Matt Kobyluck
#40 -2002 Interview
by Robin Ervin
A multiple event winner in every series he was raced in his short nine year racing career. Matt Kobyluck has come a long way in a short time and has made some tremendous strides along the way. He started racing when in 1993 when he was 22 years old at Waterford Speedway Conn. in a late model for a year ½ before switching to modifieds. “I won a race in my rookie season and right of the bat it seemed I had a knack for it.” Said Kobyluck. He switched to Stafford Speedway ‘s Pro Stock division in 1997 and came away with one win and many top tens. In 1998 they got their main sponsor, Mohegan sun casino, and started the transition from Pro Stock to BGNN. Kobyluck’s #40 team appeared in the Busch North Series in 1999 and quickly made their presence known on the track. He finished 21st in points in his rookie year and improved to 15th in points in 2000. In 2001,he scored his first win at Nazareth Penn and gave hints of becoming a points contender by finishing the season 11th in points.
A lot from the success comes from the benefit of having his tribe’s Mohegan Sun Casino as the team’s main sponsor for the last six years. Kobyluck is a member of the Mohegan Tribe. He is 1/8 Indian from mother’s side (his great great great grandfather was the famous chief Uncas.) A point of note, his tribe is no relation to the people referred to in the film ‘ The Last of Mohigans’. Kobyluck explains, “Our tribe represents something else. We have a different totem. Our people are called the wolf people.” The decal on the rear panel of the #40 car which reads ‘Mundo Wigo,’, means Great Creator in the tribe's language.
When asked how his tribe feels about their racing venture “ The tribe is really excited and proud about this because they can sponsor one of their own members, actually go out and perform at a level where they can get name recognition. “ Kobyluck states further “it’s a unique situation.” “ Right now we are working on, heading toward winning the championship in Busch North Series.” “ If we do win the championship, I will be the first Native American to win a Nascar sanctioned series and right now I believe I am the only Native American who has won a Nascar sanctioned event.” “ So it’s a unique situation and it seems we’ve been able to use that to our advantage to get recognition for the casino because its all about them not us, we’re just trying to perform the best we can and promote that company in any way possible and as a side benefit we get some recognition as well.”
When asked if it makes his head spin when he looks at how far he’s come in a short time. Kobyluck said ”No, no not yet, nothing has really set in yet, you know, we’re more focused on winning the championship first. We’re just going to continue doing what were capable of doing and what we’ve done so far this year that put us in this position from here out. “
“We’ve gotten progressively gotten better every year.” “ It seems we’ve taken a huge step from last year to this year and everybody seems to have stepped it up a notch in performance both on and off the track so now we are right in the thick of things.” “ So to go from 11th in points last year to championship contender this year has been a huge jump but never a jump I didn’t think we were capable of doing.” “I always though we were capable of performing at this level.” “When I was racing in the Pro Stock Division, I decided, I would move up every opportunity I got.” Kobyluck says, “ The right opportunities came along at the right time and I just took advantage of them and I’ve able to progress at a pretty rapid pace so far.”
“However, just being in the right place and getting the experience, having the right luck at the racetrack has put us in a position where we are now.” “ I’ve been a championship contender in every series I’ve drove in but I’ve never won one because I was more concerned about winning races than winning championships.” “We are changing that philosophy this year.” “ We are still going out every week to win races but we are also going out with an eye on the end result, winning championships.”
Some members of his close-knit crew have been with him since he began racing nine years ago. His parents are also highly involved with the team every week. His mother prepares food for the crew and enjoys herself by seeing new places and meeting people along the way while helping drive the team hauler. His father shares driving duties with his wife and does what ever he can to help out the team on race weekend. However, the big thing is that they are there for moral support and they love the sport of auto racing.
When asked why how he got involved in racing Kobyluck says with a laugh” I ask myself that question time and time again.” “I went into college to play basketball.’ (He was a team captain and an all-state player) “A good friend of mine raced a late model at Speed bowl, when I would come home for a weekend I’d hang out with him and help him out.” When I got out of college I started thinking to myself, I didn’t have anything to compete in anymore and I’ve always been a competitive person by nature through out my life.” “Since I’ve always had an interest in fast cars and hotrods and such.” “When I got out college I said hey I want to try some of this(auto racing) myself and that’s how it started.” “It’s been an interesting ride so far.”
As for moving up, Kobyluck says “it’s a natural progression, we’ll see, time will tell, if the right opportunity comes along at the right time we’ll look at it and see if it fits us.” “Right now we’re at a level now where, in order to get to the next level, there would have to be some pretty big doors that will have to open up for me to get there.” “Racing in the Busch North Series gives me a lot of time to be home with my wife, two kids and my new baby.” “It gives me a chance to have a life outside of racing and that’s important because I enjoy spending time with them but, I also enjoy racing so it’s a nice balance.”