For the third time this season, Doug Coby led the most laps in the race.

And for the third time, Coby left the track without a trophy or checkered flag.

Ryan Preece slipped by Coby yet again on the final restart with only two laps to go in the Stafford 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway on Friday night.

Coby led all but fifteen laps and appeared to have the race in hand, but Bobby Santos’ spin with 10 laps remaining bunched the field back up. The extra grip Preece had on fresher tires ultimately proved to be Coby’s undoing.

“Knowing how the pit strategy worked, and what people did, I’m not surprised we lost it on the restart,” said the four-time Whelen Modified Tour champion. “I knew he was coming even when we were out front. The red flags and restarts don’t help.”

What happened Friday night was almost a carbon copy of what happened at Stafford in April at the Spring Sizzler. In that race, Coby dominated, but a late-race restart lost him the lead, allowing Preece to get the win.

The luck, or lack thereof, that Coby’s had is exceptionally poor. He’s led 435 laps total this season, almost double that of any other driver.

But things like the unlucky late yellow Friday night have cost Coby and the No. 2 team several trips to Victory Lane.

“If the caution didn’t come out, we win, and the caution came out, and that’s our, it just didn’t work out for us,” said Coby. “We just got beat tonight.”

Nonetheless, Coby is still very much in the hunt for this championship. He sits only 32 points behind championship leader Timmy Solomito.

Coby remains confident that a win is just around the corner.

“We got beat tonight, we didn’t win our first win of the season,” he said. “It’s coming. We’ve been really fast, and I’m really proud of my guys.”

Coby will again look to end the winless streak on Wednesday at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in the Bud King of Beers 150.

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