Coby Cruises To First Title
Puts Wraps On Whelen Modified Crown; Santos wins World Series
THOMPSON, Conn. – Doug Coby capped his winningest season on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with his first career championship Sunday at Thompson International Speedway.
The 33-year-old driver from Milford, Conn., finished sixth in the Sunoco-Town Fair Tire World Series to claim the title by 11 points over Ryan Preece. Bobby Santos held off Preece to win the race, his second-straight win on the tour to close out the season.
Coby entered the 2012 season with two wins in 116 starts but led the tour with five wins – including four in the first seven races of the year – in his second full season driving the No. 52 Reynolds Auto Wrecking/Furnace & Duct Supply Chevrolet for car owner Wayne Darling.
“We kind of look at ourselves as a bunch of misfits. We always fished around for the right combination – they were looking for a driver and I was looking for a team – we were just it,” Coby said of how the No. 52 team came together.
“We get along, we have fun, we communicate well and we have each other’s back. That’s what kept us going through this season,” Coby said.
After three-straight finishes outside the top 10 in the second half of the campaign took a chunk out of his points lead, Coby needed a finish of 13th or better in the finale to wrap up the title. He spent most of the race safely inside that zone before picking off spots in the closing laps.
Coby became the 16th different championship-winning driver in the 28 years of the Whelen Modified Tour, and the fifth-different titlist in the last five seasons.
Santos – the 2010 champ who competed on a part-time basis this year – got by Todd Szegedy on Lap 130 and led the balance of the 150-lap event for his eighth career victory. It was Santos' second World Series win follow his first overall career win in the 2007 event. The Franklin, Mass., native also won the previous Whelen Modified Tour race at Stafford Motor Speedway on Sept. 30.
“I’ve come here since I was a baby and I love this place,” Santos said of Thompson. “I knew that I had the car that could win and just got up on the wheel and did everything I could to try to win this race.”
Preece, who led more laps than any driver through the season, also recorded a race-high 56 laps at the front on Sunday and finished on the podium for the eighth time during the 14-race season. It marked the second time the 21-year-old from Berlin, Conn., has finished as the championship runner-up.
Szegedy finished third, followed by Mike Stefanik and Eric Beers. After Coby was rookie Tommy Barrett Jr., Patrick Emerling, Keith Rocco and Woody Pitkat.
By participating in the Thompson World Series, Rocco secured the 2012 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Award despite being previously sidelined by a mid-season injury. Rocco, from Wallingford, Conn., was the 2010 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series national champion and finished as that series’ runner-up this year.
On Saturday at Thompson, Eric Berndt earned the Coors Light Pole Award, the second of his career. He finished 15th on Sunday.
After a tumultuous 2011 finale that saw a high caution count and trouble for both championship contenders, this edition of the Sunoco-Town Fair Tire World Series had just eight caution periods for 38 laps and featured five lead changes among five different drivers. Neither of the three championship contenders were involved in a serious incident.
Defending tour champion Ron Silk, the only other driver with a mathematical chance of catching Coby in the finale besides Preece, finished 11th. He ended up 23 points behind Coby. Two-time champion Donny Lia was fourth in points and 2003 titlist Szegedy ranked fifth.
Coby, by virtue of his race win earlier in the season, already earned a locked-in spot to the UNOH Battle At The Beach next February on the .4-mile oval at Daytona International Speedway. Race winners and the champions of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour have a locked-in spot to Modified race at Daytona.
