Thompson, Conn. (July 12, 2009): Jonathan Smith posted his second top-10 finish of the season in the Pepsi Full Fender Frenzy 100 at Thompson International Speedway Saturday night. The NASCAR Camping World Series East driver rallied from a lap 64 spin to post the finish and gained some ground in the point standings. He currently sits 13^th with five races remaining to the season.

“We had a really good car all day,” said Smith. “We were a little tight at the end of the race, but we hung on and finished in the top-10. We’re ready to go to Adirondack and go get them there.”

Smith was confident after a solid practice session was backed up with a qualifying effort of 108.591 mph (20.720 seconds). The speed was fast enough to earn the driver of the No. 16 Fadden Racing Chevrolet a 12^th place starting position.

Smith moved up to ninth at the drop of the green and was challenged by the 88 of Jody Lavender before the race hit lap five. Lavender moved low and challenged on the inside, which set off a side-by-side battle that lasted an entire circuit. Lavender persisted with his challenges on Smith, and eventually took over the spot on lap nine coming out of turn four. The two, however, were running nose-to-tail until caution slowed the pace at lap 12.

The Fadden Racing entry lined up tenth for the restart at lap 18 and maintained a position in the top-12 throughout the first half of the 100-lap race. A caution tightened up the field for a lap 55 restart with Smith 11^th, but it was on lap 64, coming around turns three and four, that Smith spun.

“I was following the 96 for a couple of laps and trying to set him up. Earlier in the race the 31 had blown up and they never really got the oil cleaned up in turn three. When I went to go by the 96 I got up there in the oil and just slid right into him. It spun both of us and somebody else. I did my best not to get hit, but it was a racing deal,” explained Smith.

Fadden Racing crew chief Harry Norcross summoned Smith to the pits. After a quick pit stop, Smith rejoined the field at the tail end. He knew he had his work cut out for him. However, by lap 75, Smith was back up to 11^th, and in the final 20 laps he was able to pick off two more positions to finish ninth.

“We made an adjustment and it didn’t exactly do what we wanted it to do – it actually made the car tighter for the end of the race,” said Smith. “We hung on and finished ninth so it wasn’t a bad day at all.”

The NASCAR Camping World Series East will take a couple of weeks off before their next event at Adirondack International Speedway in New York on Saturday, August 1^st.

For more information on Jonathan Smith or Fadden Racing, visit www.faddenracing.net.

Thompson, Conn. (July 12, 2009): Matt Kobyluck and the Mohegan Sun Casino race team posted a sixth place finish in the NASCAR Camping World Series East’s Pepsi Full Fender Frenzy 100 at Thompson International Speedway Saturday night. The event marked Kobyluck’s only appearance in his home state of Connecticut this year.

“The car didn’t change any from lap one to lap 100. We were too tight in the middle of the track the whole race,” said Kobyluck. “We got out of it what we could. On the short runs we were better than the 38 and on the long runs he was better.”

Kobyluck started the race in third after posting a qualifying lap of 20.474 seconds (109.895 mph) in time trials. At the drop of the green, he wheeled the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet into second but got loose in the corner and fell back to fifth.

Kobyluck maintained his fifth place position with no challenges until lap 39 when the 38 of Alan Tardiff got up to Kobyluck’s door in an intense side-by-side battle. Kobyluck held him off, but Tardiff challenged again on the following circuit and another side-by-side battle developed. Kobyluck continued to close the door on his persistent challenges and held on to the fifth spot until a restart at lap 55 when Tardiff eventually got by.

Kobyluck gained some ground on a restart at lap 68 when he used the bottom groove to go by Tardiff and Matt DiBenedetto to take over the fifth spot once again. A long green flag run strung out the top five, and Kobyluck was able to hold off the advances of Tardiff once again.

