Doug Coby Keeps Title Repeat Hopes Alive

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

                  Pulls Even With Preece After Fall Final Triumph At Stafford

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STAFFORD, Conn. -- Three races after it appeared Doug Coby's efforts to repeat as NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion were in jeopardy, he's back in the driver's seat.
The Milford, Connecticut, driver rolled to his second straight win Sunday in the NAPA Fall Final 150 at Connecticut's Stafford Motor Speedway and will head into the season finale as the championship points leader.
Ryan Preece, the 2013 champion who was the runner-up to Coby in 2012 and 2014, rebounded from an accident and pit road penalty to finish second at Stafford. Woody Pitkat, who entered the penultimate race weekend with the points lead, finished 12th after being involved in a late-race wreck.
The result is Coby will head to the season finale even in points with Preece. They are both four points (565) ahead of Pitkat (561) going into the Sunoco World Series 150 at Connecticut's Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Sunday, Oct. 18.
Coby has six wins to Preece's four and Pitkat's one.
It's a dramatic turn of events for Coby, who wrecked on Lap 2 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 19 and left the World's Fastest Half-Mile 33 points out of the lead. He finished second at New York's Riverhead Raceway before winning last week at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and Sunday's race at Stafford.
Coby also earned the Coors Light Pole Award for the NAPA Fall Final 150 in qualifying on Saturday. With Sunday’s win he became the first Whelen Modified Tour driver since Donny Lia in 2007 to win six events in a season.
Timmy Solomito was third on Sunday, followed by Lia and Shawn Solomito.
Rookies Chase Dowling and Matt Swanson were sixth and seventh, respectively, followed by Jamie Tomaino, Ken Heagy and Todd Szegedy.
The NAPA Fall Final 150 will premiere on NBCSN on Oct. 10 at 4 p.m.
NASCAR Whelen Results;

1	1	2	Doug Coby	Dunleavy's Repair/HEX Performance Chevrolet	150	47	4	Running
2	2	6	Ryan Preece	TS Haulers/East West Marine Chevrolet	150	44	2	Running
3	3	16	Timmy Solomito	Diversified Metals /R.B. Enterprises Ford	150	41		Running
4	5	8	Donny Lia	Sypher Construction/Bardahl Chevrolet	150	41	1	Running
5	14	75	Shawn Solomito	Eastport Feeds/Axel Anderson Inc. Chevrolet	150	39		Running
6	7	9	Chase Dowling *	S&S Asphalt Paving/Dunleavy's Repair Chevrolet	150	38		Running
7	19	89	Matt Swanson *	Spafco Race Chassis/FMR Racing Chevrolet	150	37		Running
8	18	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy's Repair/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet	150	36		Running
9	22	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood/East End Statuary Chevrolet	150	35		Running
10	15	4	Todd Szegedy	Montanari Fuel Dodge	150	34		Running
11	13	14	Max Zachem *	Trowbridge Transport/Dunleavy's Chevrolet	150	33		Running
12	10	88	Woody Pitkat	Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Restaurant	150	32		Running
13	17	64	Anthony Nocella *	Nocella Reclamation/Fast Track Chevrolet	150	31		Running
14	9	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing/Supreme Skylights Chevrolet	150	30		Running
15	27	33	Wade Cole	Performance Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet	150	29		Running
16	12	13	James Civali	Cape Cod Aggregates/Seekonk GP Chevrolet	149	28		Running
17	25	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape/TRC Electric Chevrolet	147	27		Running
18	21	31	Steve Masse *	SMR Racing Chevrolet	144	26		Running
19	6	22	Ted Christopher	Canto Paving/Ferguson Waterworks Chevrolet	136	25		Accident
20	4	44	Bobby Santos	Tinio Corp./Dan Kelley/Curb Records Chevrolet	122	24		Engine
21	11	51	Justin Bonsignore	M3 Technology Chevrolet	102	23		Accident
22	16	07	Patrick Emerling	Buffalo Auto Auction Chevrolet	100	22		Accident
23	23	46	Jeff Goodale *	Riverhead Building Supply/Speedworld FX Chevrolet	100	21		Accident
24	8	59	Ronnie Williams *	Advice One/Tick Free Organic Chevrolet	100	20		Accident
25	24	37	Dave Salzarulo	Brickenmore Bricks Chevrolet	48	19		Accident
26	20	36	Dave Sapienza *	Frankie's Towing/Wine Country Chevrolet	47	18		Accident
27	26	01	Melissa Fifield	Eastern Propane & Oil Chevrolet	47	17		Transmission