06/28/06

Coby Ready For Whelen Return To Thompson

    The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour is scheduled to make its second appearance of the 2006 season at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway on Thursday, June 29 for the New England Dodge Dealers 100. Doug Coby, of Milford, Conn., currently sixth in the series standings, is looking forward returning to Thompson.
    “It is one of my favorite race tracks,” said Coby “Our series always seems to have great races at Thompson. It’s the first track I competed at with my current team back in 2004. We qualified fourth and finished seventh.”
    Coby is in his second full season driving for the No. 77 Chase Motorsports Pontiac race team and has already accomplished one goal for 2006 by winning his first series race at Stafford Springs, Conn. in April.
    “It took some of the pressure off,” said Coby. “It was one thing I wanted to accomplish this season. We have other things to work on. I would like to qualify better and hopefully we can win another race.”
    Thompson is a track where Coby thinks the team is very capable of visiting victory lane.
    “Our team has always run well at Thompson,” said Coby. “I’ve lead some laps and finished in the Top-3. The next step is to get a victory.”
    The New England Dodge Dealers 100 is part of a NASCAR doubleheader with the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series. It will be the only opportunity for fans to see feature events for both series on the same day in 2006.
    The New England Dodge Dealers 100 is scheduled to start at approximately 7:30 p.m.

NEW ENGLAND DODGE DEALERS 100 NOTES

• Posted awards are $84,213 for the 100-lap race. Bud Pole qualifying is scheduled for 4:30 pm on Thursday June 29 to determine positions 1-30. Four provisional starting positions (two owner & two driver) based on 2006 Whelen Modified Tour point Standings and one past champion provisional are available for a maximum starting field of 35 cars.
• The New England Dodge Dealers 100 will start at approximately 7:30 pm on June 29.
• The New England Dodge Dealers 100 is the second of five series events scheduled to be held at Thompson in 2006. Mike Stefanik was the winner of the Icebreaker in April.
• Thompson International Speedway has hosted more Whelen Modified Tour races than any other speedway. There have been 87 series events at Thompson since 1985 including the first series race on March 31, 1985.
• The following active drivers have recorded Whelen Modified Tour wins at Thompson: Mike Stefanik (14), Rick Fuller (8), Tony Hirschman (8), Reggie Ruggiero (5), Ted Christopher (5), Jerry Marquis, (4), Eddie Flemke (3), Charlie Pasteryak (1), John Blewett III (1) and Chuck Hossfeld (1).
• The series qualifying record at Thompson is 18.505 seconds (121.515 mph) set by Bob Polverari in 2001.
• The NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series will also be competing at Thompson. The first time these two series competed on the same day at Thompson was in 1988. Mike Stefanik won the modified portion and Bobby Dragon won the Busch East portion. Jimmy Spencer finished fifth in the modified event and fourth in the Busch East race.
• As of June 23, 42 teams have filed entries.

LongIslandJam 2006 WMT Season Coverage

THE END

Source: Mark Mockovak/NASCAR WMT PR
Posted:  June 28, 2006