Coby Captures First Magic Mile Win
Fifth Win Of The Season For Whelen Modified Tour Leader
LOUDON, N.H. – Doug Coby held on in a two-lap dash to the finish to win the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday to score his fifth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win of the season.
It marked the seventh career win and first victory at the Magic Mile for the Milford, Conn., driver – who extended his lead in the championship standings.
“I’ve only won at Stafford, Thompson and Waterford in my career and to come outside of Connecticut – being a Connecticut boy – to come to this stage and on TV, it’s a pretty unbelievable feeling,” Coby said.
In a race that featured lead changes on nearly every lap early on, Coby took command on Lap 84 and never relinquished the top spot. While he charged to the checkered flag after a restart with two laps remaining, second-place running Ted Christopher ended up slamming the wall after contact from Donny Lia, who went on to take the runner-up spot as the race finished under caution.
Lia led eight different times for a race-high 47 laps after qualifying on the pole.
“We were gonna fight for the win and I got a run there on the 3 car [Christopher] and got into the back of him, unintentionally, and caused a wreck,” Lia said. “It’s racing, I feel really bad about it, by no means was it intentional. I got a run and was trying to go to the bottom and got him in the left rear corner.”
The race appeared to mark a turnaround for Coby – who started the season with top 10s in each of the first eight races, but had finishes of 11th, 13th and 22nd in the three outings leading to New Hampshire.
Following Coby and Lia across the finish line were Ron Silk, Ryan Newman and Rowan Pennink. Eric Beers, Richie Pallai Jr., Matt Hirschman, Ron Yuhas Jr. and Ryan Preece rounded out the top 10.
With the win Coby extended to a 21-point lead on Ryan Preece with just two races remaining in the season. Defending champion Silk is three points further back in third.
The race featured 23 lead changes among six different drivers. It marked the most lead changes in a Whelen Modified Tour event since July 15, 2006 when there were 28, also at New Hampshire.
The F.W. Webb 100, the second of two visits by the tour this year to NHMS, and the 57th all-time at the 1.058-mile oval. It was televised live on SPEED.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be back in action with the CARQUEST Fall Final at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway on Sunday, Sept. 30.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: POST-RACE DOUG COBY | AUDIO: POST-RACE DONNY LIA & RON SILK | AUDIO: POST-RACE RYAN NEWMAN
Sources: Kevin W. Green/NASCAR WMT PR