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FAMILIES ARE
WHERE THIS YEAR'S CHAMPIONS AND THEIR TEAMS
FIND THEIR RACING PASSION by
Denise DuPont |
 When
we look at the roots of short track racing there is
the actual race surface that the teams compete on
and then the roots of the racers and teams
themselves. Where and how racers began their need
for speed and competitive spirit is just as big a
story as the tracks they raced on.
My racing roots are very similar to those of the
current modified racing championship teams. Be it
the car owner, the driver, the guys that turns the
wrenches, or racing fans, our families have been
very instrumental in our racing roots.
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Northern Modified
Racing Homegrown Family Roots
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour (NWMT) 2015 championship
driver Doug Coby looks back at his roots and knows
his desire to race and compete early in his
childhood was fueled by his parents. They saw Renee
Dupuis out on the small ovals beating the boys in
her family owner quarter midget and made the move to
get their daughter on the track. They bought her a
quarter midget and got the family ready to go
racing. Well as it turned out young Kelly Coby was
not ready to give up her social life to start
racing. She opted to go to a friend’s birthday party
rather than race and that launched Doug’s race
career.
So as the story goes: “Rene Dupuis was racing
quarter midgets at the time and my sister wanted to
be a girl that could beat up on the boys all the
time. And that is why my parents got the first car.
They bought my sister a quarter midget and she did
not go to the first rookie practice because she had
a birthday party to go to. They let me go instead
and it has been going strong ever since. My sister
did end up racing a few years later though.”
The Coby family race roots go deeper than that the
quarter midget competition though. Doug’s dad and
his uncle sat behind the wheel of modifieds well
before the start of their families. “My uncle raced
when we were kids and my dad raced modifieds before
I was born,” stated Coby about family. “So racing
was already in our family. So it is pretty cool that
the family story has evolved over time and that I
got to do stuff like this now is very special. “
 Once
he sat behind the wheel Coby knew this was just the
beginning of something to come, his racing future.
“I never thought that it would keep going this long.
My parents look back on it now and they say “It
looks like we got him into something good and now it
has been a long time!”
Looking back at his race career Coby now knows that
racing is who he is and not just what he does when
he gets behind the wheel. Racing is an integral part
of his life. “It has been thirty years in a row of
just what I do. I guess racing is not what I do it
is who I am. It is something that I have always
done. It is just that competition which is the same
thing in business. You always try to succeed and try
to do better. I think that is why Mike and I are
very similar. We have businesses that we run and
obviously we try to make them better. And we treat
racing the same way as our business and we just try
to chip away to make it better every year. So it
ultimately led us to where we are and the future is
going to be about moving forward and making things
better than the year before. You make some changes
and try some things. Sometimes it works and
sometimes it doesn’t. Usually it is and an educated
guess more than an educated decision. That is why it
is great working with Mike – it is always calculated
and professional at all times.”
The #2 Dunleavy's Truck & Trailer Repair/HEX
Performance/A&J Romano Construction sponsored
modified team captured their second championship in
three years in 2015 for car owner Mike Smeriglio,
III. The Smeriglio owned team earned the coveted
trophy based on the strength of an outstanding
season. They finished with seven wins and eleven top
fives in fifteen races showing the true racing
professionals that they are. “It is the biggest
compliment that anybody can give us about being
professional. It is easy to fail and it is very
difficult to be successful. That has just been how I
was raised – treat others how I want to be treated
while always trying to put your best foot forward if
you possibly can. I will take a little bit of the
credit for the team’s success and professionalism
but it is also about Phil (Moran) and Doug. You
always try to do the right thing and it is not
always easy. I have learned talk to the driver about
15 to 20 minutes after the race unless it is a win
and then I bring out a thank you very much. That is
what we pretty much what we do.”
 So
like most us racing enthusiasts, Smeriglio also
attributes his involvement in racing to his parents.
His dad took him as a toddler to a local track and
his love for the sport only grew from there. “My dad
took me to my first race at Danbury Raceway (Fair
Racearena) when I believe I was about four years
old. Joie Chitwood was performing there and from
that young age I had the bug. My dad was involved
with a couple of race teams there. When Danbury
closed I was about sixteen so I really could not
participate there in racing.”
So Smeriglio went forward from his first home track
and launched his racing career. “I always had the
enjoyment factor of racing. I was fortunately
blessed to get some corporate sponsors right out
from sitting in grandstands, believe it or not with
Randy LaJoie. Then I worked my way right up through
the SK racing at Stafford all the way up through
here (NWMT).”
