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COBY CLEARS
ANOTHER HURDLE
Stafford Outlasts Mother Nature
by
Polly Reid |
With
only two events left on the 2016 schedule, Doug Coby
of Milford, CT said it best when he captured the
Coors Light Pole Award on Saturday, “leading laps
matters, leading the most laps matters and having a
clean run matters.” Coby manifested all that and
more by holding off a strong run by Timmy Solomito
in the closing laps for a convincing win bringing
the Mike Smeriglio III owned, Dunleavy Repair/A&J
Romano Construction modified to victory lane in the
weather delayed NWMT 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts
Fall Final 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Solomito crossed for second, Jimmy Blewett third,
Justin Bonsignore rebounded from an earlier issue to
cross fourth with Chase Dowling completing the top
five.
“That
run after the pit stop, we had a great car,” said
Coby. “We were better than him (Timmy Solomito)
probably two thirds of that run but at the end he
found something he could roll up on us a little bit
and close the gap and if I didn’t have such a big
gap when he got to second, he probably would have
been right on us when that caution came out. Great
job by them whatever they found they certainly
gained on us and we were just a tick off. I know the
car looked really fast but it wasn’t as comfortable
there at the end as it was earlier in the race. But
we made due and we put the Dunleavy’s Truck and
Trailer Repair car in victory lane.”
“Thank you to the fans for coming out,” said Coby.
“It was a trying, long day for everybody. The Fall
Final is in the books, another year at Stafford
Speedway and no better place to be than NAPA victory
lane.”
Thirteen points separated Coby and Justin Bonsignore
going in the NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final. Qualifying
first and second, it was indeed a long, damp day
waiting out Mother Nature as Stafford Motor Speedway
committed to running the Fall Final. The day turned
into night and at 9:52pm, Coby and Bonsignore
brought the field to green.
Coby
with the edge, it didn’t last long when five
circuits in, Bonsignore passed for the lead. Three
caution flags in the first twenty-nine laps kept the
field close but on each restart, Bonsignore and Coby
pulled from the pack setting a torrid pace. Lap
thirty-five, Coby completed his move heading into
turn one for the lead once again only to be reined
in for next yellow that turned into a red flag while
the track cleanup could safely take place.
A few minutes later when the field went from red to
yellow flag conditions, suddenly, the 51 of
Bonsignore did not fire up. Stalled just out of turn
four, the 46 of Jeff Goodale pushed the 51 around
the track allowing Bonsignore enough momentum to
roll onto pit road. While the Phoenix Communications
crew went to work under the hood, the field was set
to go green. Bonsignore was now one lap down but was
able to make it back out before another circuit
passed.
A single car spin for Bobby Santos on lap
forty-seven brought out the fourth caution of the
night. Bonsignore became the free pass car and now
on the lead lap, in 19th place, was able to begin
his march forward.
“We had an ignition wire come loose and we lost
power,” said Bonsignore. “It took us a lap to fix
it. Luckily the 46 was nice enough to give us a good
push and we didn’t have to wait on the wrecker
otherwise our night would have been over.” Jeff
Goodale who literally saved the night for Bonsignore
was penalized for not maintaining speed under
caution and restarted at the tail end of the field.
Upfront,
Coby had his hands full with a stout field- Ron
Silk, Jimmy Blewett, Chase Dowling and Shawn
Solomito the top five, the green waved on lap
fifty-one. Blewett made his move to become the new
leader on lap fifty-three. Another yellow, another
restart, this time, the side by side battle between
Coby and Blewett was settled with Coby the leader.
The next caution, on lap sixty-two turned red for
another track clean up. NASCAR which called for a
break at the half way mark for the sake of safety on
pit road due to the wet conditions, declared this to
be the break sending the field down pit road for
tires and adjustments on lap sixty-four.
Restarting on lap sixty-seven, it was Coby, Blewett,
Silk, Dowling and Timmy Solomito the top five.
Bonsignore fourteenth, the longest green run of the
night was getting underway.
By lap eighty, still under green, Coby pulled to
half a straight away from Dowling in second, Timmy
Solomito third, Silk and Blewett while Bonsignore
finally cracked the top ten.
The laps ticked off as the green run continued. Coby
hit his marks, stretching his lead until lap 112
when Blewett in the top six, spun in turn three.
Coby,
Dowling, Timmy Solomito and Rowan Pennink the top
five brought the field to green on lap 117 with
Bonsignore back in the hunt in sixth. After a brief
pit stop, Blewett was back out on the track lining
up at the tail end of the field remaining on the
lead lap.
Solomito took over second from Dowling after the
restart and set his sights on closing the gap
between his spot and Coby in first.
The final caution of the night, on lap 137, closed
up the field one more time. Restarting on lap 142,
only eight more circuits around the CT half mile
oval remained in the first time ever late night NWMT
44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final 150. Coby,
Solomito, Dowling, Pennink, Bonsignore and Blewett
the top six, led the double file restart.
Coby nailed the restart, Solomito tucked in behind
Coby, the pair nose to tail made a break from the
pack. Bonsignore moved into fourth and with two to
go, made a pass on Dowling for a possible podium
finish. Then Bonsignore appeared to go a bit high
through turn three, Blewett saw the door open and
shot by both Dowling and Bonsignore to take over
third.
