Dynasty: Doug Coby Captures Fifth Whelen Mod Tour Title At Thompson World Series 150

Doug Coby celebrates his fifth Whelen Modified Tour championship Sunday following the Sunoco World Series 150 at Thompson Speedway (Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)

THOMPSON – On Oct. 19, 2014 at Thompson Speedway, Doug Coby won his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, and his first driving for team owner Mike Smeriglio III.

Minutes after winning that title Coby talked about the success of his first season with organization.

“We have to do it again,” Coby said that day. “There’s only one way to go from here. … Now it’s time to focus on building our program and building our relationships together so it can last the next five or 10 years.”

They were words that smacked of cocksure optimism from the ever-confident Coby. On Sunday at Thompson Speedway Coby continued to prove those words of confidence not as simple hope, but solid plan.

Coby finished fifth in the season ending Whelen Modified Tour Sunoco World Series 150 Sunday at Thompson to clinch his fourth consecutive series title with Smeriglio, and fifth title overall since 2012. Coby won his first title driving for team owner Wayne Darling.

“It’s really special to keep doing this when you think about all the things that happen in life that could keep you from doing this,” Coby said. “That’s really where it’s really special for our group of guys.”

Timmy Solomito of Islip, N.Y. won Sunday’s season finale for his fifth win in 16 starts. Coby, who had one victory and 10 top-fives in 2017, finished six points ahead of Solomito in the standings. Justin Bonsignore finished third in the standings, 16 points behind Coby.

Coby became the first driver since the series’ inception in 1985 to win four consecutive series titles. He became the first driver to win three consecutive titles in 2016.

“I’m content to try and keep etching my name in the record books in this era of Modified racing,” Coby said. “I think we have a special group here.”

Coby joins Mike Stefanik (seven championships) and Tony Hirschman (five championships) as the only drivers in series history with five or more titles.

“I raced a lot against Tony and Mike and I learned from them,” Coby said. “And they learned from Richie Evans. You learn from the legends of the era prior to you if you’re fortunate enough to race against them. I learned from Ted Christopher, I learned from Tony Hirschman and Mike Stefanik and Ed Flemke Jr. It’s just one of those things where you just learn and then just try to etch your name. You can only race against who you race against now.”

The 38-year old Coby has raced regularly on the Whelen Modified Tour since 2003, but he spent a good portion of that searching for a solid ride.

“I still feel like a young kid,” Coby said. “Every time this championship stuff happens I still feel like I’m still trying to get into a full-time ride. That’s how I’m always going to be locked in in my brain, is the 2009 and ’10 driver who was trying to prove myself. That’s why all of these races every year, I don’t look as the last four championships as anything because I just kind of go out there every week to try to and keep doing what I’ve kind of locked me into that mode for the rest of my career. … It was a crappy feeling that I had feeling like I could have got the job done earlier. Finally got hooked up with the right people and the right team and the right equipment and obviously it led to this. We’re on that roll and until somebody knocks us off the perch we’re going to stay there.”

The 2017 season proved far different for Coby than his last three titles, when he stood for the most part as the dominant force. Seven races into the season he was seventh in the standings, sitting 42 points off the lead. He clawed his way into second in the standings after the 11th race of the season at Seekonk (Mass.) Speedway on Aug. 26 and he took over the points lead after the 14th event of the season on Sept. 23 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“We’ve been good all year and we were kind of under the radar a little bit,” Coby said. “This was a different championship because we had to claw all summer to get back in it. We didn’t have sit back in the middle months … wondering who was going to chip away at our point lead. We were the one’s chipping away.

“We’re always going to find different ways to win championships and this is just another illustration of that. You can look at our four in a row and they’re all completely different. The common denominator is a team won’t quit. [Crew chief Phil Moran] is always working to make us faster.”

On Sunday Coby started second and went to the lead early and led a race-high 82 laps. He fell outside the top-10 after pitting on lap 106. He was in third behind then leader Ron Silk and second place Solomito for the final green-white-checkered finish, before falling to fifth over the last two laps.

“We all mixed it up pretty good,” Coby said. “These guys are fun to race with. It’s really amazing to come out on top, four in a row.”

It marked the first time in series history that there was a split between the driver’s and owner’s championship. Eddie and Connie Partridge celebrated the owner’s title. Ryan Preece ran 15 of 17 events for the team and had five victories.

