Doug Coby ran towards the front of the field throughout the entirety of the 35-lap All-Star Shootout, finishing second after a wild last lap.
On the final lap of the exhibition race, things got somewhat hairy in front of Coby.
Justin Bonsignore, the leader, was fending off a challenge from Rowan Pennink, diving all the way to the bottom of the track to keep Pennink behind him. Going into turn three, Pennink got into the back of Bonsignore, perhaps hoping to move Bonsignore up the track and out of the way. Instead, Pennink’s car shot straight up the track and made hard contact with the wall.
“They just kind of ran out of space,” Coby told Short Track Scene. “Justin threw a block, and then Rowan tried to go lower, so Justin went lower.”
Coby was able to avoid the carnage, and drove underneath the out-of-control Pennink. Had he been slightly closer to the top-two, Coby may very well have been the one standing in Victory Lane Friday afternoon.
“I really think that if I was about two car-lengths closer, I could’ve done something with both of them, because they were both going at it,” said the five-time Whelen Modified Tour champion. “I learned something for tomorrow, if I’m ever running third. But we’ll see. Those guys did what they had to do.”
Coby didn’t place blame for the last-lap skermish on either Bonsignore or Pennink.
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“I think it was pretty smart racing on everybody’s part,” said Coby. “It wasn’t too smart to wreck your only car in the All-Star race. If the guy throws a block on you, just push him, drive him into the corner, something… I don’t think anyone made any ‘uncalled for’ moves.”
The speed Coby’s car had today gave him confidence that tomorrow could finally be the day the No. 2 team gets its first win of 2018. The unpredictability of the racing at Loudon, makes a win that much tougher.
“This isn’t a track where you can just do it all on your own,” said Coby on the pack racing seen at New Hampshire. “Everything’s going to have to fall into place. We certainly have a fast car, a car fast enough to win. Just a matter of whether we make the right decisions tomorrow, with the setup.”
Still winless on 2018, and sitting sixth in points, 79 back of Bonsignore, Doug Coby is in desperate need of a string of strong finishes to get back in the title hunt. Tomorrow might be the day Coby gets yet another championship rally started.
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