These days when it comes towards racing and family
time there is not a good balance for Smeriglio’s
family. Off the track owning a race team takes a lot
of time and energy. “Unfortunately family takes a
back seat to racing with all the traveling and
commitments,” confessed Smeriglio. “And I always
miss the April races because I am an accountant and
on April 15th I must hunker down. I already saw the
2016 Thompson schedule for April 10thweekend, so I
am not going to make that one. In the end, yes it is
a balancing act. But when you have great guys behind
us, I know do not have to always be there.”
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Southern Modified
Racing Homegrown Family Roots
Coming from a close knit New Hampshire family Andy
Seuss’ race passion was ignited by his parents and
grew over the years. Seuss captured the 2015 NASCAR
Southern Whelen Modified championship this year
making it two in a row. Seuss comes from humble
roots in Hampstead, NH where he went from the town
terror in a go cart to the town race hero in a
modified. “My family has always been really big race
fans,” said Seuss very excited. “My dad use to race
snowmobiles before he started his business. Where he
worked they also owned and raced Super Modifieds.
Bentley Warren and Eddie West were the drivers for
them. My dad would bring me to the tracks and I
would meet the drivers and teams. So I grew up at
Star and Lee Speedway where I would just idolize the
local heroes. I begged my parents for a go cart to
run around the neighborhood after which I terrorized
the neighborhood making a lot of people mad. Then I
learnt about go cart racing. I remember our first go
cart race. We could not afford a new one so we had
to buy a single used go cart and it only had the
four tires with it. So we started out racing without
a spare tire. It is neat looking back at the road
that took us on. That was Sugar Hill Speedway in
Weare, NH. We traveled a little bit until I finally
got to go race at Star Speedway. I turned sixteen
and got a ride in a small block Super Modified. I
thought I was the king of the world then because
growing up, I had watched it, appreciated and
idolized it and now I was part of it. At that time
it was pretty amazing to me.”
 Seuss
started his racing career in his neighborhood and
has always accepted each new opportunity to race
with a big smile on his face. “For me growing up in
a small town and having our own race team it could
not have happened any other way,” stated Seuss. “It
was always a team effort with so many people that
included my parents, our family and along with them
people from the local towns. I have been fortunate
to be in the right place at the right time many
times. We went to Lee USA Speedway at one
Ockoberfest weekend and just happened to pit next to
Gary Casella. The modified division had a short
field and he had a spare car at home and he went and
got it. So I got my first modified start that way.
We then hooked up with people like Jerry Morello
when the Modified Racing Series was very young and
we started racing with them. “
“So the big sponsorship never really came along for
me for whatever reason but we were able to scratch
our way up the short tracks with our own cars,”
expressed Seuss about his race past. “Strategically
my big break was winning the Nashville (Fairgrounds)
Speedway race in 2006. Even if people knew what it
took to get to that one race they would probably
never believe me. We had previously destroyed the
car. We reused all the same parts of the car after
cutting it up. We even used the clip after welding
it back together. We loaded the car and drove a
truck with four people in it to Nashville, TN. Then
we came out a winner. That was when I met David and
Jeff Riggs and that was where we started the ball
rolling to start driving for them the following
year. Then we received an opportunity with Eddie
Harvey. We have been very fortunate to be around the
people that I have been around. So it has been a
neat deal.”
It has not always been easy racing on and off the
track because along with the victories come the
heart breaks and tears along the way. Andy lost his
mentors and supporters David and Jeff Riggs just as
the team started up the ladder of success in a
southern modified. David always treated Andy like a
son teaching him what he knew so his racing so his
legacy could live on. Seuss took what the Riggs’
family shared with him and went forward to win his
first NWSMT championship with the Eddie Harvey owned
Northeast Race Cars/Ideal Finance team in 2014.
Andy went forward married the love of his life (Jenn)
just weeks after longtime friend and supporter Lyle
Patterson was stricken with cancer and died. These
were major losses in Andy’s life but being the true
champion that he is, Andy went forward and made his
mentor’s and supporters proud with his second
championship this year. “Coming from a family team
it is a little bit different and you learn that fast
in NASCAR racing. On a championship week you have
teams from all walks of life and from different
series. It is actually very neat how many people
identify my family and everyone that comes along
with us and sees that though social media and NASCAR
Home Tracks how close we are.”
Looking at how quickly some young racers today move
to the top, Seuss is very proud of his career and
how he got there. He worked hard for everything he
has earned and has enjoyed the opportunities he has
been dealt. “It has been interesting and when you
look at how many paths it took. It would have been
very easy to just write a check and just show up.