Comments

  1. Congratulations to Doug,Phil,and the entire 2 team on another title. Also to the 6,16,51,3 for making it a great points race. Looking forward to 2018.

  2. Point system stinks.

    The champion finishes with:
    1 win, 6 races outside the top 5.
    Compared to:
    5 wins, 6 races outside the top 5.
    Or:
    5 wins, 2 races outside the top 5, and 2 no-shows.

    Meanwhile, a strong title contender was:
    0 wins, 10 races outside the top 5, best finish all year was third.

    Showing up and stroking are rewarded; winning is not.
    Just plain dumb….IMO.

  3. geoffrey doppelgänger says

    How come he didn’t thank Ryan Peece for not making all the races? It was a classless move on his part.

  4. darealgoodfella says

    geoffrey… that was priceless.

    Colby did what he had to do. He marked who he had to mark, did not do anything stupid, and was lucky to avoid trouble.

  5. Modified Guy says

    So Andrew, If you’re going to complain, please give us you recommendations on a better system.

  6. Andrew B thanks for providing an opinion after taking the time to put the numbers together to back it up.
    Isn’t what you observed always been the case in just about any racing series? So you top load the points for winning, a guy is dominant, wins a few races then decides to take a race or two off. Can you imagine the rucus that would cause? How about the clawing back the article mentions after Coby fell so far behind. That’s not stroking is it? How about the non points race in Charlotte that Coby won with Preece there that kind of makes it 5 to 2 doesn’t it. There’s that and the fact he has won all those championships. You make a great point on the winning. Isn’t the system kind of the lesser of the potential evils. And didn’t the rabbit vs the turtle scenario at the end make the last few races that much more interesting?

  7. darealgoodfella says

    Andrew, you presented some numbers, but what does it mean?

    What is a champion? Provide a measurable definition.

    Points are a factor to be considered across the season. Each race is merely a step towards the season goal.

    The points system awards the car with the highest overall performance across the season. And bonus points are crucial. Leading laps and leading the most laps are very important and played a part. The 2 only won one race, but collected plenty of points for leading a lap and leading the most laps. That added up to plenty of points. The exceptional performance gets rewarded. Those teams take the risk, they get rewarded.

    These are the rules, they applied to everyone. If the championship is going to reflect the performance across the season, how else would you determine and measure a champion?

  8. Maybe a win should be worth more than one point above second place. A victory should have more points value than a high finish. In theory a good finish with bonus points for leading laps could be worth more points than winning. A win should produce the highest point value available for the event, more than even if the second place car scored all the bonus points available.

  9. hope he sent preece a BIG check for his wedding gift …….lol

  10. Tip of the cap to the 2 team. They are top dog again. Well deserved. I thought the 16 was the team to beat but they either won or crashed. Can’t win a title that way. Even if they had help in several of those crashes.

    Another great crowd, huge field, high drama regarding points. Sad to see the modified season come to an end.

    Are we really going to argue about the point system because your guy didn’t win. Please… I didn’t hear you complaining back in March. The funny part is everybody thought the 2 won too much coming into the season. After four in a row does it matter how many they won this season? They have dominated in that four year period.

  11. The guy has won 5… FIVE… FIVE… 5… freakin F I V E championships…

    People can we learn how to spell his freakin name…

    C
    O
    B
    Y

    NO L…

    C
    O
    B
    Y

  12. “So Andrew, If you’re going to complain, please give us you recommendations on a better system.”

    Gladly. Any system where the gaps between each position are higher the further up the finishing order you go. The difference between 1st and 2nd should be a lot more than the difference between 17th and 18th, for example.

    “Isn’t what you observed always been the case in just about any racing series?”

    No, not any racing series that uses a points system that rewards higher finishing positions more heavily than what NASCAR does.

    “So you top load the points for winning, a guy is dominant, wins a few races then decides to take a race or two off. Can you imagine the rucus that would cause?”

    It all depends on what a points system is supposed to be rewarding. What’re the higher priorities: winning races, merely avoiding bad finishes, or just showing up?
    In my opinion, the former should count for a lot more than it does in the NASCAR system, which is designed to reward the latter two much more so.
    To turn the question back around: who should be the top two contenders for a title heading into the final race — two guys with 9 wins between them, or two guys with 1 win between them? Why doesn’t the latter “cause a rucus?”

