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Truex Captures Tioga Downs Casino 125 At The
Glen, Complete Results Kobyluck Rallies For Runner-Up Finish At The Glen Watkins Glen, N.Y. (June 7, 2009): Matt Kobyluck, driver of the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet, posted his first top-five of the season at Watkins Glen International road course Saturday morning and moved up to third in the point standings with his effort. Kobyluck took advantage of a last lap battle between Patrick Long and Ryan Truex to move up from third to second on the last corner of the track. “Things played out there at the end,” said Kobyluck. “We had a top-five car just not a car good enough to win. They started tangling there at the end, and I didn’t have anything for either one of them. I was right there to take advantage of it. They made contact and the 03 got up on the rumble strip going through the corner and I was able to go by him. I gave everything I had going down into turn 11 to try and catch the 00, but he ran hard and he got the position.” Kobyluck began his road to the championship last year with a win at the Glen, and he’s confident that this finish will mark the beginning of a solid championship bid. The team came into the event with high hopes of defending that win, and kicked it off optimistically with a third place qualifying effort of 118.686 mph. Kobyluck settled in right behind early leader Matt DiBenedetto and Ryan Truex at the drop of the green. The Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet was relegated to fourth at lap 12 when Patrick Long drove by for the third position. Following a lap 15 caution, Kobyluck followed a procession down pit road that included everyone except Eric Curran and Jonathan Smith. After a quick fuel up and go, Kobyluck was lined back up in the 10th spot. By lap 20, Kobyluck had already gained five spots and was running fifth when a caution came out. The team moved up to fourth when Kobyluck passed Eddie MacDonald during the next green flag run, but caution again slowed his efforts. On the restart at lap 35, Kobyluck passed DiBenedetto for third and ran strong there for the next 20 laps. A green-white-checkered flag extended the race by three laps from its originally scheduled distance with Kobyluck still in third. When Ryan Truex made his race-winning move on Patrick Long for the lead, Kobyluck was able to take advantage and wheel his way into second place for the checkers. “Anytime you can get a top three it’s a momentum builder and puts some enthusiasm into the team.,” said Kobyluck. “We’ll take this and parlay it into something more at New Hampshire. I’m proud of my guys. They worked hard all weekend long as they always do, and we brought home a second place finish for Mohegan Sun Casino. We wanted to win this thing, and coming in here we thought we had a car good enough to do it, but changes between yesterday – the cloud cover and cooler temperatures – and today – sunshine and the warmer temperatures – we missed it just a little bit.” Never Quit Attitude Nets Smith Top-10 Finish At The Glen Watkins Glen, N.Y. (June 7, 2009): Jonathan Smith didn’t let a brake issue dampen his competitiveness in the Tioga Downs Casino 125 at Watkins Glen this weekend. Instead, the young diversity driver rallied through it and posted his first top-10 of the young NASCAR Camping World Series East season. “We had no brakes all race. We couldn’t figure out the problem. We kept changing them, changing them, changing them. We changed them right before qualifying and still nothing. Other than that the car was good. I love road courses and I have a lot of fun here,” said Smith. The brake issue reared itself in the only two hour practice session the teams had all weekend. Instead of getting seat time, Smith and the Fadden Racing crew were trying to figure out how to resolve the issue. “It was tough to chase a brake problem when you only get two hours of practice,” said team owner Mike Olsen. “We changed rotors, calibers – we went through everything we could. He’s a really good road course racer, but he needed that experience out there on the track in practice.” Smith posted a lap 115.105 mph in qualifying Friday afternoon and earned a 12th place starting position. The team opted to drop to the rear of the field for the start of the race so they could continue to try and correct the problem with the brakes. Smith and Olsen decided not to pit with the leaders at lap 15 early in the race and remained out on the track – moving up to second in the running order during a caution flag. When the race went back to green, Smith pulled onto pit road for a quick fuel and go and went back out at the tail end of the field. By lap 30, he made it back up to tenth. Smith maintained his position in the top-10 for the remaining 24 laps – three laps past the event’s originally scheduled distance. “I’m happy with that. I just wanted to survive and make it through and not wreck the car. We did that and gained some points so we’re pretty happy with that,” Smith concluded. The sixth race of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East season is slated for Friday, June 25 with the Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H. Fifth Straight Top-15 Finish For Delaney At The Glen Watkins Glen, N.Y. (June 7, 2009): Dustin Delaney posted his fifth straight top-15 finish this season when he drove the No. 39 Delaney Infrastructure Chevrolet to an 11th place finish in the Tioga Downs Casino 125 at Watkins Glen International road course Saturday. Delaney came back from an unscheduled pit stop to fix a broken shock bolt during the NASCAR Camping World Series East event. “We had to make a green flag pit stop to fix a broken shock bolt,” explained Delaney. “But we never went a lap down and we only lost about six or seven positions from it.” Delaney brought an untested car to Watkins Glen, and got a little help from road racing ace Boris Said during practice. Said, who had driven the car previously in another series, took it out for a few laps during the two-hour session. “We just wanted him to shake it down,” said Delaney. Delaney qualified 13th fastest after posting a lap of 114.495 mph, but started ninth after four cars in front of him were sent to the rear for unapproved changes. The Mayfield, N.Y. native dropped back to 12th where he remained until he pitted with the leaders at lap 15. Delaney returned to the track in 13th for the restart at lap 18, and moved up to ninth before the next caution flew at lap 21. Delaney was solidly running in the top-15 when, at lap 41, he pulled onto pit road during green flag action for the broken shock bolt. The caution flew on the same circuit, mitigating the potential injury of pitting during race action. Delaney returned to the track in the 15th position for the restart at lap 43. He gained back four positions before the conclusion of the race at lap 54. “This car was very good and I really enjoyed it out there,” said Delaney. “My confidence is getting up there so each time I get out on the road course the more I like it. I’m looking very much forward to the next road course race.”