Caution tightened the field back up with nine laps remaining in the event. On the restart, Tardiff was able to drive by the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet and relegated Kobyluck back to sixth. On the final lap, the defending 2008 Camping World East Champion was making a challenge on Tardiff when the 74 of Jarit Johnson got into the mix. Kobyluck and Johnson were side-by-side when they made contact.

“The 38 got free coming off of turn four and I was going under him at the same time. We both went up the track and the 74 was on the outside of me. We ended up just rubbing a little bit, but he (Johnson) ended up getting a flat out of it. It was hard racing with one lap left to go. It’s a product of short track racing.”

Kobyluck took the checkers in sixth and holds on to a fourth place position in the point standings, 50 points out of the lead. The next event for the Mohegan Sun Race team is at Adirondack International Speedway in New York on Saturday, August 1^st.

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

Thompson, Conn. (July 12, 2009): A promising run was cut short for Dustin Delaney when he got involved in a lap 30 accident that forced the team to park the car for the remainder of the Pepsi Full Fender Frenzy 100 at Thompson International Speedway. Delaney finished the NASCAR Camping World Series East event with a frustrating 20^th place finish.

The No. 39 Delaney Infrastructure/CarDaddy.com Chevrolet was lined up 19^th for the start of the race after Delaney posted a qualifying speed of 21.062 seconds (106.827 mph). He made it up to 16^th before the first caution flew at lap 12 when the 37 car blew an engine.

The Mayfield, N.Y. driver was working his way through the field when, at lap 30, he got spun in turns three and four. The 31 car slid up into him with no where to go and both cars limped back to pit road with damage. The front end of the Delaney Infrastructure/GoDaddy.com Chevrolet was heavily damaged and crew chief Jamie Aube needed to assess the health of the radiator.

“It was bound to happen I guess when you qualify back there,” said Delaney. “I was underneath him (the 50 car) a little bit and he came down just a little bit. It was just a racing deal with no one at fault. We would have been alright if the 31 hadn’t gotten into us, but he had nowhere to go either. It shoved the whole nose in and put a hole in the radiator.”

The team pushed the car behind the wall to try and fix the hole, but with only a 100-lap race on a short 5/8^th’s mile, the team ran out of time.

“We tried putting another radiator in, but we were so many laps down. I’m looking forward to going to Adirondack. We’ll have a lot of friends, family, and fans there since it’s our home track.”

The series visits Adirondack International Speedway on Saturday, August 1^st.

Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Jonathan Smith used strategy and patience to make his way up to third in the NASCAR Camping World Series East Heluva Good! Summer 125 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday night, but mid-race contact with Ryan Gifford brought his solid run to a screeching halt when he spun on the backstretch and hit the wall. The driver of the No. 16 Fadden Racing Chevrolet finished a disappointing 21^st place.

“Coming out of turn two we were sitting third and the 29 just got underneath me and wrecked me. I couldn’t hold onto it, hit the inside wall and just trashed the car. I just had to hold on for the rest of the race,” said Smith. “The right front got smacked in and the right rear got smacked up. The car was really free after that and there was not much we could do about it but hang on.”

Smith started the race in 20^th and was running 11^th following a round of pit stops at lap 39. The team had adjusted on the car during the fuel stop and Smith was confident that he could progress through the field.

“We missed the set up at the start of the race, but we got it back when we came in for the pit stop. The guys made the car pretty good with a couple of adjustments,” he said.

A second caution period saw the leaders come back down pit road at lap 65 for a fresh set of tires, but Smith and his Fadden Racing crew opted to stay out and gain track position. It was a decision he said was easily made. When racing resumed at lap 68, Smith was in the third position.

The trouble started at the drop of the green. Smith protected his third place position through turn one, but exiting the second corner, everything fell apart when the 29 got into the back of Smith. The No. 60 spun across the backstretch and hit the barrier on the inside of the track. The damage was extensive and Smith headed right for pit road.

The team changed tires, pulled the sheet metal out and returned to the race. Smith went a lap down before the race conclusion and had to settle with a 21^st place finish.

