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NWMT SUNOCO
WORLD SERIES 150 PRESENTED BY XTRAMART
Doug Coby Makes Late Race Pass World Series Win
Collects Third NWMT Title
by
Polly Reid |
 When
the final checkered flag waved at the World Series
weekend at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, NWMT
Director Jimmy Wilson came over the 2 car radio and
gave Doug Coby a few instructions before simply
stating, “You are the champion.”
The hype leading into the series finale was over.
The three-way battle for the title at the green flag
between Coby and Ryan Preece tied for points and
Woody Pitkat a mere four points behind, was done.
 Doug Coby of Milford, CT brought the Mike Smeriglio
III owned, Dunleavy/HEX Performance/A&J Romano
sponsored modified home for the NWMT Sunoco World
Series 150 win and the 2015 NWMT Championship.
Leading 93 out of 150 laps including a decisive pass
for the top spot with five to go, Coby put an
exclamation point on a season that was not perfect
but worked out perfectly.
“It’s a special feeling when you have a car that’s
this good - to drive for a team that puts their
heart and soul into racing modifieds,” said Coby in
victory lane.
“Everybody
on this team believes in the modified Tour- I’m just
so proud of them for how hard they battled all
season - we won seven races out of fifteen and six
poles. It’s so competitive on our series, it just
shows how much effort they put into being here. What
a phenomenal pit stop they had - Justin Bonsignore’s
team is a great pit stop crew and we came out right
there with them - the car just couldn’t be denied
today.” Coby continued talking about the pass he
made with just five to go. “Justin was snug, then he
got loose, I just wanted to stay out of trouble - I
was trying to run the bottom and stay away from him
then he got real loose coming off of four and I
thought alright, I’m going to put it next to him in
turns one and two.”
 Following Coby across the line for second was Justin
Bonsignore of Holtsville, NY in the Ken Massa owned,
M3 Technology sponsored modified with Timmy Solomito
of Islip, NY ending his season with a strong podium
finish in third. Fourth went to Todd Szegedy in the
Bob Garbarino owned, Montanari Fuel sponsored Mystic
Missile with Woody Pitkat surviving the unexpected
challenges in the Buzz Chew modified crossing for
fifth. Ryan Preece flirting with the top five all
day finished seventh.
“I think Doug was toying with us,” said Bonsignore
with a smile. “He’s been the king this year-
congrats to them and their championship. We really
wanted to win the World Series, we’ve won all the
other big races here and it would have been nice but
the way our season has gone, this is a really good
run for us. We’ll go into the winter with this as a
good notebook and come back next year hopefully
stronger than ever and give these guys a run for
their money. I’ve got to thank my whole team, M3
Technology, Ken Massa, my crew chief Billy (Michael)
and the entire team- they’ve done a great job this
year - they never gave up - we’ll come back stronger
next year.” In the hunt for the win, there is no
doubt Bonsignore and the M3 Technology team will
return next season more focused and determined than
ever.
“These guys gave me a really good car today,” said
Timmy Solomito. “We were just a little bit off
compared to the 2 car- he’s been strong here all
year. I’m really happy to come out with a strong
finish for the Flamingo gang- these guys stood
behind me all year. I can’t thank Sly, Tim, John,
Jerry, Paul, the whole entire crew - they all stuck
behind me all year.” The Eric Sanderson owned,
Diversified Metals/R.B. Enterprises Ford will be
another one to watch in 2016.
Choosing the outside front row, Coby led the
thirty-two car field to green with Timmy Solomito on
the inside, Woody Pitkat third, Ted Christopher and
Ryan Preece the top five. The first yellow of the
day flew on the second circuit when Steve Masse
ended up in the front stretch wall.
Coby restarted the field again from the outside this
time with Christopher lining up second, Solomito,
Pitkat and Donny Lia the top five. Preece had been
shuffled back to seventh.
