Doug Coby Pulls Away From Field At Stafford

Posted by Wayne G. Barber
Doug Coby continued his mastery of his home track Friday night.
The 36-year-old from Milford, Connecticut, won his third straight NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Stafford Motor Speedway, the track where the three-time tour champion spent his early years racing, with yet another dominating effort. Coby led 129 of the 130 laps -- pulling away on a green-white-checkered finish to claim the 26th Annual TSI Harley Davidson 125.
"Right now, our team is firing on all cylinders," said Coby. "Everybody's got to do their job, including me. And we did. That's why we won."
Jimmy Blewett scored his second straight podium with a runner-up finish, while Donny Lia, Eric Goodale and Justin Bonsignore rounded out the top five.
The win was the 19th of Coby's career in 175 starts, tying him with Jerry Marquis and Todd Szegedy for eighth all-time on the Whelen Modified Tour. Rick Fuller is next at 20 wins on the all-time list. Coby has won five of the tour's last seven races, dating back to last year. It's a streak that covers the last three events at Stafford.
Dating back to his win in the NAPA Fall Final last October, Coby's No. 2 Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Construction Chevrolet has led 367 of the last 375 laps on the half-mile.
"Not to screw up our car by making too many changes," said Coby of what his team has learned in order to keep winning at Stafford. "We were great at the Fall Final and that was the first time we ran the car here. And we tweak it during practice, and we tweak before the race. The guys know, night race, what's going to happen. Obviously I know this race track. They know this race track.
"The goal right now is not screw it up. It's fast. It's going to be a contender every time we come here."
Only a pair of late cautions were able to slow Coby. The final came on Lap 123 and set up an overtime finish. Coby, however, was able to get away from the pack and roll to Victory Lane.
"I left the door open a couple times," said Coby, "but the car just had great forward bite off Turn 2. I think that was the difference for us."
Rowan Pennink, who won the tracks' NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Division I feature earlier in the night, finished sixth. Ron Silk, Bobby Santos, Brendon Bock and Max Zachem completed the top 10.
Championship contender Timmy Solomito was caught up in a late race incident that dropped him from second to seventh in points. Coby stretched his lead to 24 over Bonsignore and 28 over Donny Lia. Just 10 points separate Lia from an eighth-place tie between Blewett and Bock.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is back on track on Wednesday, June 15, at Thompson (Connecticut) Speedway Motorsports Park.

Fin	Str	Car	Driver	Team	Laps	Points	B/Points	Status
1	1	2	Doug Coby	Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const Chevrolet	130	48	5	Running
2	5	4	Jimmy Blewett	Starrett Dodge	130	42		Running
3	3	8	Donny Lia	Sypher Construction/Bardahl Chevrolet	130	42	1	Running
4	4	58	Eric Goodale	GAF Roofing/RBSCorp.com Chevrolet	130	40		Running
5	13	51	Justin Bonsignore	M3 Technology Chevrolet	130	39		Running
6	2	3	Rowan Pennink	Cape Cod Copper/Canto Paving Chevrolet	130	38		Running
7	15	82	Ron Silk	Horton Avenue Materials Chevrolet	130	37		Running
8	8	44	Bobby Santos	Tinio Corp./Dan Kelley/Curb Records Chevrolet	130	36		Running
9	9	29	Brendon Bock	Pro System Brakes/L.I. Performance Chevrolet	130	35		Running
10	18	20	Max Zachem	Lu-Mac's Package Store/VWS Chevrolet	130	34		Running
11	11	75	Shawn Solomito	Eastport Feeds/Axel Anderson Inc. Chevrolet	129	33		Running
12	19	46	Jeff Goodale	Riverhaed Bldg Supply Chevrolet	129	32		Running
13	16	36	Dave Sapienza	Frankie's Towing Chevrolet	129	31		Running
14	10	56	Craig Lutz *	Lutz Motorsports Chevrolet	129	30		Running
15	22	99	Jamie Tomaino	Dunleavy's Repair/Atlantic Sprinkler Chevrolet	129	29		Running
16	7	9	Chase Dowling	S&S Asphalt Paving/Dunleavy's Repair Chevrolet	129	28		Running
17	17	89	Matt Swanson *	Spafco Race Chassis/FMR Racing Chevrolet	128	27		Running
18	20	18	Ken Heagy	Buoy One Seafood Chevrolet	128	26		Running
19	25	24	Andrew Krause *	Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet	127	25		Running
20	24	26	Gary McDonald	Lakeland Landscape /TRC Electric Chevrolet	126	24		Running
21	21	33	Wade Cole	Performance Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet	126	23		Running
22	26	1	Melissa Fifield	Eastern Propane & Oil Chevrolet	117	22		Running
23	12	16	Timmy Solomito	Diversified Metals /R.B. Enterprises Ford	116	21		Accident
24	14	64	Rob Summers	HTE/Fast Track Elect/Complete Const. Chevrolet	72	20		Accident
25	6	85	Woody Pitkat	Stuart's Automotive/Dunleavy's Repair Chevrolet	71	19		Accident
26	23	38	Dave Salzarulo	Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil Chevrolet	2	18		Vibration

RACE STATISTICSFastest Qualifier: Doug Coby, Time: 18.46 Seconds, Speed: 97.508 mph
Time of Race: 54 mins, 38 secs Average Speed: 71.385 mph Margin of Victory: 0.535 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 73-80; 111-115; 117-120; 123-127.  4 for 22 laps.
Lap Leaders: Doug Coby 1-70, Donny Lia 71, Doug Coby 72-130.
Total Laps Led: Doug Coby 129, Donny Lia 1.  2 changes involving 2 drivers.
Top 10 Driver Points: Doug Coby 172, Justin Bonsignore 148, Donny Lia 144, Max Zachem 143, Ron Silk 142, Rowan Pennink 140, Timmy Solomito 137, Jimmy Blewett 132, Brendon Bock 132, Matt Swanson * 126
* Denotes Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender

Source: NASCAR HOMETRACKS MEDIA PRESS RELEASE