Mike Smeriglio III Retiring As Car Owner On NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour


(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)

Doug Coby (left) and his Whelen Modified Tour team owner Mike Smeriglio III (right) (Photo: Shawn Courchesne/RaceDayCT)

Four championships, countless memories, and a career that has put him on a pedestal as one of the top car owners in the history of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

The last two decades have earned Mike Smeriglio everything he could have ever imagined as a car owner. He’s been faced with a lot of decisions in his racing career, and his life, but the one he made recently is right up there as one of the most difficult and gratifying all in one.

Smeriglio announced that he is retiring as a race car owner — just under a month after sealing his fourth [owner’s] championship trophy with now six-time champion Doug Coby as his driver. The decision has nothing to do with the urge to win more races and titles, and he’s bullish on the upward trajectory of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and its future.

It’s simply just come time for him to spend more time at home and enjoy all aspects of life with his family.

“It doesn’t have to do with anything in racing,” Smeriglio told NASCAR.com. “I’ve been a NASCAR owner for the last 21 years — eight years in the SK Modified level at Stafford (Motor Speedway), then the Whelen Modified Tour. It’s very emotional. But I’m glad it’s emotional —  because it’s not an easy decision. My heart wants to race, but my head is saying that my other priorities mean more to me now.  I want to be available to spend time with my wife of 33 years, my adult children and son in laws. Our time together is precious.”

“I’m really happy for him that he accomplished everything he set-out to accomplish in racing and I love him and his family,” Coby said. “What we accomplished as a team probably won’t be replicated anytime soon — if ever. There is a huge sense of gratitude for him picking me to drive the car and giving us everything we needed.”

Smeriglio will certainly go down as one of the top car owners in NASCAR Modified history. When Doug Coby wrapped up the 2019 title, Smeriglio became the first owner in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour to win four titles, breaking a tie he held with legendary Modified owners Bob Garbarino and Len Boehler. While the success of Garbarino and Boehler stretched also into the pre-tour era, Smeriglio’s continued success has all come in the last decade. His drive to win was hard to match, and his ability to put the right people, in the right place, stands out when you look back at the success he’s put together in a trying sport.

Smeriglio admits it might not have started off exactly how he would have liked — running in one of the most competitive weekly classes in the country, he struggled at times in the SK Modified class at Stafford. But found his passion for success running with names like Frank Wainwright, Donny Lia and Chuck Hossfeld as drivers. Before long, it was time to step up the ladder in motorsports — much like he did at different times in his life, such as when he opened his own Certified Public Accounting firm, which he still runs today with two of his children.

The motorsports step took him to the highest level of modified racing on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour — a stair that has watched him feel the exasperation of defeat and the elation of winning wrapped in one.

Winning the inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach on the short track at Daytona International Speedway in 2013 with former Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series regular Steve Park as his driver, following it up a year later by winning with Coby at the same historic venue, and his four championship trophies will certainly go down as the highlight moments.

There were plenty of other moments of jubilation encompassed somewhere in the middle.

Outside of all, the relationships he built with his team members, drivers, sponsors and members of the garage area might top all of the accomplishments on the race track.

Smeriglio tabbed Todd Szegedy to drive his No. 2 Modified sponsored by Wisk/Snuggle, and things took off from there in 2006. He won 10 times with Szegedy, before the pair split, and Smeriglio teamed with Coby, who was just two years off his first championship when 2014 started.

Their tenacious grip at the top of the tour won’t be matched in this era, and may not be matched down the line.

The combination won 19 races together over the last six years, and five driver championships in the stretch — taking Smeriglio and boosting him to the pinnacle of NASCAR’s grassroots short-track regional level. Add Phil Moran, the man in charge as crew chief of Smeriglio’s team for much of his tour tenure, both with Szegedy and specifically Coby in the last six years, and you have the Bill Belichick of the team.

Smeriglio, Coby and Moran have meant everything to each other. And the two of them have meant everything to Smeriglio enjoying his time at the race track, not only because of their winning success, but the relationship he’s built with them specifically, along with the rest of the No. 2 team. Unlike most, the team has mostly been able to stay together for the full run of success.

