STAFFORD – Doug Coby Sr. stood on the frontstretch at Stafford Speedway Saturday night watching his son celebrate a victory at the historic short track facility.
Watching his son win at Stafford Speedway isn’t anything new to him. He’s watched his 41-year old son winning at the track since he was a teenager in a Late Model, or in a Pro Stock and so many times with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
But Saturday night, Doug Coby Sr. stood about 20 feet away watching his son being celebrate on a podium flanked by second place finisher Greg Biffle and third place finisher and NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart.
“I don’t know whether to laugh or cry right now,” an emotional Doug Coby Sr. said watching photographers swarm his son 20 feet away. “This is something I just can’t believe just happened.”
On national TV, Doug Coby put on a dominating clinic of driving against a field that included Stewart, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Paul Tracy, Marco Andretti Bobby Labonte, Bill Elliott, Michael Waltrip, Biffle and more.
“It all started here,” Doug Coby Sr. said of Stafford, “And he’s he’s racing with Tony Stewart and all those guys and it was just phenomenal that he won.”
At times during his career Coby has been loved and hated by fans at Stafford. Saturday night the raucous crowd of about 10,000 at Stafford erupted for his every move on the track and at the end of the night they were chanting his name for a live national audience on CBS.
“To hear this tonight, it was really really touching to hear this crowd,” Doug Coby Sr. said. “I’m saying, come back for the [Whelen Modified Tour] show and cheer him on then. But it was just really touching tonight to see all this.”
Coby, a six-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, was greeted on the track after the SRX Series win by his father, his sister Kelly and his niece Kennedy.
“My dad will always go to all my races,” Coby said. “My sister just moved to North Carolina and drove up with her daughter last night. We’re going to have a nice family party tomorrow with a little trophy with everybody over. … They’re just always supporting me. That’s what short trackers do. It’s family. It’s family and friends.”
Coby also emphasized that as monstrous as the victory was for his racing resume, it won’t change much in his life.
“Later tonight my dogs are going to have to go take a crap and take a pee, so I’ve got to get home at a normal time,” Coby said. “And when I wake up tomorrow at 7:30 they’re going to have to take a crap and take a pee and want to eat. Life for short trackers just goes back to normal tomorrow. I’ve got to focus on [the Whelen Modified Tour event] at Riverhead [Raceway] next week and try to find a way to claw my way back into the driver points championship on the Tour.”
I guess it’s predictable when you beat world class drivers including the most recent Indy 500 winner but to see all the attention Coby has gotten nationally is something I surely never thought any local driver would get. The David vs Goliath theme perfect for all motorsports journalists and they are milking it til the cows come home for sure. Errr, how can they milk it til the cows come home if the cows aren’t home? Screw it you get the idea.
Coby a near perfect local Rocky Balboa. Promoting the event leading up to it, performance in the event and post race commentary and analysis. Points taken away for the reference to the need to attend to his pets bodily functions and some profanity but framing the return in the context of his regular routine just about as sophisticated interview material as one could expect.
Coby is the king of the hill now locally in the race community. No doubt his finances will get a bump as well that may not be good news for his fellow NWMT competitors as the 10 moves toward competing at the level the 2 was at the top of their game.
That picture with his loved ones is new and nice. His dad funded his cars in his early days and sacrificed a lot to get him really good equipment. In return in the most extensive interview I know to be available by Doug Coby in the Bottom Shot podcast the most recognition he gave his dad in the interview was that his dad was a racer in his day and part of a group of “misfits” that didn’t know what stagger was. I don’t like or root for Doug Coby because of that and his childish social media nonsense as well as the constant profanity but that’s not important.
I don’t have to like or respect a driver to recognize a real talent in both the racing world and in business.
What is important is that he proved he is every bit the driver many said he was and it was not just the money backing him that got him where he is. Smeriglio who also never got any credit from Coby in his Bottom Shot interview assembled the team that Coby inherited. Nonetheless he did keep it together and it’s performing at the very highest level under his ownership and management. Management another strength of Coby managing a number of different businesses and projects.
His 15 minutes of national fame will soon be over as the racing world turns to the next Rocky Balboa in the next SRX race. Coby’s name to be invoked but only for setting the standard of performance in the first race for the local hero. He won’t be going to Xfinity, nor Cup nor anything else in my view.. His SRX performance combined with 6 modified championships may very well have stamped his ticket to the NASCAR Hall of Fame however.