| Kevin Cywinski, born March 16, 1965 in Mosinee, WI, is a former NASCAR driver. He competed in the Craftsman Truck Series full-time in 1998 and 1999, as well as some races in the Nationwide Series. After leaving NASCAR, he went back down to the short-track ranks. He won the ASA championship series in 1997, 2003, and 2004. At last report, Cywinski was racing in the ASL series and helping ARCA's Country Joe Racing.
Cywinski made his debut in this series in 1997, when he competed in the #18 DANA Dodge. His first race was at ORP, where Cywinski started 21st and finished a respectable 20th. Later in the year, Cywinski started 20th at Mesa Marin and came home with a solid 15th place finish.
Those runs attracted the eyes of Bob Brevak, who hired Cywinski after released Tony Roper midway through 1998. Cywinski got right on it, earning an 8th place finish in his first outing with the team at Bristol. However, Cywinski struggled for the rest of the year, only recording five top-20 finishes in nineteen races. Cywinksi did not finish nine races, but seven of those were mechanical failure. Still, they did not help the team. The main highlight of Cywinski's year was winning the outside pole at Flemington. This was all in route to a 28th place finish in points.
Brevak stood with Cywinski and his trust was greatly paid in 1999, as Cywinski roared to a 16th place finish in points after two top-5s and seven top-10s. His best run of the season was a 3rd at Bristol, followed closely by a 4th at Martinsville and the other five top-10s. Cywinski would have proved to be a bigger threat in the points, but his team struggled at some tracks, posting a season average 17.8 finish.
Cywinski left after the year was up to go back short track racing and was replaced by John Young.
Cywinski made two career starts in this series, both coming in 1998. Cywinski debuted in the Ruark Racing #89 Chevy at Hickory. The short track ace qualified the car in 29th, but steadily improved to 19th in the final showing. Key Motorsports was the team that Cywinski drove for next at Richmond. He started that event in 19th, but slid to 25th in the final rundown.
External Links
Cywinski Interview-Jan. 2005
Cywinski's Career Stats from Racing-Reference.info
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