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DOUG COBY
WINS NWMT NEW ENGLAND 100 AT THE "MAGIC MILE"
New Hampshire Motor Speedway
by
Polly Reid |
 It
came down to the last lap, last corner, right to the
line- Doug Coby of Milford, CT in the Mike Smeriglio
III owned, Dunleavy Repair/A&J Romano sponsored
Chevrolet secured the coveted win edging out Donny
Lia at the stripe for the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour New England 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway
win.
Coby and Lia had race fans on their feet as they
took the white flag, Coby leading, Lia on his bumper
as they came around turn four. Lia pulled out high
but came up short by inches as Coby captured his
twentieth career NWMT win, his fourth victory at
NHMS. The margin of victory was recorded at 0.037
seconds.
“If you’re a New England modified racer, this is
what you work for your whole career, to race and win
at Loudon,” said Coby. “I have four wins here now
which is crazy, two have been under green and two
have been under caution. To win a race here, under
green, is a really special thing. This is just huge
and our team has worked so hard. Our team is always
trying to make our car better. Right now, our team
is firing on all cylinders and that’s pretty fun.
That’s what we come to do.”
 “The
first half, we were loose,” said Donny Lia about his
Mark Sypher owned, Sypher Construction/Bardahl
sponsored Chevrolet. “We made an adjustment on the
stop and got back to racing, I was able to stay out
front - stay with the lead draft.” Lia took the
initial green flag second but after the break,
started fourth. “We had a really good car, we had a
car that could definitely win the race, it’s a
little disappointing. When it’s all said and done,
me and all these guys will think back and guess
twenty different things we think we could have done
different to win the race, especially when you lose
by a bumper. Hats off to Doug and his guys, they’re
on a tear- we’re trying figure it out, get up to
them and win again.”
 Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, NY took the green
flag twelfth and came in for the half way break to
restart sixth. Emerling moved into third on the
opening circuits of the second segment and despite
the pressure from the likes of Ryan Preece, Ryan
Newman, Woody Pitkat and Ron Silk, Emerling held his
own to bring the Buffalo Auto Auction Chevrolet
across the stripe for a solid third place finish.
“We had a great car,” said Emerling about the first
half of the race. “We had a good car in the second
half, we were racing around fourth and fifth, then
third- the lead pack got away from me, my car came
to me at the end and by the time we broke out there,
were already gone- once you lose the draft, you just
can’t make up for it.”
 Coby of Milford, CT, swapped the lead several times
with Preece of Berlin, CT in the first segment of
the event, Coby and Preece appeared equal and the
class of the field as they stretched from the pack
with as much as a nearly six second lead. Coby then
led the field to green for the final segment only to
watch the outside line draft ahead leaving him low
and going back, the 2 car falling in line at eighth.
“So
many things happened in this race,” said Coby. “Just
thinking about it, it’s about being prepared with
the car, then being prepared for whatever situation
unfolds out on the race track. We had the best car
here but, when you go back to seventh or eighth on
the restart it’s just a matter of how you respond
and I actually said it in my championship award
speech last year, “We can’t necessarily control what
happens to us but we can control how we respond. “My
choice was to just settle in, see how the car would
react and pick them off one at a time. I tried a
couple of things that didn’t work, I’ve always said
racing here in a pack of cars is knowing more about
was does work than what doesn’t. I tried a couple of
things and did not get anybody to help. I think if I
did have someone work with me we would have gone to
the front, but they didn’t, so they just got
passed.”
“I think everybody raced with respect out there,”
said Coby. “There were no cautions and that’s always
a good thing, everybody can unload at Monadnock with
whole race cars, that’s a good thing for everybody.”
“It was an excellent race and I’m real happy to come
out here with a good solid day- the car with all
four wheels on it and build our notebook,” continued
Lia who hails from Jericho, NY. “We’re a new team.
We were brand new last year and this year we’re
brand new again with a new crew chief.” Lia
referring to Don Barker coming on board as crew
chief for the Sypher Construction/Bardahl sponsored
Chevrolet. “We’re starting from scratch and to run
with the #2 car, it says a lot for us, we’re making
big gains quickly, it just seems like we aren’t
because it’s been a completely new deal each year.
It’s a big day for us and something I’m proud of.”
Coby, Lia and Emerling the podium finish, pole
winner Ron Silk crossed fourth, Ryan Newman fifth
with Woody Pitkat, Justin Bonsignore, Eric Goodale
the top nine. Todd Szegedy who started scratch in
the field of 33 cars brought the 15-40 Connection
Chevrolet over the line for tenth.
It was a tough point’s day for Max Zachem who went
into the New England 100 second in the standings.
Diving down pit row just prior to the green, Zachem
was forced to retire for the day with less than
twenty laps on the board, officially listed as rear
end the reason for being out. The thirty-second
place finish drops Zachem to fifth in points but
with ten events remaining on the NWMT schedule,
Zachem has the opportunity to recover and gain back
ground lost. Coby continues to carry the point lead
at 290, Donny Lia takes over second with 258, Justin
Bonsignore with 252, Tommy Solomito at 246 and
Zachem with 237.
Next up for the NWMT is a trip to Monadnock Speedway
in Winchester, NH – the quarter-mile high banked
speedway will host the Monadnock 200 on Saturday
July 23rd.
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Source:
Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
July 17 2016 |
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