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Kobyluck Charges To 5th Place Finish In Backup Car

Jefferson, Ga. (August 30, 2010): Matt Kobyluck posted a top-five finish in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at Gresham Motorsports Park this past weekend, and catapulted the Mohegan Sun Casino race team into sixth place in the points with only two races remaining in the season. Kobyluck began the weekend with a wrecked car after a flat tire sent him into the turn three wall during practice and forced the team to go to a backup car.

"This finish feels like a win," admitted Kobyluck. "Considering the circumstances, yeah, I'm happy. We destroyed our primary car in the last five minutes of practice, pulled out our backup car and started dead last only to finish fifth - I can't find much complaining in that."

The first practice session left Kobyluck feeling extremely confident for the American Fence Association 150 at Gresham Motorsports Park. They were just about to park the car in preparation for qualifying when the tire on the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet blew and sent him into the wall. The damage forced the team to pull out the backup car, and use his time trial laps as a mini practice session for the race.

"I came into turn three, picked up some debris on the track, blew out the right front tire and hit the wall. We had a really good car after working on it all day. From that point, we had to start from scratch. The car seemed to be okay (during qualifying) and there wasn't any adjustments that we could make on pit road. We would have liked to have change the left front spring, but that really wasn't an option during the race. We were stuck with what we had."

Despite having no practice, Kobyluck was able to post a lap of 17.608 seconds (102.226 mph) - the 17th fastest time of the day. NASCAR rules, however, mandated that Kobyluck drop to the rear of the field for the start of the race giving him a 25th place starting position.

Determined, Kobyluck quietly moved his way up through the field and broke into the top-10 by the halfway mark. The second half of the race, however, was marred by cautions and three red flag periods that made any advancement difficult. Still, Kobyluck persevered, and on each green flag run, Kobyluck made forward progress through the field. He took the checkers with an impressive fifth place finish.

"We were in the right place at the right time. I was in the outside lane and that seemed to be the preferred lane. We were better than some of those guys, but just by a little bit. Everyone was so equal it was tough to pass. The drivers that were out front weren't racing smart and we capitalized on it. They were wrecking each other instead of racing."

The next event on tap for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will be the New Hampshire 125 at New Hampshire Motors Speedway on Friday, Sept. 17. The American Fence Association 150 from Gresham Motorsports Park will air on SPEED on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. ET.

For more information on Matt Kobyluck, Mohegan Sun Casino & Resort, or the Mohegan Sun race team, visit www.mattkobyluck.com.

Wreck Dampens Promising Run For Fadden Racing's Albarracin While Laing's Debut Nets Impressive 11th Place Finish

Jefferson, Ga. (August 30, 2010): Fadden Racing experienced a roller coaster day at the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East debut at Gresham Motorsports Park this weekend. Development driver and Columbia native Julian Albarracin was well on his way to a top-15 finish when he spun the No. 54 AAIC Chevrolet and hit the wall off of turn two at lap 90. The damage was too extensive and the team made the call to park the car for the remainder of the event. Tyler Laing, who was making his series debut in the No. 61 Ultimate Fish Scaler/Myachi.com Chevrolet, posted an impressive 11th place finish.

Albarracin, who never even tested at Gresham Motorsports Park, used the first practice session to become familiar with the track and improved steadily throughout the day. He posted his quickest lap during time trials and earned a 23rd place starting position.

"This is only his second oval course race, ever," said Mike Olsen, team owner. "So we want him to be conservative and just go out there and learn. That's what this season is all about for Julian. We don't want to put any pressure on him to go out there and earn the pole - that time will come for him. Right now we're solely concentrating on getting him some seat time, getting him comfortable in the cars, and getting him comfortable on these types of tracks. We were really pleased all day because at every different step he improved. He was better in the second practice session than he was in the first, and he was better in qualifying than he was in practice."

Albarracin's early performance was a good indicator at how comfortable he did feel at Gresham Motorsports Park. In the first half of the race, the 16-year-old driver advanced from 23rd to the top-15, and all indications were that he would keep moving forward. At lap 90, however, that all changed.

"He was on the outside of the 17 car and he got up a little too high, got into the marbles, and spun it out coming off of turn two," explained Olsen. "Where you enter the track to go into the infield, there's an opening and he just slid it into that opening and hit the wall. That wall was protected by water barrels, which burst open and soaked the track."

The race went under red flag conditions while the Fadden Racing crew assessed the damage to the No. 54 AAIC Chevrolet. The hit damaged the spoiler and decklid pretty hard, and the team decided the damage was too much to continue.

Laing, who was making his series debut in a one-race deal with Fadden Racing, had earned an 18th place starting position with his qualifying effort.

"He was fast in practice all day, and in qualifying he got real free in turn four and that killed his lap," said Olsen. "But Tyler ran a smart race and was able to turn that around fairly quickly."

Laing, like Albarracin, decided a conservative approach was the best for the caution-filled event, and managed to stay out of trouble, and out of the wrecks, all race long. He quietly worked his way up to an 11th place finish.

"It was a good day for him," said Olsen. "We were thrilled that he was able to pull off a finish like that. He's a young kid with a lot of talent, and I hope we see more of him in the future."

Shaw Rallies To Ninth Place Finish At Gresham Motorsports Park

Jefferson, Ga. (August 30, 2010): DJ Shaw had to face a lot of hurdles at Gresham Motorsports Park Saturday night. He wrecked in practice, had a battery problem that further limited practice time, and then struggled with a tire problem throughout the second half of the American Fence Association 150. Despite being three laps down at one point, the 20-year-old Rookie-of-the-Year candidate was able to rally in the last five laps of the race and bring home a ninth place finish in his No. 60 Precision JLM Chevrolet.

"It was a good recovery from the day," admitted Shaw. "It's pretty exciting though. We were three laps down with 17 to go and I got all those laps back before the last green flag with five to go. No one gave up on this team today and I have to thank my guys. They worked really hard all day."

The first two practice sessions were marred by a wreck and a battery issue that took up valuable track time for Shaw. The crew worked at fixing the damage on the No. 60 Precision JLM Chevrolet from the crash and then changed the alternator and battery to address the power problem. Qualifying, however, was going to be a gamble. Shaw had no idea what to expect.

"We had battery trouble all day so when I did my qualifying run my battery died and I didn't get a clean run. We changed the alternator and we changed the battery, but we still had an issue in the race and it would still skip," said Shaw.

Shaw earned an 11th place starting position with his qualifying lap, and felt confident with the car when he took the green flag. As the race went on, however, the No. 60 got tighter and tighter. He dropped back to 17th by lap 90 and decided to pit at lap 96.

"When we came in we didn't know the tire was flat. We swapped the tire from front to rear to see if that would make it better, but when we went back out it was way worse," he said.

Shaw stopped on the track in turn four at lap 121 and brought the caution out. The tire was flat and he would have to head back to pit road. After two trips to pit road, Shaw was now three laps down and in 16th place at lap 134.

The final 25 laps of the race proved to be a lesson in survival as they were marred with cautions and red flag periods. Fortunately, those yellows worked to his benefit and the Center Conway, N.H. driver was able to get all three laps back through the beneficiary rule. With five laps to go, Shaw, who said his car was as good as it was at the drop of the green flag, rallied seven positions in five laps before taking the checkered flag.

Shaw's ninth place finish leaves him eighth in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East point standings with two races remaining. The next event on tap for the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East will be the New Hampshire 125 at New Hampshire Motors Speedway on Friday, Sept. 17. The American Fence Association 150 from Gresham Motorsports Park will air on SPEED on Thursday, Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. ET.