9.14.2007

Moore's antics cost Kobyluck

Matt Kobyluck is absolutely right. Kelly Moore should know better.

The winningest driver in Busch East Series history cost Kobyluck a shot at the series championship next week. With 11 laps left in Friday's Aubuchon Hardware 125, and with Kobyluck having rallied back from a flat tire early in the race, he and Moore got together in New Hampshire International Speedway's turn 3.

Both went spinning up the track and made contact with the wall. The bigger story? Kobyluck finished 33rd and saw Joey Logano sew up the series title.

"Kelly Moore is Kelly Moore. He only cares about himself," Kobyluck said. "He didn't need to wreck me there. It was really unnecessary. He just drove into the side of me. He drove in down on the apron. I gave him plenty of race track to get his car turned down in there, and he still drove into the side of me and wrecked me. That's unfortunate, but I can't control what other people do."

Moore claimed that Kobyluck had jumped a restart on lap 114, and he moved over to give Kobyluck the spot in turn 1. As they raced side-by-side down the backstretch, Moore felt he wasn't afforded the same luxury.
"I thought (Kobyluck) jumped the restart and started running 3-wide there, but I guess that's not my call to make," Moore said. "We went down into one, and I gave him the spot. Then, coming off two, it was a drag race down the back. Then we get down in there, and he didn't give me the room. By then, I just locked up the brakes and got into him."

The more Moore thought about it, though, the closer he got to shouldering blame he rightly should have.

"Looking back, I probably should have backed off a little earlier, you know," Moore said. "It was just one of them deals."

Television replays indicated Moore had more than enough room on the bottom of the race track to avoid Kobyluck.

"You'd think with number of years that Kelly's been racing, he'd use more common sense than that and have a little more respect for a guy that's running for the championship when he only runs 2 races a year," Kobyluck said. "That's pretty pathetic, and it's a pretty pathetic way to end our championship chase.

"It's really upsetting, because Kelly, he should just know better than that. He's raced forever, and that just shows me how little respect he has for anybody and does what he wants out there. He doesn't pay attention to anybody who's running for the championship or give somebody an inch. He just flat drove into me, just flat wrecked me, and there was no need of it."

No need at all, and Kobyluck lost out on his best shot at a BES title in his career.

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