Notebook: Kobyluck looks for reversal of fortunes

ELKO, Minn. -- Matt Kobyluck has been fast this season. But the NASCAR Grand National Division veteran has been around long enough to not be overly concerned that "fast" hasn't translated into the results he'd hoped for.

In his ninth full season in the series, Kobyluck hasn't continued any of the momentum he ended last year with after winning the 2006 Toyota All-Star Showdown.

When he opened 2007 in the West Series race at Phoenix International Raceway, Kobyluck had a top-five day ended on Lap 38 when he cut a tire and slammed the wall. He finished 36th.

Kobyluck endured similar misfortune in the Busch East opener at Greenville-Pickens Speedway in South Carolina. He qualified fourth and was running in the top five when a pair of lapped cars spun in front of him. Kobyluck was collected in the mess, and wound up hitting the wall, which caused heavy damage. Although he continued in the race, he finished two laps down and in 21st.

"In racing, you don't always get what you think you deserve," said Kobyluck, who hopes Friday night's race at Elko (Minn.) Speedway will get him back on track. "You have to turn it around somewhere.

"From a performance perspective, I'm optimistic when I go to the race track because we're performing well."

Elko marks the first time the two Grand National Series -- the West Series and the Busch East Series -- will run in the same race with points at stake. In the past, the two series have met only in the postseason Toyota All-Star Showdown. Kobyluck finished second in the 2004 and '05 Showdowns before winning last year.

He's also confident because the 3/8-mile track at Elko has been compared to the Lake Erie Speedway the Busch East ran at last year. Kobyluck qualified second in that event and finished sixth.

"It looks like it has an outside groove, and with the added banking it has, there should be some good side-by-side racing," Kobyluck said of Elko. "We always ran well at Lake Erie."

David Talks Game Plan

With the West Series having already completed three of its 13 events, this weekend provides an opportunity for points leader Mike David to take a big step toward his first championship.

David, who was the series runner-up last year, leads second-place Tim Woods III by 70 and third-place Jason Bowles by 101.

Will that alter his strategy at a bullring like Elko?

"It will when you get into the race," David said. "I don't qualify well, so we're just going to have to try to get what we can get early and the strategy will change as the race unfolds."

David has another motive to keep his nose clean.

"I always try not to tear it up anyway," David said, "because I have to fix it."

Logano Looking For Hat Trick

After winning the first two Grand National events he's entered, 16-year-old Joey Logano is looking for the hat trick in tonight's Minnesota 150 at Elko.

Logano earned national attention last year when Mark Martin showered him with high praise. He knows that the spotlight has only gotten brighter with his early-season performance.

"I'm sure right now there's a lot of people shooting for us," said Logano, who has wins at Phoenix and Greenville-Pickens. "That's a good thing.

"We had two really good runs. As long as they're chasing us, I'm happy with that."

Even though this is the first NASCAR Grand National Division race at Elko, Logano has experience at the track. He ran an ASA touring event at Elko two years ago. Qualifying was rained out for that event and Logano was third fastest in practice. He said he was moving up in the field when "I made a mistake and put it in the wall."

"I was probably over my head at that time," said Logano, who was 14 when he ran that event. "It was a good race -- not a real fast race track, but you can still race real good."

They Said It

"It looks like it's going to be fun. I like short tracks, I really do."
-- Jesus Hernandez, Busch East Series rookie and Ginn Racing development driver.

"You don't have the steering wheel straight for long. It's a fun little race track."
-- Logano, about Elko.

And more

• Jamie Hayes, a development driver for Ken Schrader Racing Inc., was fastest during Friday afternoon's two-hour practice session. Hayes' best lap was 14.319.

Sean Caisse was second fastest at 14.366, followed by Brian Ickler (14.378), Joe Gibbs Racing development driver Marc Davis (14.383), and 2006 NASCAR Mexico champion Rogelio Lopez (14.430).

The rest of the top 10 speeds in practice were set by defending Busch East champion Mike Olsen (14.448), Jeffrey Earnhardt (14.450), Kobyluck (14.458), Logano (14.464), and Eric Holmes (14.468). Holmes was the 2006 West Series champion but is running in the Busch East this season.

Kobyluck best lap was 29th fastest until he came back out with two minutes remaining in practice and jumped into the top 10, knocking out Richard Childress Racing development driver Ryan Foster (14.482).

Qualifying is set for 8 p.m. ET; the race is scheduled to begin at 10 p.m.

• Logano isn't the only one in the field to have raced at Elko. Busch East rookie Tim Schendel, who won last year's NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division, Midwest Series, has experience in the track having run in various series. He has a 150-lap ASA victory at Elko. Schendel provided his fellow rookies with an explanation of what to expect from the track during Friday morning's Rookie Meeting.