Coby will be honored for his title run along with NASCAR's other touring series champions on Saturday, Dec. 8 at the NASCAR Touring Series Awards at the Grand Ballroom of the Charlotte (N.C.) Convention Center at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | DOUG COBY AUDIO | BOBBY SANTOS AUDIO
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR WMT PR
NWMT Thompson 10/14/12 Official Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Thompson 10/14/12
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 2 44 Bobby Santos Imperialcars.com/Tino Corp. Chevrolet 150 47 4 Running
2 4 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford 150 44 2 Running
3 14 2 Todd Szegedy Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const. Ford 150 42 1 Running
4 6 66 Mike Stefanik Town Line Farm/Cady's Tavern Chevrolet 150 40 Running
5 7 45 Eric Beers Horwith Freightliner/John Blewett Inc Ford 150 39 Running
6 9 52 Doug Coby Reynolds Auto Wrkg/Furnace & Duct Chevrolet 150 38 Running
7 15 10 Tommy Barrett, Jr. * Friends of Teto Racing/Make-A-Wish Chevrolet 150 37 Running
8 18 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Dealership Chevrolet 150 36 Running
9 19 3 Keith Rocco * Cape Cod Copper/Silver Dollar Const. Chevrolet 150 35 Running
10 11 79 Woody Pitkat Hill Enterprises/Coors Light Pontiac 150 34 Running
11 3 6 Ron Silk T.S.Haulers/Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 150 33 Running
12 21 9 Tom Rogers, Jr. Planet Earth Recycling & Recovery Chevrolet 150 32 Running
13 23 82 Ted Christopher M&T Enterprises Ford 150 31 Running
14 13 88 Bryon Chew Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet 150 30 Running
15 1 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 150 30 1 Running
16 8 76 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett Inc./Ed Bennett Prop. Chevrolet 150 28 Running
17 20 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Hughes Motors/Complete Construction Chevrolet 150 27 Running
18 12 4 Donny Lia Mystic Missile Racing Dodge 150 27 1 Running
19 5 51 Justin Bonsignore M3 Technology Chevrolet 150 25 Running
20 22 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 148 24 Engine
21 28 33 Wade Cole Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil,/Ryan's Chevrolet 148 23 Running
22 25 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard's Autos/Raceworks TV Chevrolet 146 22 Running
23 27 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 145 21 Running
24 32 57 Shawn Solomito * Acme Sanitary Svc/Empower Capital Chevrolet 137 20 Running
25 30 68 Johnny Bush Two Brothers Scrap Metal Chevrolet 136 19 Running
26 16 71 Rob Fuller Draco Springs Ford 123 18 Accident
27 29 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/MacLad Drywall Ford 88 17 Running
28 31 38 Steve Dickey * Perf. Engines/Kendall Oil,/Ryan's Chevrolet 64 16 Oil Pressure
29 24 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 50 15 Suspension
30 17 50 Kevin Goodale Heritage Wide Plank Flooring Chevrolet 41 14 Accident
31 26 73 Cole Powell * Tricar/Copps BuildAll Chevrolet 34 13 Accident
32 10 11 Andy Seuss Rahmoc Racing Eng/Phoenix Pre-Owned Chevrolet 29 12 Accident
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Eric Berndt, Time: 18.607 Seconds, Speed: 120.922 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 15 mins, 39 secs Average Speed: 74.356 mph Margin of Victory: 0.367 Seconds
Caution Flags: <Beneficiary> Laps 8-10 (Car #07 slowed in Turn 4); 21-24 (Car #71 spin in Turn 4); 30-37 (Multi-car accident in Turns 3 & 4); 39-42 (Car #51 slowed in Turn 2); 79-84 (Car #27 spin in Turn 4 <64>); 115-120 (Car #79 spin in Turn 4 <64>); 124-127 (Multi-car accident in Turns 1 & 2 <51>); 137-139 (Car #4 spin in Turn 4). 8 for 38 laps.
Lap Leaders: Eric Berndt 1-2, Ryan Preece 3-48, Donny Lia 49-82, Ryan Preece 83-92, Todd Szegedy 93-129, Bobby Santos 130-150.
Total Laps Led: Ryan Preece 56, Todd Szegedy 37, Donny Lia 34, Bobby Santos 21, Eric Berndt 2. 5 changes involving 5 drivers.