    “You make a great point on the winning. Isn’t the system kind of the lesser of the potential evils.”

    Again, it depends on what you’re looking to reward.
    How much should fifth place finish be worth, compared to a win?
    85% as much? 60% as much? 40% as much? 22% as much?
    (Hint, those are values from, respectively: the WMT system, the IndyCar system, the Formula 1 system, and the original Formula 1 system.)
    As you can see, there’s a large variation there. Depending on the system in place, the season standings will vary quite a bit. The system the sanctioning body chooses, establishes the “measurable definition of a champion” (to use DaReal’s words).
    My opinion: the NASCAR WMT system gives too much credit NOT for winning races, but just showing up and finishing races.
    Ask yourself this: if you can’t attend a particular race and you meet someone who did, what’s the first thing you would ask them: “Who won?” or “Which cars were on the lead lap still under their own power, and somewhere in the pack, collecting good points, at the end?”

    Winning is why we race.

    It should matter more than it does in the current system.

  13. The deuce won fair and square and the record for the last four years speaks for itself.Congratulations to them.I also agree the points should be more weighted as you go up.How about a way to invert the starting grid so the faster cars have to race to the front?Maybe award points for qualifying and start the field according to last races finish.I know this will never be done but it would make for exciting racing.The tour runs long distance race so it seems doable to me.I went to Wall in the eighties and would watch Jamie and the other jets race to the front in 35-50 lap races.

  14. Seems to me Andrew B you make an especially great case for how complex the decision on what to prioritize in a series is. How about this idea for an app. Upload all the data on each driver with regard to each performance benchmark that would cause them to accumulate points during the entire season. Then manipulate the points system of priorities and see how it affects the final championship score. That app probably already exists and I’m betting someone might be working it about now and discussions taking place on possible changes. But like the Jets yesterday that may or may not have gotten screwed out of a touchdown depending on who you support, the touchdown will never come back and Coby is the champion.

  15. darealgoodfella says

    FYI, per the rules: The car that wins get three (3) bonus points, any car that leads a lap gets one (1) bonus point, and the car that leads the most laps gets one (1) bonus point.

    Now that you have some information, continue the discussion.

  16. Just for fun Andrew B and realizing you don’t have an app to filter all the data would you care to say what order the championship race should have ended in were it more balanced toward the winning priorities you favor? Like the first 5 positions?

  17. darealgoodfella says

    Andrew B., I still did not see any recommendation, just more of your opining on why the current points system is no good.

    The NWMT awards three (3) bonus points for winning. Is that not enough? One (1) point for leading a lap, and one (1) point for leading the most laps.

    What is your recommendation to improve that? Remember, you are coming up with the metrics to award a season champion. What is the specification of such a champion?

    Congrats to the 2 team.

  18. darealgoodfella says

    art, the inverted field days were awesome. Islip did that. Watching Charlie charge through the field was exciting. Not sure how that would workout with a long race. The inverted field was exciting with the 35 or so lap regular races, there was pressure to race to the front, and it was a tiny track. With a longer distance and bigger track, the faster cars can take their time picking their way through, and avoiding the wrecks. I’m also sure several of the slower cars will simply refuse to start at the front, for they know they will be run over. And I’m sure that all the slower cars up front will wad themselves up at every opportunity.

    Given the lack of parity, and low car counts, the qualifying, starting order, and the pole position really doesn’t mean much nowadays. It just helps the faster cars avoid the slower cars for a couple laps.

  19. Careful people complaining about the point system. May wind up with a “playoff”…….As far as rewarding a win I think the present system does that. The bonus points for winning along with leading laps allowed the TS Haulers team to win the owners title despite Preece missing two races.

  20. darealgoodfella says

    Jim, the 6 had a substitute driver when Preece wasn’t driving, hence the owners point and title were safe. The owner and driver points are independent. The owner gets points whenever the CAR runs, regardless of the driver. The 6 ran all races.

  21. So six drivers roll into Thompson with a chance to win the championship and you think Nascar is going to change the points? Idiots! They couldn’t have dreamed of a better scenerio. Ya think that had something to with the packed house too? At least spend your time on things that are broken. The points system isn’t one of them.

