Doug Coby celebrates after winning Saturday night’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at Riverhead Raceway. Photo: Mike Lawrence/NASCAR
One week ago, Doug Coby had no idea that he would be racing in Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Riverhead Raceway.
Tommy Baldwin, Jr.’s decision to put the six-time series champion in the famed No. 7NY as a substitute for Jimmy Blewett paid off for both parties, as Coby took control of the race early to claim his 32nd career victory.
Being able to win in a car as famous as the No. 7NY was a tremendous honor for Coby, but he dedicated Saturday’s victory at Riverhead to Blewett’s family as they take care of his sick daughter, Kayla.
“More important than anything, Kayla Blewett is home with her family,” Coby said. “I guess I was kind of the pseudo-Riverhead guy tonight driving the No. 7NY. Tommy gave me a great car and I want to thank him and all his guys for the hard work. It was an unfortunate circumstance, but you’ve got to make the most of it.”
Saturday’s victory marked the first time Coby had taken part in a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event this season.
A longtime staple of the division, Coby elected to scale back his own operation for 2022 to focus on obligations away from the track. His plan was to compete in four races with the Tour as part of a limited schedule.
Coby immediately jumped at the opportunity to drive for Baldwin when he got the phone call on Tuesday and promptly reminded the rest of the Tour field why he was so efficient in the series for a decade.
After passing polesitter Timmy Solomito, Coby was nearly uncontested for the rest of the evening at Riverhead as he perfectly executed multiple restarts and methodically carved his way through the ever-prevalent lapped traffic around the quarter-mile bullring.
The closest challenge Coby received came during a green-white-checkered attempt, where he was tasked with holding off the hard-charging Patrick Emerling, who had climbed his way up from the 15th starting position.
Emerling believed he was faster than Coby’s during the second half of the race, but admitted that the tires on his car were too exhausted to mount a challenge on the restart, forcing him to settle for second.
“My tires were just marbled up and I could not quite get it going,” Emerling said. “(Coby) started early and he did get me a little bit. When I got on it, the car was standing still, but I’m proud of what the team did today. We were able to drive ourselves up to the front and we had an awesome car tonight.”
For Coby, his three wins in the last four Riverhead races are the only times that he has visited Victory Lane at Riverhead during his career, which he attests to how taxing it can be to navigate the quarter-mile bullring’s tight turns.
Coby knows that no win on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is easy to come by and considers himself grateful for the diligent work Baldwin and his crew put into the No. 7NY to make it so efficient Saturday evening.
“A lot of people like to think that I need to drive certain cars with certain setups to do well,” Coby said. “This is a team that I’ve never really talked with that much, but they put great cars together. There are so many Whelen Modified Tour teams that have great equipment and I’m happy to showcase that for Tommy and his team.”
Ron Silk maintained track position up front all evening to secure a third-place finish. Riverhead regular Dylan Slepian finished fourth while Solomito completed the top-five.
The Whelen Modified Tour returns to action next Saturday, May 21 at New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway for the Granite State Derby.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
Riverhead Raceway – Riverhead, NY
Miller Lite 200 – May 14, 2022
1. Doug Coby
2. Patrick Emerling
3. Ron Silk
4. Dylan Slepian
5. Timmy Solomito
6. John Baker
7. Kyle Soper
8. John Beatty, Jr.
9. Eric Goodale
10. Kyle Bonsignore
11. Chris Young
12. Tommy Catalano
13. Austin Beers
14. Ronnie Williams, Jr.
15. John Fortin
16. Chris Turbush
17. Jon McKennedy
18. Dave Sapienza
19. Ken Heagy
20. Tom Rogers, Jr.
21. Walter Sutcliffe, Jr.
22. Gary McDonald
23. J.R. Bertuccio, Jr.
24. Jake Johnson
25. Justin Bonsignore
26. Craig Lutz
27. Matthew Brode
28. Roger Turbush
29. Joey Coulter IV
30. Melissa Fifield
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