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04/30/2012 |
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SIZZLER WIN
TO COBY
by
Polly Reid & Denise DuPont |
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 Doug
Coby was pretty sure his car was going to be good
for the race. Any doubt was swept away when after
pitting around the half, the Milford, CT driver in
the Wayne Darling owned, Reynolds Auto
Wrecking/Furnace Duct sponsored Chevrolet restarted
fourth and a handful of circuits later made a move
low going into turns one and two passing Ryan Preece
for the lead. Coby dominated the final 88 circuits
winning the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour CARQUEST
Tech-Net Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway.
“This is actually the best race car I’ve ever driven
in my life at this speedway. I want to thank John
McKenna and Wayne Darling for stepping up and doing
the whole season this year. What a great car- Ryan
was very, very strong in the beginning, I don’t
think I had much for him but we knew what change to
make- at the end, we had a ton left, I could have
gone another 200 laps, it was absolutely awesome.”
Ryan Preece crossed the line a strong second with
Rookie contender of the Year Keith Rocco third,
defending champion Ron Silk fourth and Jimmy Blewett
fifth.
This is Coby’s third career Tour win, his second
time wearing the victory garland at the Spring
Sizzler. “To put my name on a Sizzler win list twice
now is pretty dam cool – it’s nice to not be a one
hit wonder any more on the modified tour, this is
going to be a great season for the 52 team, I’m
really, really excited.”
The day could have possibly had an entirely
different outcome for Coby who acknowledged there
was a chance they might not have even finished. “We
had a Subway wrapper on our grill that shot the
water temperature up, we were actually debating
under one of those cautions with 48 to go to come
into the pits and pull the wrapper off the grill. My
crew chief told me there is a light in the car and
if it goes on, you’re going to have to pull in. It
never came on- it was just one of those things,
someone got a sandwich at Subway and it almost
ruined our race.” The wrapper hitched a ride on the
52 about the time Coby took the lead, around lap 112
and while it was ‘fine for a while’, Coby started to
see the water temperature rise. “When I saw the
temperature go to 230 I said that wrapper is going
to ruin our race.”
Luck, maybe someone watching over the team, they
made it to the finish. “That wrapper is in my
helmet. It’s going right in the crystal vase they
give you here.”
“How is second place not a good finish?” said Preece
who started on the pole for the Sizzler and
absolutely dominated the first half of the event.
Coming up a little short at the end, Preece crossed
for a strong second. “I had plenty of forward bite,
I was just starting to get a little free and
couldn’t roll the center quite as well- I know what
we have to do the next time we come back and
hopefully we can pop off a win next time.” Preece
was the Sizzler pole winner setting a new track
record in qualifying the day before. The Eric
Sanderson owned Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises
Ford led the most laps but today was not his day to
lead the final circuit.
“For the first half of the race the car was awesome.
I told Sly (Szaban) I thought the track was going to
get free-er. He has 100% trust in me so I feel like
it was a little my fault but I think when we come
back the next time and get a pole, we should be able
to lead the whole thing. We’re having fun- that car
was phenomenal at the beginning.”
“The race had a lot of long green flag runs, so it
actually worked in our favor,” said Rocco in the
Wheelers Auto/Silver Dollar Construction Chevrolet.
“The car was good right off the green but the longer
you ran the better it got. The whole BRE Team they
did such an awesome job turning this car around from
the Icebreaker, they didn’t miss anything on this
car.” Starting 9th, Rocco worked his way to fifth
when a caution waved just shy of the halfway mark.
Pitting with the leaders, Rocco restarted seventh.
From there the Wallingford, CT driver worked his way
to third behind Preece. And while Rocco challenged
Preece, the Rookie of the Year contender crossed for
third, a podium finish at the Spring Sizzler. “We
really got to show what kind of a team we can be
here.” A new combination with Rocco in the Boehler
owned modified, there are definite signs this team
is a contender – for more maybe than the Rookie of
the Year title. “They make it really easy for me, we
communicate good- it’s just a great combination.”
“I feel honored because it is a piece of history,”
said winning car owner Wayne Darling. “If you’re
going to win one, win something that’s been around
for a long time. Now you’re in the record books.”