  22. Modified Guy says

    To your point darealgoodfella, starting on pole doesn’t always mean much look at Case Dowling. Stated pole then dropped to the rear because of clutch problems came back from the back twice to finish second.

  23. Much like Stafford did starting TC 15th every week in the sk’s. So much fun to watch. Don’t know how they would do it in a touring series. Think it would ruffle too many feathers.

  24. “The NWMT awards three (3) bonus points for winning. Is that not enough? ”

    Nope.

    Bonus points for leading laps: nobody cares about who’s leading lap 37. It’s all about who’s leading the last lap!

    My point system would be something like:
    1st – 100 points
    2nd – 70 points
    3rd – 60 points
    4th – 50 points
    5th – 45 points
    Then drop back by 4 points for a bit, then 3 points, then 2, then eventually by 1 point. Make everything from about 20th place back to last place worth 10 points. That way, the dreaded part-timers get “punished” by missing out on 10 points per race.
    No bonus points needed.

    Jim makes a good point though, if NASCAR were to change things, they’d just make it worse. “It’s what they do.”

    NH Mark: if six drivers having a shot in the finale is great, then why not make the finale worth triple points and have EVEN MORE (undeserving) still with a shot? Or better yet, throw a yellow flag with 2 to go in the finale, line the field up by points-to-date, and do a GWC for the title — ALL the cars are in the running that way! So much better! They’ll have to build more grandstands to handle the crowd for that!

  25. darealgoodfella says

    NH Mark, c’mon, keep it real. Six drivers may have had a mathematical chance, but reality was far from that. The 2 had the odds stacked in it’s favor, BIGLY. It owned the championship going in and could only lose it. Although the 2 was due for an accident, it ran clean, and received some good luck. Very unlikely it was going to end up >8th or whatever in order to lose it. There was nothing the other cars could do to overcome that, short of intentionally taking out the 2. So, it was racing for 2P and down, again.

    Quite a season, given the 2 did not accumulate all those bonus points for winning.

  26. Six drivers had a shot, that’s a fact. Sure some had better odds than others, no doubt. At the end of the day, I’m good with everything the way it is. Good season Nascar and Whelen. Let’s get rolling on that 2018 WMT schedule.

    Again, hats off to the 2 team. Will they make it an even six pack in 2018? Can’t wait to find out.

  27. darealgoodfella says

    NH Mark, the 6 needed the 2, 51, and 16 to DNF to get the championship. The 3 needed the 2, 6, 16 and 51 to DNF to get the championship. That’s some lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ong odds. Nope. Nope. Nope. Nobody was going to touch the 2 [too much crying] and the 2 knew it. If a contending car got as much as a car length near the 2, the contending car would be called for aggressive driving. No away NASCAR was going to allow the big news of a multiple champion take a hit with real racing. The 16 and 51 were racing for 2nd and 3rd in the standings [and they weren’t going to do anything stupid to risk that], and the 3 and 6 were racing for whatever they could get after that. That’s the way it was going to happen going in, and that’s the way it happened.

    I will say, it would have been great if Preece would have been able to haunt and taunt the 2. Just stay on his bumper and in his mirror. Bump once in a while. Really mess with Colby’s head.

    Yeah, can’t wait for ’18. I hope:

    Silk, the 85 and the Crew Chief that made the results can run the season.

    Santos runs the full season with consistent equipment and his Dad as Crew Chief.

    Dowling, Zachem, Swanson are back full time.

    Pitkat secures a full-time, top notch ride.

    Pennink and BRE stay together.

    Preece gets a full-time xfinity or better ride.

    That 40+ cars show up at all events.

    And more Modified cars come out of storage.

  28. If Ryan Preece runs a full schedule on the tour next year Colbee might very well come up short.I guess we have already forgotten that Ryan missed two races.If he had two top fives in those races nobody would have had a shot at all and the World Series still would be packed like it always is.Went to all Thompson races this year even the weeknight crowds were big.The deuce was not lites out fast this year, the 6 was.Overall I think Doug did a lot better job than Moran.This year played out differently then predicted, it always does.We will see what happens next year.Hope to be following Ryan on Xfinity next year and then we’ll only see him in a mod at NHMS and Bristol

  29. You were challenged to provide an alternative Andrew B, you did and I’ll give you an A for effort. But unless you can see how if affects results aren’t you shooting in the dark? I’ll respectfully ask you again. What finishing order would have seemed more appropriate under your system that rewards winning? Based on wins would it have been Solomito, Preece, Coby, Pennink and Bonsignore? Sure it’s a meaningless what if but the seasons over so what’s the harm?

