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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

After Horrid Start, Cody Wins 2nd Straight Race

June 5, 2009 -- Tucson, Arizona

If you left before the main event on Friday night, you would have thought that Cody Hybiak was a rookie driver, not a 20 race winner and 2 time Champion of Tucson Kart Speedway.  The HMS team showed up with confidence after Cody's dominating performance 3 weeks earlier.  They were looking to build on the new set-up they worked on last time and find more speed.  Instead rapidly changing track conditions had the team chasing the set-up all night long.

The long night started in hot laps with the track bumpy, dusty, and filled with pebbles.  Cody was by far the worst kart on the track, spinning 3 times in 3 laps.   Race officials decided to take a long intermission to sweep and water the track.   The team went to work and made wholesale changes to the set-up during the intermission.  During the 2nd hot lap session, Cody was by far the fastest kart on the track, besting his competition by half a second.

The team made minor changes before the first heat race.  Cody started on the outside pole next to Carlos Martinez.  The two set the pace as they broke away.   Cody wrestled the lead from Martinez on the third lap, only to lose it again one lap later.  Cody fell back to 4th and then worked his way back in a 3 way battle for second.  Going into turn 2, Cody split his competitors making it 3 wide.  Chris Perry on the outside ran out of room and hit the wall hard, bringing out the red flag.   On the restart, Martinez left the track with mechanical problems and Cody inherited the lead.  He led the first lap and took the white flag, but could not get the kart to turn off of turn 4 and was passed by Tommy Wunderlich and Conner Turner.

Between heats, the team took out all of the changes they had made earlier in the night and had the kart back to the same set-up they ran during their first race of the season.   Starting in the back of the pack, Cody quickly took the lead by lap 2.  He quickly pulled away, but as the tires heated up, a tight condition developed and he spun by himself.  No caution came out and he was half a lap behind in last place.  He was running by himself when he spun off of turn 4, bringing out a caution.  On the restart Cody jumped back to 3rd place and tried to make an outside pass for 2nd in turn 2.   He again spun--his 6th spin of the night, an unofficial HMS record.  Again there was no caution and he came home in last place, which is where he qualified for the main event.

"This is a major confidence buster for us," Cody's crew chief and Dad, Jeff   said before the main event.  "We thought we had a handle of the set-up but obviously we don't."

The driver and crew chief conferred during the entire 25 minute break.  As they broke down what the kart was doing in every corner and on every part of the kart, the two came up with a plan.  "We'll either get first or last," the crew chief said with a smile.  "This is a big change and a major guess on our part on what will work."

Cody added before the race, "I'm so nervous.  I don't remember ever being this bad."

Starting in the back, but on the inside row, Cody, Conner Turner, and Tommy Wunderlich took the first 3 spots by the end of lap 1.  Cody got under Turner on lap 2, and by lap 3 had worked his way around Wunderlich.  From there it was easy sailing.   Cody stretched his lead to over half the track by the time he took the checkered flag.  Martinez, Wunderlich, & Turner finished 2nd-4th in a very close wire to wire battle.

After the race, Cody came over to his crew chief with a smile and a hug and said a big, "Thank you.  That's the best it's ever driven."

"This was one of the most fun times I've had at the track.  It was such a challenge tonight," Cody said later.

The win was Cody's 21st career victory and the 42nd for HMS overall.  Cody will be back in action on June 19 as the best racers from the Southwest are in town.  Tucson Kart Club will be hosting their normal points race on Friday, followed by the 2nd leg of the Arizona State Championship Series on Saturday.

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Last modified: March 24, 2010