 While Coby stayed on the point, Pitkat took over
second but it was clear a few circuits later that
Pitkat was sliding backwards. A tire going down,
Pitkat was involved in the next caution on lap 17-
damage to his rear bumper, Pitkat was able to drive
away but was penalized a lap for bringing out the
caution.
Coby continued to command the front spot until
gathered in on lap 42 for a caution.
The yellow waving on lap 52 was a break Pitkat
needed, receiving the free pass, putting the Buzz
Chew Chevrolet back on the lead lap.
Coby led the restart, Bonsignore, Solomito,
Christopher and Preece the top five, Pitkat was
taking to task of passing one at a time - 16th on
lap 65, he had moved up tenth just before the half
way mark.
The green run continued with Coby, Bonsignore,
Solomito, Christopher and Szegedy the top five.
Preece was following close in sixth.
The timing of the caution on lap 90 brought the
leaders down pit road- the pit stop a possible make
or break for the championship contenders. Bonsignore
was out first with Coby, Bobby Santos, Timmy
Solomito and Ted Christopher the top five who all
lined up behind Patrick Emerling who had pitted
earlier and stayed out. Preece was seventh and
Pitkat who had worked his way all the way up to
eighth made two trips to pit road and lined up
towards the rear of the field.
A yellow on lap 99 kept the field together and on
the restart, Emerling led Bonsignore, Santos, Coby,
Christopher, Solomito and Preece.
Bonsignore made his move passing Emerling to become
the third leader of the event on lap 103. Coby in
third passed for second and with 40 to go it was
Bonsignore leading Coby, Emerling, Solomito and
Preece the top five.
The laps ticking off as the green flag run
continued, Bonsignore was shadowed by Coby with
Solomito, Szegedy, Emerling the top five and in the
hunt digging was Preece sixth and Pitkat seventh.
 Ten to go, Bonsignore and Coby pulled from the pack
– with Pitkat now sixth and Preece seventh, Coby was
on course for the title.
Coby however saw the window open a bit and timing
his move, passed Bonsignore to become the final
leader on lap 145. Coby stretched his sprint to the
finish crossing the line for the win, sweeping all
four NWMT events at Thompson this season
successfully defending his title pulling into
victory lane the 2015 NWMT Champion.
Bonsignore, Solomito, Szegedy and Pitkat followed
for the top five with Emerling, Preece, Christopher,
Rookie of the Year winner Chase Dowling and Donny
Lia the top ten.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” said Coby about being a
three time NWMT champion. “The last five, six years
of my racing career have been amazing for everything
that is going on. Woody and I are kind of cut the
same way. We both struggled to find full time rides
and now, we’re competing for championships- it’s
just really neat. It just shows you have to keep
digging, talking to people, meeting new people and
driving race cars. Good things happen and that’s
what happened today.”
“We had to battle all day,” said Pitkat. “I had a
tire going down and tried to ride it out, ride it
out. Then I got run over from behind- at that point,
I just stopped.” That’s when the call was made to
penalize the 88 car one lap. “Unfortunately, it’s a
tough outcome. I never gave up, we never do, I just
drove my butt off all day.” Pitkat went from a lap
down in the early stages, to getting back on the
lead lap and set to task making it into the top ten
just before the half way mark. Pitting again on lap
101, Pitkat did it again- drove from the back to the
front. Up to sixth with ten to go, Pitkat got by
Emerling in the closing circuits to make it a top
five finish. “It was a bad day from the start, one
we didn’t need today, unfortunately, it is what it
is. I can’t thank these guys enough- Buzz and Bryan
and all those guys, I really wanted to win it for
them. The crew gave 150%. Spot (Ron Ste-Marie) the
crew chief does an amazing job, like I said
yesterday, the guy is like a brother that I never
had- I just love those guys. To be able to come in
here and say we were running for the championship is
huge. We’ve been consistent; the only thing we need
to work on is leading more laps and winning more
races. Hats off to Doug and Ryan- those guys have
been one, two for the last four years so to even be
in contention with them shows how tough our team
is.”