  30. darealgoodfella says

    art, the 2 crew had to back off the flux capacitor, it was getting too suspicious and obvious. So the driver had to drive. The driver dug a HUGE hole, and successfully dug himself out, with a little help of a flux capacitor. Nothing the Crew Chief could do about that. Preece doing the work on the car has made a HUGE and BIGLY difference in his performance, believe me. Can’t touch that.

    Just keep this in mind… the 6 won the owner championship by 17 points over the 2, with the 6 using three different drivers. Both cars ran all races. Colbee won the driver championship by 42 points over Preece, and Preece missed TWO races. Preece was pulling in over 40 points per race. If Preece ran all races, he would have trounced Colbee. Colbee needs to thank Preece for getting married and racing in the xfinity series. LOL!!!! This championship for Colbee has an asterisk. * * * * * * * * * * *

  31. darealgoodfella says

    Imagine how Colbee feels about the Most Popular Driver award? Getting beat by a backmarker. Ouch!!!

  32. Longtimetourfan says

    Can’t believe people are complaining about the points system and not bring up the inconsistency of the cars and drivers. The driver’s today do put on a good show, don’t get me wrong. But 10-15 years ago when you had Hirschman, Marquis, stefanik, Christopher, Fuller, and even Blewette and Lia. These guys/teams showed up to every race track with a car that was well prepared and capable of winning. There really wasnt guys you could just write off because of the track they were at. Also, a majority of the drivers I listed would put on a great show and take the car home in one piece. Something the guys today just seem to not care about. I think people also forget the 2 car spent a decade as second tier car bottom of the top 10. Only once the top teams left did they start having the success they are having. Just my.02

  33. darealgoodfella says

    Longtimetourfan… good points. Let’s start when the 2 was owned by Barker and driven by Szegedy. It won a Championship in 2003. Then the operation was sold to MSRIII, with Szegedy still driving. Never a contender or consistent. Then the driver change. And I think Moran was the Crew Chief for much of this, he was with another car for a while and had a short stint down south. While all this is happening with the 2, old school owners (Art Barry, Fiore, Garbarino, Keogh…) and drivers (Hirschman, Leaty, Stefanik, Marquis, Fuller, Reggerio, et al.) were leaving. Just look at the names that won the championship or ended up as runner-up from 1985 to 2006. As the ranks of the old school owners and drivers left, the 2 starts looking better.

    Keep in mind that the lap records have pretty much stopped being reset. Years ago here would be a new one every once in a while, and I haven’t seen a new track record in years, and the frequency has just about stopped.

    If you were around in the day when Evans, Spencer, Leaty, Kent, Jarzomek, were regulars and morphed into Stefanik, Hirschman, Reggerio, Fuller, then you know that today’s drivers just don’t drive like they used to. Years ago, it was all about watching the driving. Now it’s about hoping to minimize cautions and red flags. Back then, it was exciting when cars got close together on the track, now it’s scary.

  34. Crazy in NY says

    how close was the points in the end. Did NASCAR “hand” him the title with the ruling at Stafford and
    Doug’s last lap trip into the wall but was still awarded second? You know..the last time TC got the screws put to him.

  35. Longtimetourfan, your stats on the 2(50 during Barker ownership) are a bit off as far as second tier. Szegedy’s first year-2002. Also the teams first full time season. Finished points 7th and ROTY. 2003 1st, 2004 11th-he ran partial schedule while running 3 Xfinity races, 2005 3rd with Hossfeld driving, 2006(MSR takes over ownership) with Szegedy back -5th, 2007 2nd, 2008 3rd, 2009 5th, 2010 5th, 2011 2nd, 2012 5th, 2013 onward with Coby 2nd, 2014 1st, 2015 1st, 2016 1st, 2017 1st. Moran was crew chief with all three drivers with an absence with Szegedy for about 3-4 years during which he worked for Bill Davis Racing, Tommy Baldwin Racing and Troyer Engineering . Chassis started with CD, then switched to Troyer around 09 or 10, and then LFR in 2015. So with exception of rookie year and partial season, nothing worse than 5th in points, Not sure any other team has an average over 15 years that good, but I might be wrong. The real stat I’d love to see is the net loss for the top five teams, each year since 1985. Probably exceeds the GDP of several small countries.

