(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
Doug Coby
With just five races remaining on the 2017 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points championship schedule, the battle for the title is shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory. The top three drivers are separated by just three points, while the top five are separated by just 14, and Saturday’s visit to historic Oswego Speedway will play a key role in deciding the title.
At the top of the standings, Berlin, Connecticut, driver Ryan Preece leads by two points over Doug Coby as the tour heads to upstate New York for the Toyota Mod Classic 150 presented by McDonald’s. Preece missed a race at Virginia’s Langley Speedway, but has put together three wins and seven straight top five finishes since his return to competition and looks to be the driver to beat heading for the stretch run.
Coby, who won last time out at Seekonk, has himself second as he seeks a fourth straight title behind the wheel of the No. 2 Mayhew Tools Chevrolet. Rowan Pennink has returned Boelher Racing to the top of the standings this season with one victory and he sits just three points from the lead with his best shot to win a crown in his career. Timmy Solomito is still within striking distance in fourth, just 11 points out. Justin Bonsignore rounds out the top five.
Coby is the defending race winner at Oswego, while he and Preece have accounted for the last five tour championships.
Race: Toyota Mod Classic 150 presented by McDonald’s
Place: Oswego Speedway, Oswego, New York
When: Saturday September 3
Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
Track Layout: .625-mile asphalt oval
2016 Winner: Doug Coby
2016 Polesitter: Bobby Santos
Event Schedule: Garage Opens: 11 a.m., Practice: 2:20-3 p.m. & 3:40-4:15 p.m., Qualifying: 6 p.m., Race: 7:30 p.m.
Twitter: @OswegoSpeedway
Event Hashtag: #ToyotaModClassic150
Fast Facts
The Race: The Toyota Mod Classic 150 presented by McDonald’s is the 12th of 16 races on the 2017 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship schedule. It is the first and only appearance at Oswego this season.
The Procedure: The maximum starting field per the entry blank is 30 cars, including provisionals. The first 24 positions will be awarded through the group qualifying process, while six provisionals will also be available. The race is scheduled for 150 laps (93.8 miles).
The Track: A .625-mile asphalt oval, Oswego Speedway has operated continuously since its opening in 1951, when a .375-mile dirt oval was built out of an existing track for horses. It was paved a year later, and in 1961 it was exapnded to its current size. Considered by many to be the “Indy of the East,” or “Steel Palace,” the track’s Supermodifieds have seen Indianapolis 500 winners Gordon Johncock and Mario Andretti compete.
Race Winners: There have been six different winners in the previous NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races at Oswego, led by Tony Hirschman’s three victories. Brian Ross won the first two races at the track, which were both held in 1988. Doug Coby is the defending winner of the Oswego 150.
Pole Winners: Six different drivers have won the pole at Oswego, while Mike McLaughlin won the pole four times there. Last season, Doug Coby captured his first Oswego Speedway pole and broke the track record with a time of 126.029 mph.
Toyota Mod Classic 150 Notes
Coby Back Rolling: It was a tough start to the season for Milford, Connecticut driver Doug Coby, but he seems to have things back on the right track. The 38-year-old rolled into Seekonk last weekend coming off three straight runner-up finishes and then scored the victory at the third-mile Massachusetts oval. Heading for Oswego, a track where he is the defending winner, Coby has plenty of confidence. The four-time and reigning series champion has himself right back in the thick of the championship fight with just five races to go.
Winning: In the first 11 races of the 2017 season, six different drivers have rolled into Victory Lane. The last three races have seen three different winners. Ryan Preece has four wins, while Timmy Solomito has three. Bobby Santos, Doug Coby, Rowan Pennink and Patrick Emerling all have one win this season.
Looking For Two Straight Wins: Coby isn’t the only driver who is racing at Oswego coming off a victory in their last Whelen Modified Tour start. Orchard Park, New York, driver Patrick Emerling turned in a dominating performance in his win at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug. 16. Emerling, who is running a limited schedule, is looking to make it two straight wins on the tour.
Hirschman Is Back: Matt Hirschman returned to NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour competition last weekend at Seekonk and was fast right off the trailer with his No. 60. Hirschman won the Coors Light Pole award for the Seekonk 150 and was at the point of the race in the early stages. Although he ended up finishing seventh after a spin, Hirschman led 62 laps and was in contention for the victory. He will continue with the series on Saturday at Oswego a place where he does not have a start on the Whelen Modified Tour, but has experience in other modified touring series.
