North Country Race Talk

News & Notes: Contenders Looking For Edge At Adirondack
By Jason Christley, NASCAR
July 28, 2009 - 1:34pm
In its eight year history, The Edge Hotel 150 at Adirondack International Speedway has been a microcosm of the overall NASCAR Camping World Series East title picture.

In each of the last two seasons, the driver holding the race trophy at the end of the night at Adirondack has been the same as the one holding the big trophy at the postseason awards banquet. Last season, Matt Kobyluck’s win provided the driver of the No. 40 Mohegan Sun Chevrolet with the points lead that he would not relinquish en route to his first championship.

In fact, the eventual series champion has never finished worse than third at the half-mile oval located in the picturesque heart of upstate New York.

The race takes on an added importance in 2009, as the closest points battle in series history hurtles towards its conclusion in September. The running of the 8th Annual The Edge Hotel 150 presented by Casella Waste Management, Inc., represents the eighth of 11 races. When the drivers leave the track on Saturday night, just the road course at Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park and the speedway events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Dover International Speedway remain before a champion is crowned.

Rookie Ryan Truex (No. 00 NAPA Toyota) is the series’ hottest driver with a pair of wins and a runner-up finish in his last three races. His victory in the most recent event, at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway, allowed him to move to the top of the standings. He holds a slim nine-point lead over Eddie MacDonald (No. 71 Grimm Construction Chevrolet).

Just 50 points separate Truex from fourth-place Kobyluck. The margin between first and sixth is only 93 points — keeping third-place Jody Lavender (No. 88 JoJo Ent./Custom Race Chassis Chevrolet), fifth-place Brett Moffitt (No. 44 brettmoffitt.com Chevrolet) and Steve Park (No. 35 Waste Management Recycle America Chevrolet) in the title hunt.


The Race The Edge Hotel 150 pres. by Casella Waste Systems
The Place Adirondack International Speedway, Lowville, N.Y.
The Date Saturday, August 1
The Time 6:30 p.m. ET
TV Schedule SPEED, August 13, 3 p.m. ET
Track Layout .5-mile asphalt oval
Race Purse $111,539
2008 Winner Matt Kobyluck
2008 Polesitter Bryon Chew
Event Schedule Practice, 12:15-1 p.m.; Final Practice, 1:30-2:15 p.m.; Qualifying, 4:15 p.m.
Track Contact John Flock, (315) 346-7223, publicrelations@adirondackspeedway.com
NASCAR PR Contact Jason Christley, (386) 547-2469, jchristley@nascar.com


ENTRY LIST

News & Notes

The Race … The Edge Hotel 150 presented by Casella Waste Systems at Adirondack International Speedway in Lowville, N.Y., is the eighth event in an 11-race schedule this year for the NASCAR Camping World Series East and the second of two trips to the Empire State in 2009. This year’s edition will mark the eighth season in a row that Adirondack has played host to the NCWS East.

The Procedure … The starting field is 26 cars, including provisionals. The first 22 cars will have secured starting positions based on two-lap qualifying. The remaining four spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 150 laps (75 miles).

The Track … Adirondack is a circular half-mile asphalt track. The NCWS East has competed at Adirondack every year since 2002, the track’s first full season of competition.

Race Winners … Andy Santerre - current crew chief and owner of the No. 44 Chevrolet - won the first NCWS East event at Adirondack in 2002 en route to the first of his four-consecutive championships. Matt Kobyluck won there in 2008 on the way to his first title as well. Kobyluck - with three wins at Adirondack - is the only driver to have multiple triumphs at the track.

Pole Winners … Of the seven previous NCWS East events at Adirondack, qualifying has only been held four times, with no drivers earning more than one pole. Bryon Chew captured the Coors Light Pole Award last year and set the qualifying record at 109.296 mph.

Lavender Making The Most Out Of The Least

There are NASCAR Sprint Cup Series development teams and there are independent teams. And then there is Jody Lavender.

The 30-year-old Hartsville, S.C., driver is in his second full season running in the NASCAR Camping World Series, but has a wealth of experience from making more than 20 starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.

He’s making the most of this opportunity in the No. 88 JoJo Ent./Custom Race Chassis Chevrolet for James Burgess. Racing with extremely limited resources, Lavender has four top fives in seven starts and heads to Adirondack International Speedway this weekend just 26 points behind first-place Ryan Truex.

“We’re running the season off a $200,000 budget,” Lavender said. “It’s definitely been a surprise to be able to take what we have to work with and be able to run as well as we have.”

The team has just one full-time employee, crew chief Todd Graffam. Burgess makes the 70-mile commute to the race shop several times a week to help on the car, and is often seen at the track working alongside the team’s volunteer crew.

“He’s not a rich man — he does this out of his pocket and for the love of the sport,” Lavender said.

Lavender knows that with just four races remaining, every position is going to be crucial to his title hopes.

“Every race counts from here on out; you can’t afford to throw away any of them,” Lavender said. “On the flip side, I’m just proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish on a severely limited budget. Just to be up there and competing for a championship is amazing in itself.

“Regardless of what happens, I’m just proud of the guys and what they’ve accomplished.”

Lavender was fifth last year at Adirondack despite arriving at the track with a setup that required major overhaul during practice. He qualified 17th and worked his way to the front.

“This year, I feel like we’ll be able to unload a lot closer to where we need to be,” Lavender said. “I actually feel pretty good about this weekend.”