  36. darealgoodfella says

    Just goes to show that you need not win the battles to win the war.

  37. To Doug:

    Here’s the math. I actually expected Solomito would come out on top using the system I described (I actually did tweak it a bit, to give 2nd place 75 instead of 70), but Preece comes out on top:

    1-Preece 925
    2-Solomito 879 (-46)
    3-Coby 797 (-128)
    4-Pennink 626 (-299)
    5-Bonsignore 592 (-333)
    6-Goodale 584 (-341)

    Notice that Bonsignore is nowhere near a contending position in this scenario. Interesting fact: in the 15 races prior to Thompson, Coby finished ahead of Bonsignore 10 out 15 times. Yet Bonsignore still had a decent shot at winning the title. If someone who has trouble cracking the bottom-end of the top-5 all season and NEVER even finished in the top-2 in any race, is a strong contender for the award that’s supposed to represent THE BEST performer of the season….then the method by which the best performer is chosen, is flawed. Plain and simple.
    There’s my two cents. A.B. – out.

  38. darealgoodfella says

    Andrew B., now the people can outrage that Preece ended up on top after running two less races. If a driver misses a race, that should automatically disqualify them from championship contention. Eh?

    But Andrew, this only sets up the results for what you feel is the correct finishing order. I’m sure everyone that has an opinion will have their own thoughts on how they think the season results should have stacked up, and can devise a scoring system to achieve that result.

    And I am somewhat in agreement with you, the 51 was pretty much among the missing all season, and how it ended up so high in the championship points seemed anomalous.

    I still think there should be NO points fund and those monies should be awarded at each event, heavily loaded towards the top finishers. That will incentivize each race and stop points racing. Whoever wins (accumulates) the most money during the season is the season champion. Maybe have some $$$ bonuses, such as lead a lap and most laps.

  39. “I still think there should be NO points fund and those monies should be awarded at each event, heavily loaded towards the top finishers. That will incentivize each race and stop points racing. Whoever wins (accumulates) the most money during the season is the season champion.”

    So, let me see if I have this straight….they should award some “things” (dollars) at each race, which is heavily-loaded towards the top finishers, keep track of it, and make the person with the most such “things” at the end of the season, the champion.

    Change “things” to “points” in that assertion, and what have you got? MY ENTIRE POINT, EXACTLY!

    🙂

  40. The cry babies surely do come out after that fact don’t they… Not sure why some folks are beating a dead horse, the show has come and gone so the time to pipe up has as well. Doug has his fifth trophy sitting on his shelf for a reason and it wasn’t because he no-showed.

  41. Dadgumit Andrew B that was pretty impressive. If you took the time to go through all the data, devise a scheme that rewards the drivers you thought deserved more credit then tweeked it to correct flaws my hats off. Who does that for an anonymous comment section? Your point about Bonsignore, marginal finishes and marginalized in your final standing is compelling. I don’t see how anyone could be upset with an opinion backed by informed alternatives and solid number crunching. It’s all part of fan feedback so fingers crossed NASCAR is listening.

  42. darealgoodfella says

    Uh, no. In the “system” I described, the season championship title is worthless, just an empty title, but there just has to be that position. All monies are awarded during the season at each event, making each event an all out battle for $$$$, not points. Load the dollar award per position with incentives (bonus points) to make them fight for each position. And like you said, award nothing to say the bottom 25% such as part-timers, “start & park” cars, or those that just can’t finish. No award for those that finish at the bottom will also punish those that get into accidents, a good incentive to be more careful.

    So all awards in my new system are determined at each event. This means the purse and what was the points fund. The points fund is now turned into race purse monies. This is very different than the current system. Think about it.

    Do you know that if you show up to a WMNT event and attempt to qual but don’t make the race you still get a boatload of points? No more points for just showing up. Must race to get points. And let’s go even further, to stop the start and parks… must run at least half the laps to get the points. Less than half the laps run in that race and no points for you. That should also stop stupid where it can.