Bonsignore Searching: Although Justin Bonsignore sits fifth in the championship standings, he has yet to visit Victory Lane so far in 2017. Last season, Bonsignore won four races with his No. 51 team and was in contention for the title because of it. This season, even though he has struggled at times, his consistent finishes inside the top 10 have allowed him to be in position to make a run at his first championship. In the last four races, Bonsignore has three top 10 finishes, including a season-best third at Bristol.
How can you not pick Coby? He can do what ever he wants, get away with it and NASCAR does nothing about it. He is NASCAR’s boy!
Hirschman vs. Coby, Version 2.0
Hirschman has the home field advantage.
In case NASCAR doesn’t know, group qualifying isn’t very popular with many fans.These are not 1.5 mile tracks.I have spoken to a driver who likes it because it gives him a better chance to come up to speed rather than only two laps but I think there are to many slower cars out there.Do the teams have any say in the matter or is just arbitrary?If NASCAR can run a most popular driver contest they should ask fans and teams what they like.Especially if they want to put hineys in the seats.
Colby is a class class act
Great driver too!!!
Hirschman and Emerling have a lot of track time there. It will be interesting to see how the ROC teams do on one of their regular tracks. TC and Zachem are overdue for a win.
Group qualifying is fun to watch if the track has a large enough score board to display all of the cars (i.e. NH) so the fans can see the positions change as they happen. Without the full scoreboard, the fans don’t have a clue what’s going on.
Bob Npt., but the PA announcer is talking all through the session, and nobody can hear him.
The tracks need to know that nobody can hear a thing being said from the PA system when the cars are running. It’s amazing after all these decades that they still don’t get it.
At least during time trials there’s a little break between cars that the people can hear the PA once in a while.
Emerling placed 5th last year at Oswego. Hirschman did not run the NWMT Oswego race last year. Emerling seems to have it going on this year. Let’s see what happens. Hossfeld filled in for Blewett at Oswego last year. The ROC guys did not do any better than the NWMT guys.
The 2 will certainly break out the big flux capacitor.
dareal, you are correct about the announcers. But my point is that if there’s a scoreboard that lists all of the cars, you don’t need to listen to the announcer because the scoreboard is constantly updating the cars positions. Not sure if you’ve been to NH during group qualifying. It’s very interesting watching the positions change on the scoreboard during qualifying. None of the short tracks have a scoreboard with more than 5 positions so, yes, group qualifying doesn’t work for the fans.
Dareal who Cares what Chuck Hossfeld and the v4 did last year neither one of them are in the race.
It works at Oswego they have the scoreboard u want.
Bob Npt., yeah I am familiar with NH, and it works. I just don’t see the local small tracks investing in a live scoreboard. Stafford doesn’t even do the big screen in turn 2 anymore.
Mark Fisher, there is some discussion that the ROC guys have an advantage on the regular NY/ROC tracks. That is why I mentioned Hossfeld, and that the ROC guys do not seem to have a factual or statistical advantage at Oswego when running with the NWMT.
The press release missed an important fact: the lovely Bully Hill Vineyards are less than 100 miles away in Hammondsport!
Liz, the NYS Finger Lakes region is just littered with vineyards and wineries at every turn. It’s the NYS wine region. And this is an excellent time of year to visit the area. Apples and other wonderful produce are ready for harvest. Try the grape juice, real grape juice, it’s outstanding. Make sure you stop at roadside farm stands, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Only 22 cars on the entry list.
Darealgoodfella
Knows nothing about wine
Or only drinks yoo hos
Or like chocolate milk
With inside and outside walls of steel all way a round Oswego isn’t a ‘dump” track.
You do that and into the foam you go. Bent car, hurt..no not happening and don’t look for the 60
to go there. Coby was fast there last year (his first ever visit) and no doubt will be again. Patrick and Matt will have to bring their A game to beat him. If you’ve never gone to Oswego it’s time for a visit.
Caution though. watch your speed coming up NY481 from Syracuse. NYSP love this road for some reason.
Bob Npt., there should be a scoreboard regardless of qualifying procedure.
Going back to the whiteboard at the NASCAR trailer is very outdated.
How did Matt lose lap at Seekonk? He was in and out of pits. Then he passed almost every car, got to within 6 spots of leaders, got lucky dog and went all the way to back of the field when there were only a handful of cars on lead lap at that point.