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07/25/2012 |
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NASCAR WHELEN
MODIFIED TOUR POINTS LEADER DOUG COBY LOOKS
TO MAKE IT THREE IN A ROW AT STAFFORD IN AUG. 3rd STAFFORD
150 |
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 When
the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to Stafford
Motor Speedway on August 3rd for the Stafford 150,
current points leader Doug Coby will look to take
his third consecutive Stafford checkered flag of the
season. Coby won the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring
Sizzler in April and he backed that win up with a
thrilling victory in the May TSI Harley-Davidson
125. Coby’s Stafford victories this season came in
two different cars and no matter which car his #52
Reynolds Auto Wrecking / Furnace & Duct team brings
back to SMS for the Stafford, 150, Coby is feeling
confident that he will have another good run.
“I think our chances are pretty good,” said Coby.
“We won the first 2 races with 2 different cars so
in my mind it doesn’t matter what car we bring back.
We should have something that will hopefully get us
to qualify halfway decent and if we qualify decent,
we’ll have a shot at running up front. This will be
the third different distance we’ve raced at Stafford
this year, so everything will be different from the
125 & 200 with the pit strategy and how hard you go
at certain times. We’ll just have to take it as it
comes, pit when we have to pit or not pit, play the
track position game a little if we can, and
hopefully the car will stay under us like it did for
the first 2 races.”
Coby’s two Stafford victories this season have come
under totally different circumstances. In the Spring
Sizzler, Coby ran near or at the front of the field
for the entire 200-lap distance, while his TSI
Harley-Davidson 125 victory required a drive through
the field after a flat tire required an unscheduled
pit stop on lap-27. Coby is confident that his team
will have a good car and will choose the correct
strategy that will allow them to fight for the win
again.
“If our car performs like it did last time at
Stafford, we could pit any time and still come up
through the field,” said Coby. “A lot of times you
make your strategy at Stafford dependent on track
position because it’s been tough to pass, even with
new tires. I passed so many cars on the outside in
the 125, if we got in a jam and had to pit off
sequence, I wouldn’t feel so bad about getting back
around guys. It’s going to depend on how good the
car is, how confident we are getting back through
traffic, and we’ll play our cards that way. I think
most guys will pit around halfway like usual.
Maybe someone who pits early or pits late will have
a shot at winning because a lot of guys seemed to
fall off a bit in the 125 when they pitted or didn’t
pit at all. If someone comes in on lap-30, that’s
almost running an entire 125 to the end. My
preference is to pit late and pass everybody and put
on a good show, but if you have a car that you feel
is one of the best cars that night, you probably
want to come in with everyone else.”
With three victories and top-8 finishes in each of
the first six races this season, Coby finds himself
at the top of the points standings. His three wins
has nearly doubled his career victory total, which
stood at 4 at the start of the season. Having won
track championships at Stafford in both the Late
Model and ProStock divisions, Coby knows what it
takes to be a championship contender and a winner.
Coby’s and his team’s focus is to take the remainder
of the season one race at a time.
“We’re still approaching things race to race,” said
Coby. “We have to get through Riverhead first.
Ronnie [Silk] and Ryan [Preece] are both very strong
at Riverhead and I’m not necessarily strong there. I
think my crew chief, John McKenna, has only been
there as a crew chief once. So it’s a bit of a
wildcard for us just to make sure we can have a
decent car to keep pace with them. I would expect
them to run up front the whole race and our key is
to have a good enough finish to make sure they don’t
eat into our points lead a huge amount. If they do
it’s not the end of the world. After Riverhead, it’s
all Stafford and Thompson with one race at Loudon
and Bristol. I think we’ve proven we can hold our
own at those tracks and we just have to go race by
race. If the points lead dwindles and goes away, it
dwindles and goes away. We’ll just have to try to
get it back.”
In going for three wins in a row at Stafford, Coby
is trying to join some select company. Since the
inception of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in
1985, a driver has only been able to win three races
in a season at Stafford 4 times. Mike Stefanik has
turned the feat three times in 1990, 1997, and 1998,
Ted Christopher did it in 2002, and Tony Hirschman
did it in 2005. Reggie Ruggiero won three races at
Stafford during the 1987 season, but there were five
events that year instead of the customary four.
While Coby would like to add a third consecutive
Stafford victory to his record this season, he says
that something like that can’t be counted on.
“You really can’t plan on winning 3 in a row at one
track, especially a track like Stafford where most
of the guys have so much experience,” said Coby.
“We’re not coming into the race next Friday as the
team who has won 2 in a row at Stafford, we’re
coming in as a team that wants to win the race.
The first two races, they’re out the window. The
reality is that next Friday night is not related to
the other two races and we have to approach it as a
separate race and see how it goes for us.”
Tickets for the 22nd Annual Stafford 150 are
available and on sale now at the Speedway Box
Office. Tickets are priced at $33.00 for adult
general admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages
6-14, and children ages 5 and under are admitted
free of charge when accompanied by an adult.
Reserved seating will be priced at $35.00 for all
ages. All ticket prices include 10% CT Admission
Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free
parking with overnight parking available.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor
Speedway track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
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Source: Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted: July
25, 2012 |
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