    But your system still awarded a driver that missed two races with the championship. That’s worse than the 51 being a championship contender even though it was out of sight most of the season.

  43. Ya I think I see a fly in the ointment Andrew B. You pretty much have eliminated the drama as the season winds down with those massive point spreads for winning. Points before the World Series.
    Preece 923 ( virtually no points earned for a 26th place finish)
    Solomito 779
    Coby 752
    Pennink 576
    Bonsignore You get the idea

    What am I missing? Bonus points? The World Series race would have been irrelevant wouldn’t it? Preece misses two races and has such a monstrous lead he can almost stay home for the last race? That’s not in the interest of the series is it?

  44. This is why you need an app to process tweeks faster. The goal can be for Preece to win and a guy with marginal finishes like Bonsignore to finish down in the standings. You just can’t erase drama as the season winds down.

  45. Longtimetourfan says

    SteveS, your point in regards to where the 2 finished in the standings is right. However you did ignore that MRS in 8 years (06-13)had 10 wins and 51 top 5s. Then during the the last 4 years MRS has 14 wins 40 top 5s. I would call that a bit of an improvement, that also coincides with owners like Garbarino, whelen, boehler, tino, chew, our,and marceau leaving, running part time or struggling to get funding. My whole point was for the majority of the last 15 years I didnt show up to a tour race wondering if the 2 was going to contend for a win. It was christopher, hirschman, stefanik, Lia, blewette, santos… and now that these drivers and owners are gone the 2 has dominated. The tour is just not what it had been for the first 25 years of it existence.

  46. I think silk deserves a full time ride as long as his head is into it. The guy is extremely consistent. Was great in the 82, and recently this intriguing 85 car. A champion on the tour as well.

  47. darealgoodfella says

    Many years ago, Stefanik said that Modified racing needs more car owners. And that means competitive car owners.

  48. Just read a story posted 10/13 announcing Joe Gibbs hired Christopher bell full time on xfinity.Is there another spot for Preece?Bell comes out of Kyle Busch racing.How nice! Has he run better than Preece in Xfinity?No way. If Gibbs doesn’t hire him I hope someone else gives him a top notch ride and makes JBR rue the day.Bring Sponsorship?Haven’t big time sponsors seen Preece in the 20 and said “wow I want my name on that guys car!”.I think the only person more pissed than me right now is Colbee and company.Being a life long Giants fan I’ve always thought the sainted Coach is lying creep.A creep who cost him his championship to run Kentucky.

  49. darealgoodfella says

    art, I’m hoping Jr. hires Preece.

  50. darealgoodfella says

    I hope Colbee sent Mrs. Preece a very expensive present to show his appreciation for handing him the championship.

  51. I’ll make one last comment on the points thing and then will shut up about it.
    Doug asks: “The World Series race would have been irrelevant wouldn’t it? Preece misses two races and has such a monstrous lead he can almost stay home for the last race? That’s not in the interest of the series is it?”

    To that, I ask: what’s in the best interest of the series — rewarding the best performers, or having drama til the last minute, even if it means rewarding less-deserving entries?

    How many sports teams have clinched division titles or home field advantage before the last week of the season?
    What about Richie Evans clinching the 1985 title before that sad day in Martinsville?
    It happens.

    Competition doesn’t always come down to the last lap — unless it’s rigged to do so.
    If it’s more important to have a dramatic finale than rewarding the best performer, then go with the idea I proposed earlier: competition caution at 2-to-go in the finale, line the field up by points-as-they-run, and do a GWC (unlimited overtimes) for all the marbles. Guaranteed drama to the last second!

    If the lone complaint with my system is that a driver who missed 2 races soundly outperformed everyone else when he showed up, then require a minimum amount of appearances. In which case, Solomito would be champion. IMO, that would be justified.

    And to all the Coby supporters: no disrespect to his accomplishments at all! The #2 team is a WMT dynasty, and has deserved the top rung of the ladder most years.
    Just not this year. IMO.

  52. You can count me as appreciative of your suggestions Andrew B even if I don’t agree with your system in total. And I don’t understand why some get so threatened by the mere discussion of tweeks to the point system. Tweeks are made all the time. Just cause the season is over it doesn’t mean good management is over.
    My view you nailed it with the Bonsignore observation and others seem to agree. Saying that it’s not important to have a system that fosters competition to the end flies in the face of what virtually every series tries to do starting with the Monster Series. The only thing that is really confusing is why the 6 that actually won the owners championship gets passed over so easily and Preece becomes the focus. The best car won in my view. Coby the drivers championship and the 6 the owners.

