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News & Notes: Adirondack’s ‘Quirks’ Suit Kobyluck Just Fine

By Paul Schaefer, NASCAR
July 23, 2008 - 4:01pm

The NASCAR Camping World Series East has a colorful history at one of the must unusual short tracks in the nation. The series returns to that track, Adirondack International Speedway in Beaver Falls, N.Y., Saturday, July 26, for it’s seventh appearance.

The track has multiple personalities … it’s part rock and roll, part deck shuffler, part equalizer and part road course.

The half-mile paved oval is irregularly circular with multiple subtle turns and not so subtle varying degrees of banking. The rock and roll comes from frequent beating and banging that the cars endure; the race’s deck can be shuffled by the slightest slip, which is a great equalizer in that not even the best drivers are able to drive 150 perfect laps there; and it has a road course personality in the subtle multiple turns within the circle.

It is no surprise that one of the most successful NASCAR Camping World Series East drivers over the past seven years has been Matt Kobyluck (No. 40 Mohegan Sun Chevrolet) — who has dominated on series road courses.

“It’s not your normal oval track, that’s for sure,” Kobyluck said. “You can’t really get up on the wheel there. The more you try, the more you slow down. You’re lacking grip and in a circle the whole time, and you have to finesse the car the whole time.

“Both corners are not the same. It’s kind of like a D-shape, but it’s in a circle the whole time.

“You’re never going to get as good as you want to be in Turns 1 and 2, because then you’ll be off in 3 and 4. And vise versa.”

Kobyluck quickly found success at the track, finishing second in the series’ first trip there in 2002. In six previous visits, the Connecticut driver has a pair of wins, four top fives and a Coors Light Pole Award. He was 10th there last year after leading a race-high 128 laps but was penalized for jumping a late-race restart.

“I just try to get in a rhythm there,” Kobyluck said. “That’s what you’ve got to do: Get in a rhythm there and not try to muscle the car around there.”

Adirondack comes at a perfect time for Kobyluck.

He is coming off a win at Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tenn., last weekend to cut Austin Dillon’s point lead to 20. And, following Adirondack, the NASCAR Camping World Series East heads to Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn. Kobyluck already owns one road course win this season (Watkins Glen) and has two wins and a second in the last three trips to Lime Rock.

Kobyluck credits his experience and a strong team in the garage and on pit road with helping him keep pace with the NASCAR developmental teams. Last year, he was battling for the championship with Joe Gibbs Racing driver Joey Logano, and this year, he’s chasing Dillon, a Richard Childress Racing developmental driver.

“It’s one of those deals, if you go into the race with the concept where you’re going to gain all your points in one race, you’re generally not going to accomplish your goals,” Kobyluck said. “You have to try to finish the best you can and, throughout the race, you have to make smart decisions. It’s about executing your plan and taking advantage of the circumstances the best you can. And the points will take care of themselves.”

The Race	Edge Hotel 150
The Place	Adirondack International Speedway, Beaver Falls, N.Y.
The Date	Saturday, July 26
The Time	6:30 p.m. ET
TV Schedule	HDNet (Live); SPEED (enhanced replay) Aug. 6, noon ET
Track Layout	.500-mile paved
Race Purse	$117,951
2007 Winner	Joey Logano
2007 Pole	Joey Logano
Schedule	Practice 12:15 p.m.-2:15 p.m., Time Trials 4:15 p.m.
Track Contact	Billy Gibson (315) 346-7223

CLICK HERE FOR ENTRY LIST 

News & Notes

The Race …  This is the eighth event of a 13-race NASCAR Camping World Series East schedule for 2008.

The procedure … The starting field is 30 cars, including provisionals. Starting positions 1-26 will be determined by time trials. The four remaining spots will be determined through the provisional process. The race is scheduled for 150-laps (75 miles).

The Track … The half-mile track of Adirondack International Speedway is known as one of the most challenging and unique short-tracks in America. The oval is actually an irregularly shaped circle, with differing degrees of banking in almost every turn.

The records … The series one-lap qualifying record at Adirondack is 16.648 seconds (108.121 mph). The record for completing 150 laps was established in 2007 by Joey Logano, who completed the event in 1 hour, 8 minutes and 30 seconds, for an average speed of 85.694 mph.