The sixth race of the 2009 NASCAR Camping World Series East season is slated for
Friday, June 25 with the Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in
Loudon, N.H. Podium Finish Vaults Moffitt Into NCWSE Point Lead
Watkins Glen, N.Y. (June 7, 2009): Brett Moffitt has already set records as the youngest driver to ever win a race and the youngest driver to ever win a pole. Following a third place finish in the Tioga Downs Casino 125 at Watkins Glen International road course, Moffitt is now the youngest driver to ever lead the NASCAR Camping World Series East point standings. It’s a record that Joey Logano, who was 16 years, 11 months, and 4 days old when he first led the series, held until now. “It’s awesome,” said Moffitt after learning he took over the point standings. “The bigger point lead we can get right now makes it an easier walk to go at the end of the season. Hopefully now we have a nice little cushion and we’re able to go hard at some races and real conservative to keep that lead.” Moffitt kicked off the weekend with a qualifying lap of 118.504 mph to earn a fourth place starting position in the 22-car field. However, the team found an exhaust leak in the car following time trial procedures and opted to go the rear of the field so that they could fix it. “We cracked the exhaust actually and it was right below the driver’s area. There aren’t too many cars here. It put us to the back but it wasn’t too far to go,” he said. At the drop of the green, Moffitt catapulted from the rear of the field to eighth in less than ten laps, and was running in the top-five by lap 22. “There were a lot of openings to make a move. I wasn’t going to make a move that I thought was going to risk the car, but where I could, I did and it paid off,” Moffitt said about his early progress. On a restart at lap 35, Moffitt wheeled his No. 44 Castle Packs Power Chevrolet into fourth, where he remained until the final lap when he got by Patrick Long for the third position. “This is quite the place,” said Moffitt. “It’s a really fast track and it’s a lot of fun to come and do this instead of just running in circles. Overall it was a good day and hopefully we can get a few more of these.” Moffitt signed on with ASM Motorsports for a limited schedule in 2009, but hopes to secure a sponsor this month in order to finish out the season. “We are going to assess what our options are after the race at New Hampshire, but without sponsorship, it doesn’t look good at finishing out the season. We’re really hoping that a company can see the benefit of a partnership with me and ASM Motorsports. We’ve been setting records and winning races, but without that partnership, we won’t be able to continue doing it.” For more information on sponsoring Brett Moffitt, please contact Sue Santerre at (704) 455-6555.
MACDONALD PLEASED WITH FINISH AT WATKIN’S GLEN Eddie MacDonald’s seventh place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Series East Tioga Downs Casino 125 at Watkins Glen International satisfied the veteran driver on a track that has produced mixed results over the last two outings. “ We ran great there two years ago but last year we blew a motor early. At both road courses last year we broke the engine so this was a good finish for us. The car was good and we finished with it in one piece and that is always a good thing. You always want to finish better but this is what we had and I am happy with the run we had. We didn’t have any issues with the car or with anyone on the track. It was a lot of fun out there and to have a top ten finish on that track is satisfying.” The Grimm Construction Chevy qualified 11th on the starting grid and was able to move up through the pack after the green flag waved and into second place in the first third of the race with MacDonald saying, “We decided on an early pit strategy and that gave us an opportunity to run up front. The car was really handling well and the engine was very strong. After the problems we had last year and with the number of engines that blew up this year you always worry but fortunately, we didn’t have any issues. Anytime you can run this track and be able to say that, it is a good thing. We’ve had our share of problems the last two races, so to go the whole way without a hiccup is really great. The guys did a great job preparing the car.” MacDonald is currently fourth in the points and feels the remaining races on the schedule are on tracks that have produced positive results. Next up is the Friday, June 25th race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway; a track that produced both wins last year for the Grimm Racing Team. The June and September wins opened a lot of eyes in the racing community but it was something both MacDonald and crew chief Rollie LaChance knew was very possible. “ Both Rollie and I knew that we could run there and win. We just needed a little luck. We always were fast there but something stupid always seemed to happen to put us out. Winning the first race there was a dream come true. It proved that all our hard work and preparation paid off. Winning the second one proved to everyone else that the first one was not a fluke. We are really looking forward to going back there as defending champs and do it again. We know it won’t be easy but neither was last year and look what happened.” MacDonald is pleased to point out that NEMO (New England Mechanical Overlay of Pembroke, N.H.) will again be the primary sponsor at NHMS, as it was last year saying, “ Becky and Ron Bennett have been with us right along so it would be really great to give them another win in our biggest race of the season. Our goal is to contend for the championship so a solid run at Loudon will gives us a lot of momentum for the second half of the season |
Last Updated on 06/14/09
By George Campbell or Greg Fish
Email: neracing@neracing.com