  53. darealgoodfella says

    The 2 played the points system like Trump played the Electoral system.

  54. How about rewarding attendance like some of the dirt series do? Maybe a 20 or 25 point bonus if you go to all races? Roughly a half-race points bonus. Not to slight the part-timers, as they are a valued part of the field, but I think if you do spend the time and money to make all the races, it should be worth something. And it would still be possible for a team to miss events and have a shot at the championship. Maybe it would entice more teams to try to make all the races as well, improving the car counts for some venues.

  55. darealgoodfella says

    The thing is, do you want to see all out racing at each event, or do you want to see strategic racing for points and the championship?

    Pick one.

    I’d like to see a season where there is no championship as has been done, none at all. Each race is a standalone event, unrelated to any other race. Each race is a total all out battle, no points racing, no pacing for points. First place is heavily weighed with $$$$$ winnings. No season points fund, no season based points. All monies are doled out at each event. No reward at the end of the season, it all gets paid out at each event based exclusively on the results at and of each event. If you must have a champion, add up the winnings over the season and rate them. But there are no end-of-season awards or payouts.

    You all need to understand that the end of season championship payouts look good on TV, for a couple million dollars is beyond a dream for the NASCAR fans, but the end-of-season award is but a speck of sand on a beach to the total $$$$ it takes to run a team through the season. Most of those big checks you see awarded at the banquet don’t even come close to paying for tires and engines for a season for one team. A driver might pickup a championship check for a couple million, but he has been making 10’s of millions all season from sponsors and endorsements.

    Andrew B., the points system can be anything and it will never be fair, etc. The thing is that it is consistent and applied and followed by all.

  56. darealgoodfella says

    art said: “… I’ve always thought the sainted Coach is lying creep.”

    I second that emotion.

  57. Fast Eddie makes good point.Maybe NASCAR should be looking at everything the dirt series are doing.Seems to be a pretty tight ship over there.

  58. You know it dareal,Gibbs said after p2 at NHMS “Oh we’ve got to get together and talk ” or words to that effect.When I read that I flashed back to the Harry Chapin lyric “I knew it would never be arranged”.Get together and talk?About what?The weather?If he doesn’t have eyes for himself he could ask the crew chief or the spotter.I rented a scanner at NHMS and heard for myself the growing admiration during the race.I think Gibbs is jerking him around.Hope he gets another offer.Maybe I’m all wet.I wouldn’t mind at all having to hear my detractors calling me an idiot if he is indeed hired.Kinda like the George Costanza voicemail to his new girlfriend.

  59. I have a question regarding this final race. What becomes of the tires bought but not used? Specifically I’m thinking about the NWMS teams that crashed out on the initial lap, or only completed a handful of laps.
    Bear in mind I don’t know anything about the rules pertaining to tires per race. Do tires bought for a season ending race but go unused have any value carrying over to 2018 or are they a total loss?

  60. I’d like to start this conversation.. if NASCAR didn’t suck up so many laps under caution like they always do, Dowling most likely was going to win. But, no we lose what 9-10 laps after the lap 1 crash with a red flag, under caution. And a few more “lets go around in circles with the track cleared and no safety trucks or people doing anything”. Then, they waved 2-3 more restarts off. The officials need to fix this. Yes, there were lots of cautions at the end but still there could have been more laps if they sped up the cautions.

  61. Could be a great point if you knew how to quantify the loss. But it sounds like you wanted Dowling to win, he didn’t so laps under caution are the problem. Andrew B wanted Preece to win the championship so he redesigned the points system so Preece could win. I think that was his goal anyway. We have several people here intimately knowledgeable with the WMT that say cautions are rare compared to other modified series so you may be swimming up stream on this one.

  62. I heard three teams complaining on their radios about the long yellow and losing the opportunity for leader laps.I bet more were screaming but I only heard three.Also not happy that the parade laps are not fast enough to heat the tires up.I don’t think the officials see any problem with this.From what I heard the racers think otherwise Tyler.

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