CONTINGENCY AWARDS
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE: Todd Szegedy, 2 Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const. Ford
COORS LIGHT POLE: Eric Berndt, 46 Cape Cod Agts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER: Todd Szegedy, 2 Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const. Ford
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE: Tommy Barrett, Jr. *, 10 Friends of Teto Racing/Make-A-Wish Chevrolet
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE: Bobby Santos, 44 Imperialcars.com/Tino Corp. Chevrolet
STANDINGS
2012 Official Driver Standings: Season Complete
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Thompson 10/14/12
Pos Driver Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Doug Coby 556 14 5 8 11
2 Ryan Preece 545 14 2 8 10
3 Ron Silk 533 14 2 9 10
4 Donny Lia 493 14 1 4 9
5 Todd Szegedy 476 14 0 8 9
6 Eric Beers 469 14 0 3 7
7 Justin Bonsignore 460 14 1 5 8
8 Jimmy Blewett 459 14 0 4 6
9 Ted Christopher 452 14 0 5 7
10 Ron Yuhas, Jr. 439 14 0 2 5
11 Mike Stefanik 421 13 1 4 8
12 Rowan Pennink 412 13 0 2 6
13 Eric Berndt 399 14 0 0 2
14 Patrick Emerling 398 14 0 0 2
15 Ed Flemke, Jr. 380 14 0 0 1
16 Jamie Tomaino 379 14 0 0 2
17 Eric Goodale 374 14 0 0 3
18 Bryon Chew 364 13 0 0 3
19 Wade Cole 349 14 0 0 1
20 Bobby Santos 310 9 2 4 5
21 Woody Pitkat 301 9 0 1 6
22 Ken Heagy 298 13 0 0 1
23 Jon McKennedy 248 9 0 0 3
24 Keith Rocco * 246 8 0 1 5
25 Richie Pallai, Jr. 214 8 0 0 2
26 Johnny Bush 149 6 0 0 0
27 Gary McDonald 126 6 0 0 0
28 Rob Fuller 106 5 0 0 0
29 Andy Seuss 99 4 0 0 1
30 Steve Dickey * 71 4 0 0 0
31 Tom Rogers, Jr. 70 2 0 0 1
32 Matt Hirschman 70 2 0 0 2
33 Tommy Barrett, Jr. * 62 2 0 0 1
34 Kevin Goodale 62 3 0 0 0
35 Daniel Hemric * 57 2 0 0 0
36 Ryan Newman 54 2 0 1 1
37 Cole Powell * 41 2 0 0 0
38 Howie Brode 40 1 0 1 1
39 Mike Christopher 36 2 0 0 0
40 John Jensen * 36 2 0 0 0
41 Zane Zeiner 35 1 0 0 1
42 Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. 31 1 0 0 0
43 Ed Brunnhoelzl, III * 28 1 0 0 0
44 Renee Dupuis 26 1 0 0 0
45 Jerry Marquis 22 1 0 0 0
46 Steve Masse 21 1 0 0 0
47 Brian Schofield 21 1 0 0 0
48 Shawn Solomito * 20 1 0 0 0
49 Tony Ferrante, Jr. 18 1 0 0 0
50 Kyle Spencer * 18 1 0 0 0
51 Corey LaJoie * 17 1 0 0 0
52 Ryan Blaney * 11 1 0 0 0
* Sunoco Rookie of the Year Contender
STANDINGS
2012 Official Owner Standings: Season Complete
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Thompson 10/14/12
Pos Owner Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Attempts
1 Wayne Darling #52 556 14 5 8 11 14
2 Eric Sanderson #16 545 14 2 8 10 14
3 Ed Partidge #6 533 14 2 9 10 14
4 Robert Garbarino #4 493 14 1 4 9 14
5 Mike Smeriglio, III #2 476 14 0 8 9 14
6 Dave DeLange #45 469 14 0 3 7 14
7 Ken Massa #51 460 14 1 5 8 14
8 John Blewett, Sr. #76 459 14 0 4 6 14
