck returns to the site of his first win last season – Watkins Glen International road course – next week for the running of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on June 6th. MacDonald at South Boston |
Last Updated on 06/01/09
By George Campbell or Greg Fish
Email: neracing@neracing.com