The history … This year’s event is the eighth appearance of the series at Adirondack. Matt Kobyluck (No. 40 Mohegan Sun Chevrolet) is the  leading active race winner with two. He is tied with former driver and current team owner Andy Santerre, who won twice as a driver. Other previous winners include Joey Logano (2007) and Dale Quarterly (2003). Kobyluck, Kelly Moore, Ryan Moore and Martin Truex Jr. have each won AIS pole awards.

Arthur To Make NASCAR Debut At Home Track

Hometown fans at Adirondack International Speedway will have a local favorite to keep an eye on during Saturday’s Edge Hotel 150 presented by Casella Waste Systems.

Levi Arthur, 25, of Lyons Falls, N.Y., will make his first NASCAR Camping World Series East qualifying attempt. Arthur competed at the track from 2003-2006  and posted two feature wins, 15 top-fives and 41 top-10s.

A graduate of Hobart Williams Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., Arthur was a defensive end on his college football team, which won three USAA championships and made the NCAA playoffs twice. His car carries his college football number, 65.

The Arthur Racing Chevrolet is based on a Hopkins chassis and powered by a NASCAR-optional spec engine.

Last year’s event ...

Joey Logano only led one lap in picking up his fourth win of the season. Logano ducked underneath Bryon Chew as they dodged car on the track as they came out of Turn 4 coming to the checkered flag. The starting field was set by points because of weather. Matt Kobyluck led a race-high 149 laps but was black-flagged for jumping a late race restart and wound up 10th. Chew was penalized post-race for an infraction discovered during technical inspection and dropped to last in the race. This moved Sean Caisse up to second and Logano’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Marc Davis, to third. Peyton Sellers and Eddie MacDonald rounded out the top five, with MacDonald also picking up the race’s Powerade Power Move of the Race Award after starting 21st. Ten rookies were part of the 26-car field.

Final notes from Nashville

Prime Position: Peyton Sellers (No. 44 E.J. Prescott/Castle Chevrolet) became the first driver to earn a second Coors Light Pole Award this season when he posted the fastest qualifying lap Saturday. Sellers also earned the Coors Light Pole Award in the season-opening race at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in Greenville, S.C. It was Sellers’ fifth career NASCAR Camping World Series pole. It was also the 13th Coors Light Pole over the last three years for Andy Santerre Motorsports.

Sellers Cleans Up: In addition to the Coors Light Pole Award, Sellers also earned the Aero Exhaust Lap Leader Award for leading the most laps (78) and the Featherlite Most Improved Driver Award. Sellers was coming off an 18th-place finish at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway.

No repeat: The chance to repeat his 2007 magic for Rogelio Lopez (No. 03 Telmex/Lucas Oil Chevrolet) disappeared on Lap 20 when he spun in Turn 4 after contact by Sterling Marlin, which caused a six-car incident. Lopez wound up completing 99 laps and finishing 21st.

Not So Happy Homecoming: Former Music City Motorplex track champion and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Sterling Marlin (No. 95 Wide Open/Sadler Brothers Dodge) had a less-than-enjoyable return to his home track. The two-time Daytona 500 champion was sent to the rear for rough-riding following his incident with Lopez, and subsequently parked his car for the night on Lap 93 after receiving a pit-road penalty for an illegal tire change. Marlin finished 22nd.

Moving Up: Ricky Carmichael (No. 4 Monster Energy Drink Chevrolet) picked up the Powerade Power Move of the Race Award after starting 20th and finishing fourth.

Park Back On Course: After disappointing finishes at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Thompson, Steve Park (No. 6 Waste Management Recycling America Chevrolet) earned a solid sixth. It was his fifth top 10 of the season and moved him back up to eighth in points.

Career Night: Five drivers posted their career-best finishes at Music City, led by Carmichael in fourth. Also with career nights were fifth-place Derek Thorn (No. 80 Paul Davis Restoration/ALS Ford), ninth-place Craig Goess (No. 2 Greenville Toyota/ESR Toyota), 14th-place Chase Mattioli (No. 27 Liquid Fence Ford), and 27th-place Daniel Pope III (No. 10 D&D Repair/TJ’s Antiques Dodge).

In addition, Sellers, 10th-place Max Dumarey (No. 16 Bodycoach.net Chevrolet) and 11th-place Dustin Delaney (No. 39 Carsunder10k.com/Delaney Energy Chevrolet) matched their best NASCAR Camping World Series East finishes.

Swapping The Lead: The 12 lead changes tied for second most on the season, matching the dozen at South Boston (Va.) Speedway May 31. The combination event with the NASCAR Camping World Series West at Iowa Speedway May 18 featured 13 lead changes.