9 Jan Boehler #3 447 14 0 4 8 14
10 Mike Murphy #64 439 14 0 2 5 14
11 Ed Marceau #66 421 13 1 4 8 13
12 Sandra Hill #79 413 14 0 1 5 14
13 Mark Pennink #93 412 13 0 2 6 13
14 Robert Katon, Jr. #46 399 14 0 0 2 14
15 Jennifer Emerling #07 398 14 0 0 2 14
16 Don King #28 380 14 0 0 1 14
17 Trey Tomaino #99 379 14 0 0 2 14
18 Edgar Goodale #58 374 14 0 0 3 14
19 Buzz Chew #88 364 13 0 0 3 13
20 Beth Cole #33 349 14 0 0 1 14
21 Sully Tinio #44 310 9 2 4 5 9
22 Robert Pollifrone #18 298 13 0 0 1 13
23 Linda Rodenbaugh #38 232 11 0 0 0 11
24 John Lukosavage #11 223 8 0 0 4 8
25 Rich Pallai #39 214 8 0 0 2 8
26 Eddie Whelan #36 184 6 0 1 3 6
27 Nancy Goodale #50 132 5 0 0 2 5
28 Sean McDonald #26 126 6 0 0 0 6
29 Rob Fuller #71 106 5 0 0 0 5
30 Steve Seuss #70 87 3 0 0 1 3
31 Helmut Losching #9 70 2 0 0 1 2
32 James Ksepka #82 67 3 0 0 0 3
33 Gary Teto #10 62 2 0 0 1 2
34 Marcy Putnam #7 54 2 0 1 1 2
35 Ralph Solhem #0 50 2 0 0 0 2
36 Charlene Bush #68 42 2 0 0 0 2
37 Todd Powell #73 41 2 0 0 0 2
38 Peter Clark #96 40 1 0 1 1 1
39 Joe Brady #00 39 1 0 1 1 1
40 Gary Cretty #25 35 1 0 0 1 1
41 Dave Sapienza #36 31 1 0 0 0 1
42 Ed Bennett, III #59 26 1 0 0 0 1
43 Erin Estey #19 21 1 0 0 0 1
44 Thomas Bonsignore #57 20 1 0 0 0 1
45 Anthony Ferrante, Sr. #31 18 1 0 0 0 1
46 Randy LaJoie #17 17 1 0 0 0 1
47 Allan Heinke #98 11 1 0 0 0 1
STANDINGS
Rookie & Contingency Award Standings: Season Complete
Whelen Modified Tour
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour official rookie and contingency award standings. Season award winner indicated by asterisk (*).
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD
Driver Points
Keith Rocco * 76
Steve Dickey 34
Tommy Barrett Jr. 20
Daniel Hemric 19
Cole Powell 16
John Jensen 16
Ed Brunnhoelzl III 10
Steve Masse 10
Kyle Spencer 9
Shawn Solomito 8
Ryan Blaney 8
Corey LaJoie 7
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Keith Rocco 5
Tommy Barrett Jr. 2
Daniel Hemric 1
Cole Powell 1
Steve Masse 1
Ed Brunnhoelzl III 1
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Doug Coby * 5
Ryan Preece 2
Ron Silk 2
Bobby Santos 2
Donny Lia 1
Justin Bonsignore 1
Mike Stefanik 1
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Eric Beers * 2
Justin Bonsignore 2
Doug Coby 1
Donny Lia 1
Todd Szegedy 1
Mike Stefanik 1
Jamie Tomaino 1
Bryon Chew 1
Wade Cole 1
Woody Pitkat 1
Ken Heagy 1
Matt Hirschman 1
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD
Driver Awards
Ryan Preece * 6
Ron Silk 2
Donny Lia 1
Jimmy Blewett 1
Ted Christopher 1
Mike Stefanik 1
Eric Berndt 1
Bobby Santos 1
FEATHERLITE MOST IMPROVED DRIVER AWARD
Driver Awards
Ron Silk * 2
Ted Christopher 2
Mike Stefanik 2
Doug Coby 1
Donny Lia 1
Todd Szegedy 1
Eric Beers 1
Justin Bonsignore 1
Eric Goodale 1
Bobby Santos 1
Keith Rocco 1
Sources: NASCARHomeTracks.com