“We have a great team, great cars, and great runs. We just have bad luck. We’ll be there. We’re always up front, but stuff just happens to us. We’re looking for that racing luck,” Smith said.

Up next for Smith and the NASCAR Camping World Series East is Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut on July 11^th.

Disappointing Season Debut For Olsen

Loudon, N.H. (June 27, 2009): Two-time NASCAR Camping World Series East Champion Mike Olsen made his season debut at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday night behind the wheel of the No. 61 KDD Auto Parts Chevrolet, but a missed set up made for a frustrating and long day for the car owner of Fadden Racing. Olsen finished the Heluva Good! Summer 125 with a 13^th place finish.

“I do this to have fun, and it wasn’t a lot of fun out there today,” said Olsen. “The car was tight early and it wasn’t coming into it. I was just kind of riding and we weren’t that good.”

Olsen started the race in the 21^st starting position after a qualifying effort of 31.462 seconds (121.060 mph). The team was still optimistic, however, for a solid run.

“We weren’t really worried about our starting position,” said Olsen. “We set the car up for the long run and hoped that it would come to us as the race went on. Unfortunately, it didn’t.”

The No. 61 KDD Auto Parts Chevrolet was tight right from the green flag, and Olsen struggled to gain position. A long green flag run didn’t help matters, and Olsen found himself a lap down before the first caution flag flew at lap 39. He had just gone the lap down when the caution dropped and was awarded his lap back through the beneficiary rule.

“We caught a break there,” said Olsen. “We came down pit road for fuel and an adjustment, which helped a little bit.”

Olsen came back down pit road for tires following a caution period just past the halfway mark, and was assessed a penalty by NASCAR for a blend line violation.

The team continued to persevere and rallied to a 13^th place finish before the checkers dropped. Still, with only limited appearances on the schedule, he had hoped for a better finish.

“I don’t want to come here and look in the mirror and see only three cars behind me,” said Olsen. “I come here to be competitive. I come here to try and win the race. We got off our strategy early today and we were off.”

Kobyluck Looks To Climb Points Ladder At NHMS

Uncasville, Conn. (June 19, 2009): NASCAR Camping World Series East Champions are made at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A finish there can make or break your chances at a title. For Matt Kobyluck, driver of the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet and defending series champion, the Heluva Good! Summer 125 holds a lot of weight. He’s currently third in the point standings, and is hoping to move up the ladder with a strong performance at the 1.058-mile oval.

“I’m pretty confident,” Kobyluck said going into the event. “We’ll be taking the same things we used last year and building on them a little bit more. We definitely go into every race with the goal of winning, but a win here would be tremendous. We’ve always had fast cars here and we’ve been getting closer and closer to our goal of winning every time we go back.”

The 39-year-old driver posted a third place finish in this event last year, which catapulted him to second in the point standings. The Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet was out front for the first 35 laps. He led one more time before a three-wide battle with Trevor Bayne and Eddie MacDonald relegated him to third for a green-white-checker finish.

“We didn’t take tires last year and the guys that finished ahead of us both did. They were on fresher tires so I had nothing for them on the last restart,” reflected Kobyluck. “A third place finish was a huge day for us in terms of the championship. If you want to win the title in this series, you have to have a good day at New Hampshire.”

Kobyluck has more experience at the track than most regular drivers in the series. The Heluva Good Summer 125 will mark his 26^th start at NHMS in the Camping World Series East with over 2500 laps raced in competition at the Magic Mile. He’s posted five top-five and eight top-10 finishes there – with two top-five’s last season alone.

The Heluva Good Summer 125 is slated to take the green flag at 5 p.m. on Friday, June 26^th. Fans can meet up with Kobyluck at an autograph session outside the infield tunnel on Friday at 3 p.m.

For more information on Matt Kobyluck or Mohegan Sun Racing visit www.mattkobyluck.com.