RGeeProductions
05-22-2008, 08:40 PM
TOP FIVE RUN AT WATERFORD COMES TO CRASHING HALT WITH
THREE LAPS TO GO
With Stafford Motor Speedway suffering its third consecutive rainout last
Friday, the Johnson Motorsports SK Modified team and driver Doug Coby once again made a Saturday
visit to the Waterford Speedbowl for a 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event. With
finishes of third and eighth in their first two starts at the Speedbowl, the team was looking for another
solid finish to bolster their point total for the NASCAR state championship points system.
A fifth place heat race finish relegated the team to the 15th starting spot in the 25 car starting field. With
a few minor changes to the setup and a new set of tires, the #10 was ready to go battle. A melee in turn
one on lap one collected several cars in front of Doug, which allowed him to move up to the 12th spot
with no laps on the board. Once the field went to green, the #10 began its march to the front. Ten laps
into the race, Doug and the #10 were up to the 9th position, but were marred in heavy side-by-side
traffic. A few laps later, Doug moved up to 7th place, and by lap 16, the #10 made its first appearance in
the top five.
“The car was just great in traffic,” said Doug, “I was waiting for the guys in front of me to decide where
they wanted to race, and once they did, I’d just pick the opposite lane and go around them. It was a lot
of fun.”
On lap 22, Doug moved around the #91 of Jeffrey Paul for the 4th spot, and he rode there for the next
five laps trying to reel in the race leaders. At this point the car began to get tighter, and it appeared as
though the #10 would have to settle for a 4th place finish; however, approaching five laps to go in the
race, Doug began to get heavy pressure for the position by the #57 of Keith Rocco.
With four laps to go, Rocco got underneath the #10 coming off of turn four and took the spot as the pair
raced into turn one. Not willing to give up the position so easily, Doug crossed back over and drove to
the inside of Rocco off of turn two. As the two raced into turn three side by side and came off of turn 4,
the cars touched. The #10’s right front tire bore the brunt of the contact, suspension parts were broken,
and the car came to a rest on the track between turns one and two. Three laps shy of the finish, the
Johnson Motorsports team was done for the night and was credited with a 17th place finish.
“It’s a shame that it had to happen with three laps to go in the race, but I’d say the damage was as a
result of nothing more than hard racing between two drivers,” said Doug, “Keith is very a very
competitive driver, and I was racing him as hard as I could to keep him behind me. When he got by me
and I crossed him over, we made a little contact coming off of turn four. It wasn’t a lot of contact but
once the right front suspension got bent, I couldn’t get away from him so it ended up being worse than it
needed to be. It’s no big deal, but it definitely ruined a certain top five finish.”
With fair weather in the forecast for northern Connecticut this weekend, the Johnson Motorsports #15
and #51 Xtra Mart Racing teams will be in action for their first Friday night 40-lap feature at Stafford.
On Saturday, the team will once again be making the trip to Waterford with their #10 car for another 35-
lap slugfest.
Johnson Motorsports
THREE LAPS TO GO
With Stafford Motor Speedway suffering its third consecutive rainout last
Friday, the Johnson Motorsports SK Modified team and driver Doug Coby once again made a Saturday
visit to the Waterford Speedbowl for a 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event. With
finishes of third and eighth in their first two starts at the Speedbowl, the team was looking for another
solid finish to bolster their point total for the NASCAR state championship points system.
A fifth place heat race finish relegated the team to the 15th starting spot in the 25 car starting field. With
a few minor changes to the setup and a new set of tires, the #10 was ready to go battle. A melee in turn
one on lap one collected several cars in front of Doug, which allowed him to move up to the 12th spot
with no laps on the board. Once the field went to green, the #10 began its march to the front. Ten laps
into the race, Doug and the #10 were up to the 9th position, but were marred in heavy side-by-side
traffic. A few laps later, Doug moved up to 7th place, and by lap 16, the #10 made its first appearance in
the top five.
“The car was just great in traffic,” said Doug, “I was waiting for the guys in front of me to decide where
they wanted to race, and once they did, I’d just pick the opposite lane and go around them. It was a lot
of fun.”
On lap 22, Doug moved around the #91 of Jeffrey Paul for the 4th spot, and he rode there for the next
five laps trying to reel in the race leaders. At this point the car began to get tighter, and it appeared as
though the #10 would have to settle for a 4th place finish; however, approaching five laps to go in the
race, Doug began to get heavy pressure for the position by the #57 of Keith Rocco.
With four laps to go, Rocco got underneath the #10 coming off of turn four and took the spot as the pair
raced into turn one. Not willing to give up the position so easily, Doug crossed back over and drove to
the inside of Rocco off of turn two. As the two raced into turn three side by side and came off of turn 4,
the cars touched. The #10’s right front tire bore the brunt of the contact, suspension parts were broken,
and the car came to a rest on the track between turns one and two. Three laps shy of the finish, the
Johnson Motorsports team was done for the night and was credited with a 17th place finish.
“It’s a shame that it had to happen with three laps to go in the race, but I’d say the damage was as a
result of nothing more than hard racing between two drivers,” said Doug, “Keith is very a very
competitive driver, and I was racing him as hard as I could to keep him behind me. When he got by me
and I crossed him over, we made a little contact coming off of turn four. It wasn’t a lot of contact but
once the right front suspension got bent, I couldn’t get away from him so it ended up being worse than it
needed to be. It’s no big deal, but it definitely ruined a certain top five finish.”
With fair weather in the forecast for northern Connecticut this weekend, the Johnson Motorsports #15
and #51 Xtra Mart Racing teams will be in action for their first Friday night 40-lap feature at Stafford.
On Saturday, the team will once again be making the trip to Waterford with their #10 car for another 35-
lap slugfest.
Johnson Motorsports