Pitkat came to the World Series in the hunt for
three championship titles. The Stafford, CT driver
captured two out of three - the VMRS Championship
and the Thompson Sunoco Modified Championship. “All
in all, it was a good weekend,” said Pitkat. “We got
two out of three championships. To be able to come
here and contend for three championships, it’s the
crews, the sponsors, the car owners, it’s all those-
I couldn’t do it without the people that are around
me. I’m the lucky guy to hold the wheel.”
Coby was asked how big today is. “It’s a big deal.
Modifieds are king where we all live and this is
what we do. We might not get the respect nationally
that we all know the series deserves but to be at
the top of the series it means a lot to me because I
know how good everyone is.”
“I’m proud of my guys,” continued Coby. “The
mistakes I made - they brought out a new car at
Loudon after I destroyed one at Bristol- that car is
the backup car this weekend sitting up in the
trailer with two poles, two wins in two starts and
that’s the car we brought for our spare. Just a
great team effort - I’m really proud of my guys.”
“I’m humbled,” said car owner Mike Smeriglio III.
“It’s not supposed to happen like this. You know, to
come back from a deficit of 32 points with four
races to go, you’re not supposed to dominate - win
two poles in a row, you’re not supposed to win three
races in a row, it’s just not how it’s supposed to
happen. But it did. And it’s because of Doug Coby-
it’s Phil Moran that always says keep digging, keep
digging- and when you think about it, winning four
races at Thompson- having to come here to win that
fourth one for the championship, it’s not supposed
to happen that way - but it did and I’m forever
grateful for the entire team, sponsors and really,
Phil Moran. It’s his show, his talent, his
leadership that’s brings us all together. Doug won
the championship with the 52 team, but this season-
it’s about the 2 team. Doug Coby is a three time
champion- he’s in third right behind Richie and
Mighty Mike Stefanik, it’s unbelievable.”
Smeriglio has surrounded himself with a team that
has once again raised the bar. “It took me about six
years to really believe in my own decisions. I
believe it was around year seven is when we turned
this thing around by not being afraid to make big
decisions and let Phil implement those big
decisions.”
It was a chance, but the team decided to take an
opportunity they delivered on that ultimately led to
successfully defending their championship title.
“The off season, Doug announced at the banquet that
we had made the change to LFR Chassis and that we
were going with spec motors,” said champion crew
chief Phil Moran. “We were looking to improve our
qualifying and win races- improve our short track
program.” A win at Monadnock and two podium finishes
at Riverhead “that was a big thing.” The win at
Monadnock Speedway, Coby will tell you, was indeed a
highlight of the season.
“I’ve got the best driver in the world,” said Moran.
“He knows what he needs to do. Somebody asked me,
‘you’ve got to calm him down, look at the big
picture’. He knew what he had for a car, he knew he
could pass Justin clean so there wasn’t any chance
of banging the car up or wrecking, that’s why he did
what he did.”
“Nothing makes you work any harder than being in a
hole after Bristol,” said Moran about the MS III
Racing season. “People asked what our turnaround
was- it wasn’t the win at Loudon. It was finishing
second at Riverhead because that was the next one
and Doug has always struggled so much at Riverhead
and to finish second there, that was the
turnaround.”
“The pit stop today was great, my crew did a great
job, they always do,” said Moran. “I wasn’t nervous
until five to go because you never know what’s going
to happen.” Those final circuits that became the
realization that they were going to win the race and
the championship- that hit home, “that was pretty
cool.” Stopping for a moment, probably for the first
time of the day, the week or maybe even the season,
Moran added, “it feels good, it just feels good.”
Starting with a flurry of snow at the green flag to
crowning a champion at the checkers, Coby ended up
with 613 points, Preece with 602 and Pitkat with
600. The eleven point spread is the closest finish
since Coby and Preece settled the title in 2012
where Coby earned his first NWMT title.
NBCSN will air the Sunoco World Series 150 on
Thursday October 22nd at 8pm ET.
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Source:
Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
October 19, 2015 |
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