At the checkers, the NAPA Auto Parts Fall Final top
ten was Coby capturing his fifth win of 2016, Timmy
Solomito, Blewett, Bonsignore, Dowling, Pennink, Max
Zachem, Matt Swanson, Woody Pitkat and Shawn
Solomito.
“I try really hard here not to screw up,” said Coby
who has dominated the NWMT events at Stafford
winning four out of the five last events at the
historic half mile oval. “It was kind of a weird
race. Justin and I were aggressive in the beginning
trying to lead the most laps then whatever happened
to him changed things for me right away. It changed
my demeanor in the car, it changed what I planned to
do the rest of the way. The restarts were a time of
vulnerability and even when you clear them off of
turn two, you wiggle a little bit then here they
come dive bombing back on the bottom so I had to
protect quite a bit. It’s probably a better race for
the fans when that happens but it makes the guy
leading the points a little bit nervous. Everybody
is gaining on us here for sure, this was not an easy
win. We came out and had that long green run after
the pit stop break and got tires, made an adjustment
and the car was really good but I wouldn’t have
wanted to see four or five cautions in that time
period. It just kind of played into our hands. Of
course the caution has to come out late, that’s just
the way it goes, you get a three second lead then
the caution comes out and now everyone gets to dive
bomb you again.” All smiles, Coby knows, “that’s
just the way it goes.”
Timmy Solomito of Islip, NY was the second car out
on Saturday to make his qualifying run. The tough
draw put the Diversified Metals sponsored, Eric
Sanderson modified at a disadvantage for key track
position. Starting the Fall Final fourteenth,
Solomito dug in and with the right adjustments
during the break on lap sixty-four, was in the top
five, up to third by lap 100 and took over second
from Dowling on lap 118. Solomito ran nose to tail
with Coby to the checkers. “I think I had something
for him at the end there,” said Solomito. “I
probably could have gotten a little more aggressive
but hopefully next year when we’re racing for the
championship he’ll remember that one.”
“I’m
happy to come back and just get a top five, a top
three is even better,” said Blewett who commanded a
charge to the front with his Bob Garbarino owned,
Starrett Tools/Mayhew Tools sponsored modified after
a spin on lap 112. The Howell, NJ driver made a late
race pass for a podium finish. “When we were coming
around with three to go I said I’m going to get a
fifth out of this, maybe a fourth. I came down into
three and four there to take the white flag and I
was able to get two for one,” said Blewett about
digging low and passing Dowling and Bonsignore in
one move. “We ran strong. The car didn’t really have
the balance that I felt we needed all night. In the
beginning when we were running with Doug, I did
everything I had to do to try and get the lead. I
didn’t do anything he wouldn’t do to anyone else.
It’s late in the season, he’s running for points but
I’m here to race. These last two races, I’m going to
do the best I can like I do every other race, try as
hard as I can and try to pull off a win if I can.”
Bonsignore of Holtsville, NY in the Ken Massa owned,
Phoenix Communications sponsored modified lost some
ground with points but is still in the numbers. “It
was a good comeback,” acknowledged Bonsignore who
had a rollercoaster of a night that included leading
29 laps, an unscheduled pit stop, a lap down to a
top five finish. “I feel if we had waited on the
intermission to when it should have been (at lap
75), I could have passed some more guys. Once you
put everyone on even tires, for twenty laps, it’s
just really hard to pass, it took us too long. We
didn’t get enough cautions when we needed them and
had to burn the car up too much coming back
through.”
Coby gained points on Bonsignore, the gap now at
twenty over Bonsignore as the final NWMT event of
the year takes place this next weekend at the Sunoco
World Series at Thompson. Coby and the Mike
Smeriglio III team is poised to make history with
the potential of three championship titles in a row
which has never been done in the modern era of the
Tour. “It just keeps getting better, more fun” said
Coby about being in the hunt for a third straight
title. “They’re taking big swings, I feel like a
piñata and they’re all at the party taking swing
after swing and somebody takes a big swing to the
gut once in a while and it hurts. But, it’s a lot of
fun and I’ll always point out the fact that it was
not too long ago that I didn’t have this type of
situation. No matter what, every win is fun and I’m
grateful for everything our team does, it’s a lot of
sacrifices, it’s evidence by days like today where
it’s a Sunday night- not everybody has Columbus Day
off, some of these guys have to go to work early in
the morning and we’re rolling out of here after
midnight after tech so, it’s a lot of dedication.
It’s really special. I know we’re doing some special
things in modified tour history right now. Sooner or
later we’ll get knocked off the perch and somebody
else will do some special things. But we’re going to
soak it up while we can and enjoy the ride.”
The NWMT 44th Annual NAPA Autos Parts 150 is
scheduled to air on NBCSN October 16th at 9:30pm.
A tip of the hat to Stafford Motor Speedway for
keeping fans informed through social media the
updates on the weather and track conditions. While
it was a long, damp day for so many people, the Fall
Final program was completed and those that could,
were able to stay home until the track conditions
improved enough to race.
The Chrome Horn will have updates with Denise Dupont
starting on Saturday October 15 with qualifying at
the final NWMT event of the season, athe Sunoco
World Series at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
A champion will be crowned on Sunday October 16th.
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Source:
Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
October 10, 2016 |
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