But my story is a little bit different. I got to see
just about every short track on the East coast and
won at a lot of them which is really neat. And I
would not change it for anything.”
Championship car owner Eddie Harvey is a perfect
match for Seuss and his passion of racing. Growing
up Harvey also inherited his father’s (Howard
Harvey) love of speed and racing. “My father was the
one that first got me interested in racing. So I
would say that I was born into it.I had the
opportunity to work with some great people with the
likes of - Tommy Elliott, Charlie Cramer, Jamie
Tomaino, John Blewett, Tony Hirschman…. When you
work with people like that through the years it is
hard to get out of the sport. “
This year the #11 Ideal Racing team had a lot of ups
and downs starting the year on the low side the team
rebound for the top series position. So what did
Harvey and his team do when the year started off
tough with a nineteenth place finish at Caraway
Speedway? “The thought of winning, getting better
and getting over any obstacles and getting better
and better each week made me and the team go
forward.” And go forward the team certainly did as
they completed the 2015 season three points over
George Brunnhoelzl, III to secure their
second-consecutive Whelen Southern Modified Tour
crown.
So we are looking forward to see you at the Ice
Breaker in April at Thompson Speedway Motorsports
Park to help us continue our race family tradition.
Notes from the
2015 Modified Racing:
What are your plans for
next year?
Doug Coby
“For next year we are all set with the same deal we
will do that to defend while we try to get a little
bit stronger. We have some ideas for what we can do
to make our car even better. We just cannot now sit
back because we are on the top because somebody else
is always there trying to knock you over. So we just
will improve here and there and come back and try to
win more races.”
Mike Smeriglio III
“Next year it will be hopefully status quo. If we
could just maintain and do what we do best then that
goes a long way.
Doug Donleavy and John Romano are our primary
sponsors will be a part of it again next year, so I
could not be any happier. I am not sure we are going
to be able to duplicate as many poles and wins but
we certainly will do our best to see what we have.”
“Each new year you go forward with a plan to get
better, what is your plan for next year? I am not
sure that it will be possible to get any better. But
if we can maintain the championship back to back to
back that is how these guys are driven. It is
humbling and an unbelievable feeling to try to
duplicate what we did this year.”
Andy Seuss
“Next year it will be more of the same racing deals.
I have a great opportunity to drive again for Eddie
Harvey. He is updating his equipment and going to
LFR chassis. During the last two years we have seen
the world of modified racing equipment change quite
a bit. We ran a lot of older equipment this year. We
are going to stick with built motors by Rahmoc
Enterprises. They gave us incredible power and were
reliable all year. We are very happy with our
relationship there.”
“Hopefully we will also grow our bigger track
portion of my life. Last year I tried to get into a
little bit of ARCA racing in. We partnered up with
Bryan Dauzat. We found that we did not have our
ducks in a row. We attempted our first race this
year. We have a new spec motor from Ilmor so we can
be on the same level as the rest of the field. We
are really looking forward to that. And hopefully I
will have an opportunity to drive some truck races
for Jim Rosenblum and the FDNY race team who we
hooked up with again at the end of last year for
Talladega. We are hoping to do Daytona.”
“So in 2016, we will be just building and trying to
move forward. Modifieds we need to just do the same
but to maintain our success we are looking for more
consistent wins and to be more dominant. It will be
a new challenge with a different chassis and trying
to get better. I am really looking forward to
running with the same guys. It has been fun to be a
part of their team over the last few years”.
Eddie Harvey
“Next year we will do the same thing that we have
done the last several year – keep on winning and
winning championships.”
This type of race season
has not been seen since the likes of Mike Stefanik,
Tony Hirschman – your thoughts:
Mike Smeriglio III
“I really think that it is a tribute to Doug Coby. I
think that he is a very calculated, smart driver and
he knows what you are supposed to do and does it.
The LFR chassis helped tremendously. But in the end
it is all about Phil Moran and our team.”
Accomplishing the two
Southern Modified Championships
Andy Seuss
“It is incredible. You do not realize what you are
doing when you are doing it. When you are not doing
it you know you have a goal to win and get a
championship. So you take a step back and look at
the people who are accomplishing it and idolizing
them and trying to figure out what do I have to do
to be them.”
“Winning the championship this year has not sunk in
yet. It is just what we do and we have been
fortunate to have better luck than in the past. We
have had better races and more speed and things
finally fell into place. But in the end it really
took someone grabbing me by the shoulders and
telling me that I am now that person that I wanted
to be for me to realize that I have accomplished my
goal. Now it is really neat knowing I have done
that.”
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Source:
Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
December 21, 2015 |
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