“It just clicked,” Smeriglio said. “My goal was always to win championships. I can’t put this into words. Doug and Phil challenge each other, and make each other better. I don’t have the guts to drive and I don’t have the mechanical ability to turn wrenches, but I do understand the value of people. Doug Coby’s intelligence and talent behind the wheel, it’s really second-to-none. He’s such a great wheelman. And in my opinion, Phil Moran is the best crew chief. He does it all.”




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Comments

  1. Wow. A huge loss to the Tour. Enjoy your family and thanks for your time as an owner.
    Big hit two longtime car owners calling it quits.

  2. Wow, that changes the tour landscape.

  3. Last couple years we lost cars by Garbarino, Partridge, Sanderson and MSR III.

    Heavy hitters.

    JBon & Fury in 2020!!!!!!!

  4. Crazy in NY says

    Nothing else to prove. Time to move on from the grind that IS the WMT. Thank you Mike for your top of the class effort.

  5. WOW,didn’t see that coming…speechless.

  6. This is a package that even Dareal couldn’t screw up! All he has to do is write the checks. There is always the chance he will mis spell the big words like Sunono and Coby. Heck give it a shot dareal! If you can step away from your keyboard long enough to actually accomplish something this might be your shot! If your actually involved in racing your thoughts and opinions might have more meaning than dog piss in the snow!
    Swanson team 3 in 2020!
    Tool bag.

  7. Jbon and fury 2020 , must have been a lot of sleepless nights and number crunching for Dadope to make that prediction

  8. Mike, call Ryan Newman. There’s some interest there…

  9. This sucks. The loss of the 16 and now the 2. Haven’t even got over the 4 not being out there.

  10. Tony T wrote, “There is always the chance he will mis spell the big words like Sunono and Coby.” and “If your actually involved in racing your thoughts and opinions might have more meaning than dog piss in the snow!”

    Don’t know how to spell “misspell’?

    What’s a “Sunono”?

    You are really a funny guy. And you’re a really bad speller.

    Shawn, any word on the disposition of the team & equipment? I have to think the Thompson announcement put a chill into any thoughts of getting into Tour racing.

  11. If you have $350,000 you too could own a top WMT team….
    My sources tell me there were three potential deals happening, but one just fell through. Additionally, one of the deals could be a duel ownership. If that one comes to fruition, it will be a shocker to some.

  12. Just me wrote, “Additionally, one of the deals could be a duel ownership.”

    duel ownership?

    duel: a contest with deadly weapons arranged between two people in order to settle a point of honor.

    So what are they planning to add to the show? Add a little Bowman Grey Madhouse atmosphere?

    🤣 🤣 🤣

    Yeah, billionaires have been camping out in the MSR shop parking lot with their butlers and house staff, hoping to bid on the assets. It’s been a spectacle. The FAA has had to setup a local air traffic control station for all the private helicopter traffic. Jeffrey has made numerous appearances.

  13. Just Me wrote, “If you have $350,000 you too could own a top WMT team….”

    Really? The team? Personnel are part of the deal?

    Y’all should be watching Phil Moran to see where he ends up. Forget the equipment, it’s all about Phil.

    I think there is more interest by owners trying to figure out how to get Phil Moran to join their team, and little interest in the MSR operation assets. (Doh… equipment that was used to win championships has not sold yet!) There are plenty of cars and racing assets out there already. All those SPEC motors and cookie cutter chassis. The person that buys the MSR assets thinks they are buying a winning operation. 🤡 🤡 🤡 It’s all about Phil. That equipment without Phil is just like any other car, even the 01.

    All signs of flux capacitors and secret sauce have been erased and are not included with the sale. 😳

    It’s one thing to plunk down a few hundred thousand to buy the operation, it’s a whole another challenge to fund the recurring costs of seasonal things like maintenance, paid staff, new engines, engine refreshes, rear axle maintenance, transmission maintenance, wreck repairs, new parts, test sessions, tires, travel, uniforms, licenses, shock tuning, gate fees, entrance fees, etc., etc., etc. That’s a several hundred large per season in annual recurring expenses. Tires are about $60,000 per season, depending on number of races on the schedule, open events, test sessions, practices, etc.

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