CONCORD, N.C. — Doug Coby came south to Charlotte Motor Speedway with one goal in mind: to carry the banner and represent for the northern-based NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams that made the 10-plus hour trip down.
By the end of Friday night’s Southern Slam 150, Coby had handily accomplished that mission.
Coby led 96 of 150 laps around Charlotte’s frontstretch quarter-mile to capture the trophy in his first-ever appearance at NASCAR’s home race track, making an exhilarating pass of southern veteran Danny Bohn with 12 to go in taking the top spot for good.
Bohn was held up by the slower car of Jamie Tomaino entering turn three, which allowed Coby to squeeze into the far inside lane as Tomaino pushed Bohn out into the third groove up high.
As they raced three-wide down the frontstretch, Coby was able to clear both Tomaino and Bohn, taking a lead he wouldn’t relinquish again.
The No. 2 Mayhew Tools/Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair Chevrolet crossed the finish line 1.049 seconds clear of Bohn to give Coby his third-career special event win on the Tour, following victories in the 2011 UNOH Showdown at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park and the 2014 UNOH Battle at the Beach at Daytona Int’l Speedway.
“I gotta thank Jamie Tomaino, first off, because if it wasn’t for him racing hard I wouldn’t have won this race,” said Coby in victory lane. “Danny was on the outside of Jamie and that pushed him out in the marbles. Honestly, I was going to play bulldozer and push Jamie right through if I had to and clean house, but I didn’t really have to dump anybody for the win, so that’s good.”
“We came down here to do one thing, and that was win. We did that in the end. After traveling a long way down here, at least we’re leaving with some money and some bonus money to hopefully help us break even on this trip.”
Coby added that the last thing he wanted was to lose the lead, especially at a tight bullring like Charlotte.
“When you come to a race like this, you want the lead,” explained Coby. “I gave it up and a lot of factors play into that … inexperience versus experience. I knew what was happening as it was happening, and I tried my damnedest to not let it happen, but when you get pinched down in the corner you get loose and that’s what happened.”
“Thankfully, everything worked out in our favor and we got back out front there before the end.”
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