Brake Problems End Kobyluck’s Zippo 200 Bid At Watkins Glen
It took a little help from his friends, but Matt Kobyluck was able to start the Busch Series’ Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International Saturday afternoon after a qualifying wreck nearly destroyed his car. Nevetheless, eleven laps into the race, Kobyluck was forced to bring his Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet behind the wall when it was discovered that he was moments away from losing his brakes altogether.
“We wrecked on the second lap of qualifying,” explained Kobyluck. “And the car was damaged pretty badly. We got it all back together and started the race, and within a couple of laps the front brakes just totally let go. We came in and discovered that if we had stayed out there any longer, we would have been without any brakes at all.”
Kobyluck pulled off a solid first lap in qualifying, and was able to start the race from the 26th position. Kobyluck’s Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet had a solid set-up, and the Uncasville, Conn. driver believed he could pull off an even better second lap.
“I hit the curb and the car got really free at the top of the hill. I didn’t see what Greg Biffle did during qualifying but I hear it was very similar,” Kobyluck said. “I was heading for the inside wall and I ended
Matt Kobyluck
up spinning it around. I hit the wall with the right front and the right rear. It was a driver error.”
The Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet suffered damage to the rear clip, the right side truck arm, the right front lower control arm, the right rear quarter panel, and other miscellaneous body damage. With the help of team members from Frank Cicci’s Team 34; Dale Quarterley, who was at the Glen attempting to make his NEXTEL Cup Series debut; and “Little Trees” Racing team members including crew chief Harry Norcross, the Mohegan Sun team was able to get the car back together and online for the start of the Zippo 200.
“We didn’t have much time to spare,” admitted Kobyluck. “All-in-all we got it repaired and we thought we were going to be alright. This team really pulled together when we needed it the most. I can’t tell you how hard these guys worked because words just don’t do it justice.”
When the green flag dropped, Kobyluck felt comfortable around the 2.45-mile road course, but just a couple laps into the race he knew he had a problem. He pulled in to the pits at lap eleven and never returned to the track. Kobyluck finished the day with a 42nd place finish.
“When I came in they discovered that both the rods for the master cylinder had snapped in half and the rear one was ready to snap in half. We went out to the garage area and we attempted to fix it, but by the time we had done that, there were only about 20-22 laps left in the race. At that point, it wasn’t really worth going back out there and getting into someone’s way or wrecking the car,” Kobyluck said.
Kobyluck will return to action this Saturday night at Waterford Speedbowl in the NASCAR Busch East Series, Grand National Division. Kobyluck is the defending race winner, and is looking to return to victory lane in front of several hundred Kobyluck Enterprises, Inc. employees, who will be on hand to cheer on the Mohegan Sun Casino Chevrolet.
