DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Doug Coby continues to etch his name into the record books.
The 37-year-old Milford, Connecticut driver took down a third straight championship on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour in 2016.
Driving for Mike Smeriglio Racing, Coby became the first driver in the modern era to take down three straight series titles.
Behind the wheel of his No. 2 Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair/A&J Romano Construction Chevrolet, Coby scored five wins, 10 top-fives and 14 top-10s in 17 races en route to his record-setting season. He moved into seventh all-time on the tour’s win list with 22, and is 11th all-time in career poles. His nine Coors Light Pole Awards in 2016 was one shy of the record set by Steve Park in 1995.
How close was he to breaking Park’s record? Consider that Coby missed the pole by .008 at Oswego, by .089 in the June race at New Hampshire, and was knocked off the pole by Timmy Solomito by .077 in the season finale at Thompson.
It still all added up to a record season for Coby.
With his third straight title and fourth overall (the other coming in 2012), Coby sits third in the all-time list of champions in the modern-era history of NASCAR’s oldest touring series. He only trails Mike Stefanik, who has seven, and Tony Hirschman, who has five titles.
Coby joins those two, along with Richie Evans (nine) and Jerry Cook (six), as the only drivers to win four or more NASCAR modified titles titles in their career.
“Closing in on those two guys (Stefanik and Hirschman) … they are legends of our sport and we all have such respect for their careers and who they are as people,” Coby said.
“It’s kind of like Jimmie Johnson said about his seventh championship, he’ll never be the King and he’ll never be the Intimidator, he’s just Jimmie Johnson and it’s the same thing for me. I don’t care if I tie Tony Hirshcman, he’s a totally different class of driver than me and it’s the same as Mike Stefaink. I’ve always looked up to those two, but I’m just trying to be myself.”
For the 2017 campaign, Coby has welcomed a brand new sponsor onto his No. 2. Mayhew Tools will join the team as a primary sponsor, as announced by Coby himself during his championship speech in Charlotte. The team will also welcome back Dunleavy’s Truck and Trailer Repair.
“They (Mayhew Tools) are excited to leverage the success that our team has had with their successes and really get their customer base excited about purchasing Mayhew products because of their association with NASCAR and with our race team,” Coby said.
“We’re proud to represent them, especially because this is really their first time doing any sort of major sponsorship … and they told us that. We told them from the beginning that we’re obviously here to represent them and we’re excited to have their name on our car for 2017.”
Coby has always been one that is quick to mention that without the support of his entire team, none of his success would be possible. His crew chief Phil Moran has been with him for the entire three year stretch and has seen the growth in the team continue to evolve each year.
“The communication between everyone on the crew and Doug himself — it’s just one big happy family,” Moran said. “The biggest thing is that Doug is not wrecking the car so we can make it faster, we aren’t having to repair it every week. The guys in the shop are also incredible – we’ve had no DNF’s because of mechanical failure. All of it is just paying attention to small details and it enables us to finish the races.”
“We just had consistent good finishes … with five wins and nine poles this year,” Coby said. “The high points were the win at Oswego and the win at Loudon. We actually had a piece of the body flapping at the end of the race at Loudon and the aero-dynamics are important there — we had the nose flipped up. At Oswego, the car was just so dominant, I was holding back saving fuel and then we ran our fastest lap with about six laps to go.”
Luckily for Coby, there weren’t many times this year that he was disappointed.
“We didn’t really have any low points this year,” Coby said. “Riverhead bit us twice but that’s what Riverhead does. We were just a tick off at the quarter-miles. We only came up five laps short on gas of sweeping all four races at Stafford and I thought that was pretty cool.”
Not only has Coby been successful winning races, but the team combination has also won more pole awards than any other in the three years he has been driving for them. Even though he did not win a pole in 2014, Coby has scored 15 poles in 33 races over the last two years, including nine during this season’s title run.
“When you start up front in over half the races it gives you a little bit of confidence to end up with a good finish,” Coby said.
For team owner Mike Smeriglio, it’s all about winning races. He supplies the team with the best equipment possible in modified racing and leaves the rest in the hands of Moran, Coby and the team.
“I don’t think anybody, three years ago, would have imagined this would happen,” Smeriglio said. “It’s been a dream come true. We just believe in each person on the team and we do our best. I’m pleasantly surprised, but I know the team is capable of winning many more. That communication between Doug and Phil is crucial, they both make each other better because of what they are trying to get out of each lap and each practice. They just are never satisfied.”
With three straight and four crystal bowls already in his hands, what’s next for Coby?
It’s simple. Go and search for a fourth straight.
“We’re excited to go to 2017,” Coby said. “I think we have a good shot at another.”