While Coby was cruising around making it look easy
to lead the race, Darling was in the stands,
concerned. “When I saw the trash on the front grill,
I said, oh boy, here we go, figured we were going to
get some bad luck. I was the one to see the trash
bag on the grill- the crew couldn’t see it, the
spotter couldn’t see it, but it didn’t affect us.”
Darling left the decision to run the whole season up
to the crew. “The crew said we’re going to do it-
volunteers, they use up their vacation time to go to
the races so that’s why we’ve never really ever done
a whole season because without them, we don’t race.
They got together and said yeah we can do it. I said
Ok, let’s give it a shot.” Currently sitting second
in the standings, four points behind leader Ron
Silk, I don’t think anyone is questioning their
decision to do the full season.
Darling and crew chief John McKenna have been
together “at least 15 or 16 years” starting with a 4
cylinder truck they raced at Seekonk. McKenna echoed
Darling’s thought on being in victory lane at the
Spring Sizzler. “To be in the history books with all
of my friends?” said McKenna, “this is huge.
Watching the 3 (Boehler) for years and years, I’m
from that ‘neighborhood’, to be in the record books
with them, that’s huge for me.”
Aside from the Subway wrapper on the grill that no
one could do anything about, McKenna talked about
what they could control. “The second set of tires
was way better than the first; we made some
adjustments on the pit stop. We didn’t practice very
well Saturday morning. We were actually surprised
how well we qualified because we just couldn’t find
it in practice for him. We made some changes for
time trials, took a guess at how the weather was
going to affect us for the race. The first set we
kind of went overboard on the set up, that’s why we
weren’t as good.” Prior to the pit stop, Coby was
running second but not able to catch Preece. “We had
a plan what we were going to do if we did over shoot
it and the second set hooked up. Doug is real good,
we can sit down with him, make a plan and once we
make a plan and stick to it, we seem to have better
success. Doug is always positive with us that fits
into our group being that way. Even when I give him
a bad car, he’s still positive about it. What I mean
by that is he doesn’t complain, he’s like we’ll fix
it, make it better for next time. It’s been good
since he sat in the seat.”
Rounding out the top ten was Justin Bonsignore
sixth, Ron Yuhas, Jr. seventh, Woody Pitkat eighth,
Mike Stefanik ninth and Bryon Chew tenth.
Daniel Hemric Continues to Lead the “Sunoco
Rookie of the Year” 2012 Battle
After the second NWMT, Rookie Daniel Hemric
continues to lead the 2012 race for the “Sunoco
Rookie of the Year” title competition. “It is an
awesome race track with beautiful facilities for the
modifieds. I really enjoyed coming here.”
The Hillbilly #79 car did not have a great
qualifying run. They were the first car out on the
windy day and being first during qualifying runs is
not the best place to always be. “We had a pretty
decent car,” said Hemric. “We did not get quite the
result that we wanted but we did finish the race
though. So that is a good way to build for the next
race. I have to thank the Hillbilly race team for
giving me a good race car.”
As the laps ticked off Bryan Chew was able to get by
Daniel Hemric after a restart. Hemric appeared to
have the faster car but he was unable to make his
way around Chew for a top ten finish. “Obviously we
really wanted to get a top ten, but we also wanted
to be able to roll the car on the trailer (hauler).
I tried to get by him (Bryon Chew) for tenth but I
lost a little bit too much forward drive and
momentum. We were better than him in the center and
he was better than us off. I made a couple of
attempts but we did not have it.” Hemric finished
the Sizzler eleventh.
Did you feel that you made you pit stop at the right
time? “The way that tires were going I felt when we
needed to pit that I would be on the same pit as
everybody else. Then I felt maybe we should stay out
and get our tires later but track position was
really the key so we will build on that for the next
time we come back- we know that qualifying here will
be the biggest thing.”
The next NWMT event will be at Monadnock Speedway in
Winchester, NH on May 12.
And finally, Denise DuPont and I want to welcome our
new ‘Cover It Live’ sponsor, Seekonk Grand Prix. |
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Source: Polly Reid / Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: April
30, 2012 |
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