Coby Rebounds With Victory
Defending Whelen Modified Champ Breaks Through At NHMS
LOUDON, N.H. – The reigning champion from Milford, Conn., edged Ted Christopher by .153-seconds to capture Saturday’s Town Fair Tire 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It was the eighth career win for Coby but the first since last September, also at New Hampshire.
The race was aired live on SPEED, the first of three tour races that will air live this season.
The win comes two weeks after Coby missed the race at Riverhead (N.Y.) Raceway due to a wreck in qualifying and dropped to fifth in points entering the New Hampshire race. Saturday, though, Coby started 15th and worked his way to the front. He drove the No. 52 Furnace & Duct Supply/Seekonk Grand Prix Chevrolet past Preece for the final time with four laps to go en route to the win.
The bad news for Coby and the rest of the title contenders is that points leader Ryan Preece finished third. While Preece had his three-race win streak snapped, he still added to his lead as his three nearest challengers all had issues and finished outside the top 10. Rowan Pennink (15th), Mike Stefanik (22nd) and Justin Bonsignore (32nd).
[Sat. Photo Gallery] by Adam Fohlin
[Sat. Photo Gallery] by Paul Fohlin
[Sat. Photo Gallery] by Nathan Teto
Preece leads Pennink by 44 points and Coby by 48 after six races.
NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour regular Andy Seuss finished fourth and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman was fifth.
Woody Pitkat finished sixth, followed by Eric Berndt, Chuck Hossfeld, Richie Pallai Jr. and Jamie Tomaino.
Officially, there were 27 lead changes – the most since 2006; although, as often is the case, there were multiple swaps for the lead within a single lap, especially between Christopher and Pennink in the first half of the race. Christopher led a race-high 49 laps.
Jimmy Blewett won the Coors Light Pole Award in Friday’s qualifying, however he had to start from the back after he wrecked on his second qualifying lap. At one point Saturday he had worked his way inside the top 10, but finished 21st.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will return to the track Saturday, July 27 with the Town Fair Tire Whitcomb 200 at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. The race is a makeup date for a rain out on May 11.
RESULTS | LAP-BY-LAP RECAP | AUDIO: TED CHRISTOPHER AND RYAN PREECE POST-RACE INTERVIEW | AUDIO: DOUG COBY POST-RACE INTERVIEW
NWMT New Hampshire 7/13/13 Results
Whelen Modified Tour
Race: NWMT New Hampshire 7/13/13
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Points B/Points Status
1 15 52 Doug Coby Furnace & Duct/Seekonk GP Chevrolet 100 47 4 Running
2 2 3 Ted Christopher Silver Dollar Const/Cape Cod Copper Chevrolet 100 44 2 Running
3 12 16 Ryan Preece East West Marine/Diversified Metals Ford 100 42 1 Running
4 6 11 Andy Seuss Tammie Davis/Phoenix Pre-Owned Chevrolet 100 40 Running
5 20 7 Ryan Newman Menards/Wix Filters Chevrolet 100 39 Running
6 7 79 Woody Pitkat Mr. Rooter/Coors Light Pontiac 100 38 Running
7 16 46 Eric Berndt Cape Cod Aggts/North End Auto Parts Chevrolet 100 37 Running
8 14 72 Chuck Hossfeld Jerry Grade Motors Chevrolet 100 36 Running
9 21 39 Richie Pallai,, Jr. MAHLE Performance/Lucas Oil Chevrolet 100 35 Running
10 22 99 Jamie Tomaino Supreme Manufacturing Chevrolet 100 34 Running
11 17 73 Cole Powell * Copps BuildAll/Tricar Chevrolet 100 33 Running
12 29 19 Jacob Dore * Harold Estes Lumber/Perkins Paving Chevrolet 100 32 Running
13 23 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood/ Mehner Racing Ford 99 31 Running
14 11 2 Todd Szegedy Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano Const Chevrolet 99 30 Running
15 8 93 Rowan Pennink Monk Mechanics Hand Cleaner Chevrolet 98 30 1 Running
16 30 38 Brian Schofield Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Oil Chevrolet 97 28 Running
17 26 33 Wade Cole Perf Engines/Kendall Oil/Ryan’s Oil Chevrolet 97 27 Running
18 13 64 Ron Yuhas, Jr. Fast Track Electric/Scorpion Const Chevrolet 97 26 Running
19 9 4 Donny Lia Circle Track Magazine Dodge 94 25 Running
20 25 07 Patrick Emerling Emerling Chevrolet Dealership Chevrolet 93 24 Running
21 1 76 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett Inc/Sims Metal Mgmt Chevrolet 88 23 Running
22 10 22 Mike Stefanik Robert B Our Co/Canto & Sons Paving Chevrolet 82 22 Running
23 18 15 Rob Fuller 15-40 Connection Chevrolet 79 21 Oil Leak
24 4 44 Bobby Santos Tinio Racing/Brendan Kelley Music Chevrolet 78 20 Accident
25 5 58 Eric Goodale Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet 78 19 Accident
26 3 88 Bryon Chew Buzz Chew Chevrolet/Elbow East Chevrolet 78 18 Accident
27 27 97 Bryan Dauzat O.B. Builders Chevrolet 76 17 Brakes
28 24 28 Ed Flemke, Jr. Ron Bouchard’s Auto Stores Chevrolet 70 16 Accident
29 32 5 Kyle Ebersole Ebersole Excavating, Inc. Ford 70 15 Accident
30 31 6 Ron Silk T S Haulers/ Calverton Tree Farm Chevrolet 59 14 Engine
31 28 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape /TRC Electric Pontiac 8 13 Rear End
32 19 51 Justin Bonsignore SEM/M3 Technology Chevrolet 7 12 Engine
RACE STATISTICS
Fastest Qualifier: Jimmy Blewett, Time: 29.691 Seconds, Speed: 128.281 mph
Time of Race: 1 hrs., 14 mins, 40 secs Average Speed: 85.018 mph Margin of Victory: 0.153 Seconds
Caution Flags: Laps 51 (Competition caution midway break); 65-68 (Car #4 accident Backstretch ); 71-77 (Car #88 spin in Turn 2, Cars # 5 & 28 accident Turn 1 ); 79-83 (Cars #88, 39, 97, 44, 58, 64, 07 accident Frontstretch ). 4 for 17 laps.
Lap Leaders: Ted Christopher 1-12, Rowan Pennink 13-14, Ted Christopher 15, Rowan Pennink 16-17, Ted Christopher 18-19, Rowan Pennink 20-21, Ted Christopher 22-23, Rowan Pennink 24, Ted Christopher 25-27, Rowan Pennink 28, Ted Christopher 29-35, Rowan Pennink 36, Ted Christopher 37, Rowan Pennink 38, Ted Christopher 39-40, Rowan Pennink 41, Ted Christopher 42-57, Doug Coby 58-59, Ryan Preece 60-61, Doug Coby 62-63, Ryan Preece 64-85, Ted Christopher 86-88, Ryan Preece 89, Doug Coby 90, Ryan Preece 91-92, Doug Coby 93-94, Ryan Preece 95-96, Doug Coby 97-100.
Total Laps Led: Ted Christopher 49, Ryan Preece 29, Rowan Pennink 11, Doug Coby 11. 27 changes involving 4 drivers.
Sources: Jason Christley/NASCAR WMT PR