Montville's Matt Kobyluck is hoping a crash that took place three Saturdays ago at Adirondack Speedway in New York can take him to some big cash tonight as NASCAR's Busch East Series invades Waterford Speedbowl for its one and only appearance of the 2006 season.

While running second with only four laps to go at the upstate New York track, Kobyluck was turned around by a competitor who pitted late and was coming back up through the field with fresher tires on his car.

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Before the smoke settled, Kobyluck was hit numerous times, with the last impact being strong enough to break the rear axle in what had been up, until that time, a very good short-track race car.

"We looked around in the shop and saw one of our cars parked over in the corner," Kobyluck said. "It hadn't been driven in two years, but it was good on tracks like Waterford."

So, his Mohegan Sun-sponsored team made it competitive and Kobyluck tested it at the Speedbowl. Now, he's looking forward to tonight. Kobyluck is the defending race champion. In 2005, he set fast time, started on the pole and led every lap.

"We smoked 'em, and we'd like to do that again on Saturday night," Kobyluck said. "This car is hooked up. Our testing went well. I've driven so many laps at Waterford and I'm looking for that perfect feel. If and when you get it, you're almost untouchable."

This, however, hasn't been the best of seasons for the former Waterford Late-Model driver. In addition to his bad finish at Adirondack, he also dropped out of a race at New Hampshire and those two DNFs have landed him fifth in points despite an early-season victory at Thompson.

"We've pretty much taken ourselves out of the championship picture," Kobyluck said. "I mean those two guys (points leader Mike Olsen and current second-place driver Sean Caisse) could both drop out of a pair of races. It's possible, but not probable."

Olsen leads in points with 1,190, while Caisse, whose car owner Andy Santerre will run a crate engine for tonight's race, has 1,156. Kobyluck trails Olsen by 212 and Caisse by 178 with only four races left. Busch East drivers are running a much-shortened 11-race schedule this season.

Waterford does loom large for Kobyluck. His shop is literally across the street from the start, just a short ways down Route 85.

"I could almost walk over there," he said.

It's also a chance for the local driver to throw a party. He'll have more than 500 people gathering at the Speedbowl for his Kobyluck Corporation bash.

"It's a nice way to pay back those people who've supported us all these years," Kobyluck said. "Now, if I can add another win, that would be even better."

In addition to the 150-lap feature for the Busch series, four of Waterford's regular Saturday-night divisions, Mini-Stock, Sportsman, Late Model and SK Modified, will be on the program. Racing starts at 5 p.m.

Peter Vander Veer covers auto racing for the Norwich Bulletin. Reach him at sports@norwichbulletin.com.

Originally published August 19, 2006