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COBY ADDS TO
HIS LEGACY WITH FIFTH TITLE
Edges Thompson Winner Solomito For NASCAR Whelen Modified
Crown |
Back in April, Doug Coby walked away from a wrecked
race car without even completing one lap in the
Icebreaker 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports
Park. Six months later, Coby capped the season at
Thompson by completing an unthinkable comeback to
win his fifth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
championship.
Sunday's fifth-place finish in the Sunoco World
Series 150 was enough to completely erase his
disastrous start to the season and wrap up his
fourth straight title.
The Milford, Conn. driver becomes the first driver
since the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour began in 1984
to accomplish the feat and only the third in the
history of NASCAR modifieds, joining NASCAR Hall of
Famers Richie Evans and Jerry Cook.
"We just kind of tugged away this year," Coby said.
"We won one race in 2014 when we won the
championship and we only won once this year. We were
just so consistent."
Timmy
Solomito, who entered the race third in the
championship standings and one of six drivers still
in contention for the crown, used a pass with just
two laps remaining to capture the victory the race
that was pushed to 155 laps because of a late
caution.
The victory was the fifth of the season for the
Islip, New York, driver but it wasn't enough to get
him the title.
Coby finished with 604 points, six ahead of
Solomito. Justin Bonsignore finished third, 10
points back of Solomito, while Rowan Pennink and
Eric Goodale rounded out the top five in the
championship standings.
Coby was determined to control his own destiny. The
points leader entering the finale, he started on the
front row with polesitter Chase Dowling and
immediately jumped to the front to lead the first 82
laps to clinch the bonus points for most laps led.
After his first pit stop, he restarted outside the
top 10 and wasn't able to get all the way back to
the front. But it didn't matter. A late charge was
enough to hand him the championship behind the wheel
of his No. 2 Mayhew Tools Chevrolet.
"We were good all year and we were kind of under the
radar. This was a different championship because we
to crawl all summer because we had to get back in
it," Coby said. "We had to chip away this year. The
common denominator in all of these titles was a team
that never quit."
Dowling finished second -- crossing the finish line
.043 seconds behind Solomito -- while Ron Silk was
third and Pennink fourth.
Andrew Krause finished sixth, followed by Woody
Pitkat, Dave Sapienza, Jamie Tomaino and Bonsignore.
Ryan Preece finished 26th in the race and fell to
sixth in points. However, he was able to wrap up the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owner's championship for
Ed Partridge. Preece missed two races -- one for his
wedding and one to run the NASCAR XFINITY Series
race at Kentucky Speedway -- and combined with
George Brunnhoelzl III and Jon McKennedy to win the
title for Partridge's No. 6 TS Hauler Chevrolet
team.
Coby and Partridge will be honored as champions of
the unified Whelen Modified Tour as part of the
champions celebration in Charlotte, North Carolina
in December. |
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NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour - Sunoco World Series 150
Results
Sunday At Thompson International Speedway, Thompson,
Conn.
Lap length: 0.625 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (8) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Ford, 155 laps, 65.309
mph.
2. (1) Chase Dowling, Roxbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
3. (10) Ron Silk, Norwalk, CT, Chevrolet, 155.
4. (6) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 155.
5. (2) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
6. (19) Andrew Krause, Holmdel, N.J., Chevrolet, 155.
7. (21) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
8. (18) Dave Sapienza, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 155.
9. (33) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 155.
10. (14) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, NY,
Chevrolet, 155.
11. (17) Gary Putnam, Vernon, Conn., Chevrolet, 155.
12. (4) Rob Summers, Manchester, CT,
Chevrolet, 155.
13. (7) Burt Myers, Walnut Cove, N.C.,
Chevrolet, 155.
14. (23) Matt Swanson, Acton, Mass., Ford, 155.
15. (27) Calvin Carroll, Newton, N.J., Chevrolet,
155.
16. (16) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet,
155.
17. (13) Spencer Davis, Dawsonville, Ga., Chevrolet,
155.
18. (29) Wade Cole, Hartland, Conn., Ford, 155.
19. (9) Jimmy Blewett, Howell, N.J.,
Chevrolet, 154.
20. (5) Craig Lutz, Miller Place, N.Y.,
Chevrolet, 154.
21. (25) Danny Cugini, Marshfield, Mass., Chevrolet,
147, accident.
22. (35) Cory Osland, East Hampton, N.Y., Chevrolet,
143, accident.
23. (34) Manny Dias, Attleboro, Mass., Chevrolet,
138, handling.
24. (15) Kyle Soper, Manorville, N.Y., Chevrolet,
137, accident.
25. (12) Ronnie Williams, Ellington, Conn.,
Chevrolet, 131, accident.
26. (3) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn.,
Chevrolet, 117.
27. (32) Walter Sutcliffe Jr., East Haven, Conn.,
Chevrolet, 113, handling.
28. (24) Austin Pickens, Windermere, Fla.,
Chevrolet, 80, accident.
29. (11) Bobby Santos, Franklin, Mass., Chevrolet,
52, ignition.
30. (31) Melissa Fifield, Wakefield, N.H.,
Chevrolet, 19, clutch.
31. (30) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Chevrolet,
9, accident.
32. (20) Anthony Nocella, Woburn, Mass., Chevrolet,
0, accident.
33. (22) Andy Seuss, Hampstead, N.H., Chevrolet, 0,
accident.
34. (26) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 0,
accident.
35. (28) John Baker, Selden, N.Y., Chevrolet, 0,
accident.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 29 minutes 0 seconds
Margin of Victory: 0.043 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: C. Dowling (118.477 mph,
18.991 seconds)
Caution Flags: 12 for 57 laps.
Lead Changes: 5 among 5 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Coby 1-82; C. Lutz 83-107; R.
Silk 108-144; J. Bonsignore 145; R. Silk 146-153; T.
Solomito 154-155.
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Standings: 1. D. Coby, 604; 2. T. Solomito, 598;
3. J. Bonsignore, 588; 4. R. Pennink, 570; 5. E. Goodale, 566;
6. R. Preece, 562; 7. D. Sapienza, 511; 8. M. Swanson, 484; 9. R. Summers,
474; 10. C. Lutz, 429.
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Source:
Jason Christley / NASCAR
Posted:
October 15, 2017 |
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