(Stafford Springs, CT)—Doug Coby, who won the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring
Sizzler last month at Stafford, will look to make it two-for-two when the
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to Stafford next Friday night for the
22nd Annual TSI Harley-Davidson 125. Of Coby’s 3 career Whelen Modified
Tour wins, 2 have come in the Spring Sizzler. That fact, combined with Coby
’s two Stafford track championships, has the Milford native excited about
the prospects of making it two in a row at Stafford.
“The car was awesome at the Sizzler, so I would expect the car is going to
be awesome again next Friday night,” said Coby. “The night race will be
different, even though it’s only a couple of weeks after the Sizzler, the
track is always different in the May race from the Sizzler. The last three
Sizzlers the pole time has been in the 17’s and in May it’s usually drops
off to 18.2, 3, or 4, and it’s an impound race, so we’ll have to qualify the
way we’re going to race. We all make a lot of adjustments for time trials
to click off a good lap, but we probably make less adjustments for time
trials, so that might help us a bit. You see certain guys who qualify up
front for the two-day shows that don’t qualify up front for the one-day
shows.”
After splitting time between two teams last season, Coby will be behind the
wheel of Wayne Darling’s #52 Furnace and Duct Chevrolet for the entire 2012
schedule. Although they raced together last year, the Coby/Darling pairing
is still a relatively new combination and Coby says that the team chemistry
is one of the key reasons why they are sitting second in the Whelen Modified
Tour standings heading into the TSI Harley-Davidson 125.
“Last year was different racing for two teams and we had good runs with both
teams,” said Coby. “With Wayne’s team now, I think we’re still getting to
know each other, we’ve only raced together 14 times by my count. John
McKenna, my crew chief, is really starting to learn me really well and what
the car setup needs to react with me and he definitely uses each race we go
to as a spingboard for our next race. At first, he was making changes for
the feature like he would for some of the other drivers that were in the
car, and not that we were bad, it just wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be.
I like the car to be a little freer to start off with and he doesn’t have to
tighten the car up as much as he did with some other drivers. It’s nice to
know that when we show up we’re usually pretty decent and the thing about
John’s cars is that they last the whole race. That’s how we were when we
won at Thompson last year and how we were at the Sizzler. With this car,
how I manage the race and the way John sets the car up really meshes well
together and it makes me look good because the car stays under me. We’re
really clicking with the setup and the communication and we’re not making
stupid moves, which is really working out for us right now.”
With the TSI Harley-Davidson race being 125 laps instead of 150 laps, it
opens up a wide variety of options for teams to take different strategies.
“In a 150 we’re definitely going to pit, with the 125 we may not,” said
Coby. “It all depends on how good the car is and what our track position
is. Unless there’s only 10 cars on the lead lap with 50 laps to go, you’re
not going to get back up to the leaders to go by them at Stafford. It’s
going to be interesting when it comes time for pit stops. If we’re in the
top-2 and everyone pits behind us, you’ll have guys with 2 tires right
behind you. If a lot of guys stay out, then it will be a lot harder to get
back through the field. If everyone pits, a car that pits will win the
race, but if 10 or 12 guys stay out for track position when everyone else
comes in, then a car that stays out will win the race I think. The key is
how many guys will have the same strategy that you do when it comes to
pitting and when you pit. At STafford it’s not about when you pit, it’s
about how many cars come into the pits when you do. Like at the Sizzler, we
pitted from second and we came out third of the cars that pitted and we
restarted sixth. Ryan [Preece] and I were back in the lead after a couple
of laps and it was like we never pitted.”
Tickets for the 22nd Annual TSI Harley-Davidson 125 are available and on
sale now at the Speedway Box Office. Tickets are priced at $33.00 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 will be priced at $35.00 for all ages. All ticket prices include
10% CT Admission Tax. As always, Stafford Motor Speedway offers free
parking with overnight parking available.
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