Doug Coby’s quest for a fourth consecutive championship will include some familiar faces as well as some new challengers as the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour begins a new era on Saturday.
The 2017 season gets rolling with the Performance Plus 150 presented by Safety-Kleen at South Carolina’s historic Myrtle Beach Speedway, marking a southern kickoff for the newly unified tour. The changes in the tour harken back to the days of NASCAR Hall of Famers Richie Evans and Jerry Cook, when the NASCAR Modified title was contested up and down the Atlantic coast. It’s fitting that Coby is looking to join the pair as just the third driver to win four straight crowns.
Coby enters the season looking to add to historic run. The 37-year-old from Milford, Connecticut, has put together an impressive five year stretch: 20 wins and 15 poles, while either finishing first (four times) or second (once) in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship standings. The last three title runs have come with car owner Mike Smeriglio III and crew chief Phil Moran, and they’ve brought Mayhew Tools on board as their new primary sponsor of the No. 2.
But Coby won’t be the only defending Whelen Modified Tour champion in the field. Under the newly unified tour, Burt Myers leads the southern contingent, having won the final Whelen Southern Modified Tour title last year on the strength of three wins and nine top fives in 11 starts.
Former tour champion Ryan Preece returns to the tour full-time after a full season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series in 2016. He will be driving for Eddie and Connie Partridge. Preece beat Coby for the Whelen Modified title in 2013, and finished second to him in 2012, ’14 and ’15.
Justin Bonsignore and Timmy Solomito, who both had breakout seasons last year, will be right back on Coby’s tail. Bonsignore has a new crew chief and momentum on his side following a win at the northern season finale to close the 2016 season. Solomito has a new sponsor in Starrett Tools, which gives him added confidence to follow up his four-win season in 2016.
A host of competitors are returning to the same rides as last year, including Rowan Pennink to BRE Racing’s famed No. 3 and Eric Goodale to his familiar No. 58. Others like Woody Pitkat, Donny Lia and Chase Dowling have made changes going into the 2017 season.
Southern drivers such as Jeremy Gerstner, Danny Bohn and Gary Putnam will in contention for wins. The Performance Plus 150 field will also feature the return of Tim Brown. The 10-time Modified champion at Bowman Gray Stadium hasn’t raced on the tour since 2013, but has seven career wins and was runner-up in the Whelen Southern championship three times (2006-08).
NASCAR PR
