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DEFENDING WMT
CHAMPION DOUG COBY READY TO CHASE NAPA
SPRING SIZZLER VICTORY WITH NEW CHASSIS & ENGINE COMBINATION |
Last
season, Southington native Doug Coby captured his
second career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
championship with 1 win, 9 top-5, and 12 top-10
finishes in the 13-race season. As Coby and the #2
Dunleavy Truck and Trailer Repair / Hex Performance
Mike Smeriglio owned team prepare to defend the
championship this season, they made an almost
unprecedented move of changing both their chassis
and engine. The #2 team switched their chassis from
Troyer to LFR and will utilize the NASCAR Spec
Engine this season.
“It’s very rare to win a championship and then take
everything you won with and push it to the side in
favor of something else,” said Coby. “We have to
keep up with everyone else and we felt like last
year the spec engine guys had a bit of an advantage
over us at some of the tracks so we decided to
upgrade to that. When Rob Fuller came out with the
chassis, it was kind of a no-brainer for us with how
close our team is with Rob’s team so we jumped on
board. The only way to find out if something works
is to try it and if something doesn’t work for us
then we won’t do try it again. I think the only
thing I’m worried about is having something
unexpected break on the car. The combination we had
last year was tried, true, and reliable and
reliability is a big part of winning championships.
It’s awesome to start a season knowing that you
ended last year on top, but it also makes the
bull’s-eye on your back bigger.”
Coby and the #2 team took a trip last month down to
Caraway Speedway for the Southern Whelen Modified
Tour opener to shake down the new chassis and engine
combination. That experience, plus a test session at
Thompson have Coby and the #2 team feeling
comfortable as they prepare for the NAPA Spring
Sizzler.
“We’re all ready to go,” said Coby. “I’m sure there
will be some ups and downs during the season and
we’ll have to deal with things as they come. It
could be 14 or 15 awesome races or it could be 12
crappy races, we really don’t know. I think our goal
is to improve on the car week to week. We went down
to Caraway last month for the Southern Tour race and
we had a small issue in practice and in the race. We
lost some practice time and we lost 30 laps in the
race. We had a fast car and it was really important
for us to get the car out on track to try to work
out some of the bugs. That would have happened to us
at Thompson if we didn’t run that race at Caraway. I
think we put right around 100 laps on the car during
the Thompson test and now it’s all about focusing on
the setup and finding out what the car will want on
a longer run and what it will need after a pit stop.
The car reacted how we hoped it would and we’re
heading into the start of the season with more
confidence than we had at the start of last year.”
Coby has 2 career NAPA Spring Sizzler victories with
wins in the 2006 and 2012 editions of “The Greatest
Race in the History of Spring.” Coby’s shakedown
runs of the new chassis and engine combination have
him feeling confident about his chances of adding a
third Sizzler trophy to his resume.
“I think the car setup will be pretty similar to
what we had in our Troyer car for Stafford,” said
Coby. “We’ll know around lap-150 how we’re doing.
I’ve had plenty of awesome runs at Stafford and I’ve
had some races where we haven’t been that good.
We’re coming out for the Sizzler this year with what
will hopefully will be a good piece that can contend
for pole position and stay up front for the entire
race.”
In order to keep the car up front for the entire
200-lap distance, Coby will need to have a good
qualifying effort. With the competition so close on
the Whelen Modified Tour, Coby says that a good
qualifying effort will go a long way toward helping
the #2 team have a good finish.
“Especially at Stafford, qualifying is always
important because most of the top-15 or top-20 is
separated by only a couple tenths of a second.
There’s usually a couple of guys that are a step
ahead of everyone in qualifying and then from 3rd or
4th down through about 17th you’re either on the
right side of the fence or the wrong side. I’ve had
plenty of times where I thought I’d have a great run
and start 5th or 6th and I ended up about 14th or
15th. It’s going to be competitive for sure and when
you go to a track like Stafford where everyone has
such a good notebook, combined with good drivers and
crew chiefs making good decisions, that’s why the
field is always so close.”
Coby and the #2 team will begin their quest for NAPA
Spring Sizzler victory with practice and Coors Light
Pole Qualifying on Saturday, April 25th as part of
the 44th Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler. The
200-lap NAPA Spring Sizzler will run on Sunday,
April 26 at approximately 3:15pm following the NAPA
Pit Party from 11am-12noon and the SK Modified® and
Late Model feature events beginning at 1pm. Tickets
for the “Greatest Race in the History of Spring” are
on sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are
priced at $38.50 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 is priced
at $42.00 for all ages. As always, Stafford Motor
Speedway offers free parking with overnight parking
available. All tickets are good for both Saturday
and Sunday admission. All ticket prices include 10%
CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 44th Annual NAPA Auto
Parts Spring Sizzler, or to order tickets, 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:
April 10, 2015 |
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