Doug Coby To Run NAPA Spring Sizzler At Stafford For Tommy Baldwin Racing 

Doug Coby (Photo: Shawn Courchesne/RaceDayCT)

The 2023 season will see Doug Coby chasing his seventh NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship in his first year driving full-time for car owner Tommy Baldwin Jr. 

Away from the Whelen Modified Tour though, the pairing will go chasing another big resume marker together.

It was announced Thursday that Coby will enter the NAPA Spring Sizzler, April 29-30, at Stafford Speedway in a Tommy Baldwin Racing entry. 

Coby, of Milford, has won the NAPA Spring Sizzler four times when it was a Whelen Modified Tour event. He won the event in 2006 driving for team owner Curt Chase, in 2012 driving for team owner Wayne Darling and he got wins in 2016 and 2019 driving for team owner Mike Smeriglio III. 

“If I were to win with Tommy it would be my fifth Sizzler win with my fourth different crew chief so that would be cool,” Coby said. “Stafford is my home track and any more success I have there just adds to it. The Spring Sizzler is a big race – it’s really one of the last remaining races with an amazing amount of history. To go there and win in the Open Modifieds, with all of the different packages people bring, the qualifying format, etc… It would be special. We’re going to bring a bullet. It’s a big race to win and a lot of money on the line. As Mayhew Tools and I have progressed in our relationship, we continue to try to find ways to increase their brand recognition and this will be a major event for the Mayhew Tools, Tommy Baldwin Racing 7NY.”

Said Baldwin: “Doug is surely no stranger to visiting Victory Lane at Stafford. With his many years of laps and experience, he gives us a great shot of getting the job done. The Spring Sizzler is a historic race with a long history. We will be ready to go with our best against what is going to be a really tight field of cars.”

The Spring Sizzler became an Open race last year for its 50th running. Coby ran the race as a driver/team owner in 2022 finishing 17th. This year’s event features a $20,000 to win purse.

The 43-year old Coby started 12 of 16 events on the Whelen Modified Tour in 2022, making nine starts for Baldwin and three starts for his personally owned team. He had three Whelen Modified Tour victories in 2022, all coming in Baldwin’s cars. Despite only starting 75 percent of the series events, Coby ended up ninth in the Whelen Modified Tour series standings in 2022. 

Coby started racing weekly at Stafford while still in high school. He won the 1998 Late Model championship at the track and was the 2000 champion in the track’s former Pro Stock division. Overall Coby has 31 career feature wins at Stafford with 12 of those wins coming in Whelen Modified Tour events. 

Comments

  1. Does the winner of the sizzler get a spot in the stafford SRX race? Is that guaranteed or more of a year to year thing? Seems like seats are filling up.

  2. Camerissa,
    It’s my understanding that there will not be local drivers in SRX events this year like there was the first two years.

  3. Hope pit road is to little Tommys liking this year

  4. Thank you Shawn. That’s too bad. I thought it added to both the sizzler and the SRX race. I believe Coby is the only local to win a race.

  5. I’d agree it was a nice incentive in the first two years and may have been the tipping point that got Hirschman to Stafford in last years Sizzler.
    Listening to Hirschman in a recent interview it’s pretty clear his mediocre performance in the SRX event gnaws at him. He definitely would like another shot at it but knows it’s not happening. He did give Coby credit for being the only local to win a race. At the same time he mentioned it was the first race where no one knew what to expect and the one event the home boy had the advantage. I suppose many concluded from his comments he was jealous and that could very well be the case he’s a very proud man. On the other hand he was likely correct in his observations.
    I’d bet I’m not the only one that builds rivalries up in events to make them more attractive and I’m cooking up one for this years Sizzler. There will be all kinds of good teams there this year but I’m looking at this one as a Coby, the guy with Stafford roots vs Hirschman the ultimate invader. Based on last years results Coby has the car he needs to win and he clearly knows the track. In spite of last years Sizzler win Hirschman still has something to prove when it comes to Stafford. A battle of great cars and great drivers both with ego’s bigger then then Stafford’s updated jumbotron.

  6. That is disappointing. I enjoyed watching the locals and how they did against all the pros in the SRX series. What I remember is that the locals weren’t very competitive, but they weren’t in the way out there with the exception of Doug Coby.  It gave us another story to follow as the night unfolded.  I hope they’re not taking a car out of the field and instead adding another superstar.  I still think they need a bigger field than in years past to make it more interesting. I do like the move to Thursday. I think getting off Saturday night might help the ratings with race fans. Probably opens up the current Nascar cup drivers to participate more often.

  7. Does Doug Coby still have his own equipment? It sounds like most of his racing will be completed in Baldwin’s car this year. I’m just wondering if Coby will hit some of the tour-type opens in his own stuff if Baldwin isn’t interested in running an event. You have to think the Baldwin-Coby team will be one of the heavy favorites to win the Whelen championship this year.

  8. Kind of a lull for now after the big kick off at New Smyrna so how about a meager attempt at predicting what the 2023 season has in store for Coby and the 7ny.
    Judging from 5 races at New Smyrna the 7ny was competitive in the 4th, 5th, 6th range but showing no early signs of it’s 2022 dominance. So what’s the prediction for 2023?
    Taking a look at last years NWMT results while forgetting about who was driving where was the team’s strength? The results for the 8, .40 mile and shorter tracks was an average finish of 4th. For the 8 half mile of longer tracks it was 8.1. Take out the teams one DNF which was Coby taking out Blewett at Thompson and the average finish would be 6.3 for longer tracks.
    Two spots on average doesn’t sound like much but it’s a lot in terms of the points standings. Seems pretty clear the TBR entry’s greatest strength was on shorter tracks and on those tracks Coby was the most frequent driver.
    Based on the early results in Florida the TBR entry may not so much have lost it’s mojo as much as other teams have caught up. The first 12 Tour events in 2023 lean heavily toward the longer side and I’d predict Coby will be in the top 5 but not in the top 3. 6 of the last 7 events on shorties and that may very well end up deciding how successful the 7ny is for 2023.
    No owner or driver championships for the 7ny this year. It’s not reasonable to expect to catch lightning in a bottle two years in a row.

  9. Rafter fan says

    I don’t see entries for MCJr, Ronnie Williams or Kid Rock for the Sizzler? It’s still somewhat early, but I’ll be disappointed if these 3 Stafford regulars are not in the “big one”.

Leave a Reply

Copyright 2018 E-Media Sports

Website Designed by Thirty Marketing