Coby Pulls Away from Field at Stafford
Dominates For 19th Career NASCAR Whelen Modified Victory
STAFFORD, Conn. (June 4, 2016) — 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 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. 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.
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR PR
RESULTS | RACE CENTRAL LIVE REPLAY
NWMT Stafford 6/3/16 Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT Stafford 6/3/16
PRINTABLE FORMAT (PDF)
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 STATISTICS
Fastest 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
STANDINGS
2016 Driver Standings: Stafford
Whelen Modified Tour
Race:
NWMT Stafford 6/3/16
Print Version (PDF) | Owner Standings | Rookie & Contingency Award Standings
Pos Driver Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10
1 Doug Coby 172 4 2 3 4
2 Justin Bonsignore 148 4 0 3 3
3 Donny Lia 144 4 0 1 3
4 Max Zachem 143 4 0 1 3
5 Ron Silk 142 4 1 2 3
6 Rowan Pennink 140 4 0 1 3
7 Timmy Solomito 137 4 1 2 2
8 Jimmy Blewett 132 4 0 2 3
9 Brendon Bock 132 4 0 0 3
10 Matt Swanson * 126 4 0 0 1
11 Eric Goodale 122 4 0 1 2
12 Bobby Santos 122 4 0 0 2
13 Jamie Tomaino 119 4 0 0 1
14 Chase Dowling 118 4 0 0 1
15 Rob Summers 117 4 0 1 1
16 Dave Sapienza 109 4 0 0 0
17 Jeff Goodale 108 4 0 1 1
18 Craig Lutz * 104 4 0 0 0
19 Gary McDonald 100 4 0 0 0
20 Shawn Solomito 99 3 0 0 1
21 Woody Pitkat 97 4 0 0 1
22 Andrew Krause * 94 4 0 0 0
23 Wade Cole 84 4 0 0 0
24 Ken Heagy 83 3 0 0 0
25 Melissa Fifield 72 4 0 0 0
26 Ted Christopher 61 2 0 0 0
27 Ryan Preece 58 2 0 1 1
28 Todd Szegedy 42 1 0 1 1
29 Nick Salva * 32 2 0 0 0
30 Patrick Emerling 30 1 0 0 0
31 Tom Adele, Jr. 28 1 0 0 0
32 George Brunnhoelzl III 27 1 0 0 0
33 Gary Putnam 24 1 0 0 0
34 Walter Sutcliffe Jr. * 23 1 0 0 0
35 Troy Talman 19 1 0 0 0
36 Dave Salzarulo 18 1 0 0 0
37 Johnny Bush 15 0 0 0 0
38 Tom Rogers, Jr. 12 1 0 0 0
STANDINGS
2016 Owner Standings: Stafford
Whelen Modified Tour
Race:
NWMT Stafford 6/3/16
Print Version (PDF) | Driver Standings | Rookie & Contingency Award Standings
Pos Owner Name Points Starts Wins Top 5 Top 10 Attempts
1 Mike Smeriglio III #2 172 4 2 3 4 4
2 Ken Massa #51 148 4 0 3 3 4
3 Mark Sypher #8 144 4 0 1 3 4
4 Ken Zachem #20 143 4 0 1 3 4
5 Danny Watts Jr. #82 142 4 1 2 3 4
6 Jan Boehler #3 140 4 0 1 3 4
7 Eric Sanderson #16 137 4 1 2 2 4
8 Robert Garbarino #4 132 4 0 2 3 4
9 George Bock #29 132 4 0 0 3 4
10 John Swanson #89 126 4 0 0 1 4
11 Edgar Goodale #58 122 4 0 1 2 4
12 Mike Curb #44 122 4 0 0 2 4
13 Brittany Tomaino #99 119 4 0 0 1 4
14 Robert Katon Jr. #9 118 4 0 0 1 4
15 Mike Murphy #64 117 4 0 1 1 4
16 Judy Thilburg #36 109 4 0 0 0 4
17 Russell Goodale #46 108 4 0 1 1 4
18 Renee Lutz #56 104 4 0 0 0 4
19 Sean McDonald #26 100 4 0 0 0 4
20 Wayne Anderson #75 99 3 0 0 1 3
21 Kevin Stuart #85 97 4 0 0 1 4
22 Cliff Krause #24 94 4 0 0 0 4
23 Beth Cole #33 84 4 0 0 0 4
24 Robert Pollifrone #18 83 3 0 0 0 3
25 Kenneth Fifield #01 72 4 0 0 0 4
26 Linda Rodenbaugh #38 64 3 0 0 0 4
27 Brian Brady #00 61 2 0 0 0 2
28 Constance Partridge #6 58 2 0 1 1 2
29 Rob Fuller #15 42 1 0 1 1 1
30 Ed Bennett, III #59 32 2 0 0 0 2
31 Jennifer Emerling #07 30 1 0 0 0 1
32 Tom Adele, Sr. #32 28 1 0 0 0 1
33 George Brunnhoelzl Jr. #28 27 1 0 0 0 1
34 Mike Curb #77 24 1 0 0 0 1
35 Steven Sutcliffe #78 23 1 0 0 0 1
STANDINGS
Rookie & Contingency Award Standings: Stafford
Whelen Modified Tour
Race:
NWMT Stafford 4/24/16
Driver Standings | Owner Standings
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour official rookie and contingency award standings. All standings are unofficial until postseason review.
2011_contingency_coke
COCA-COLA MOVE OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Timmy Solomito 1
Dave Sapienza 1
2011_contingency_coors_light
COORS LIGHT POLE AWARD
Driver Awards
Doug Coby 2
HOOSIER TIRE FASTEST LAP AWARD
Driver Awards
Doug Coby 1
Ryan Preece 1
HOOSIER TIRE LAP LEADER AWARD
Driver Awards
Doug Coby 1
Ryan Preece 1
HOOSIER TIRE MOST IMPROVED AWARD
Driver Awards
Matt Swanson 1
Woody Pitkat 1
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Matt Swanson 2
SUNOCO ROOKIE OF THE YEAR STANDINGS
Top 10 Drivers Points
Matt Swanson 20
Andrew Krause 18
Craig Lutz 16
Nick Salva 7
SUNOCO SPEC FUEL AWARD
Driver 1st Place 5th Place 10th Place
Justin Bonsignore 1
Doug Coby 1
Woody Pitkat 1
Ron Silk 1
Timmy Solomito 1
Max Zachem 1
2011_contingency_whelen
WHELEN WINNER OF THE RACE AWARD
Driver Awards
Doug Coby 1
Timmy Solomito 1