35th Annual Spring Sizzler Recap
Doug Coby, who began his racing career at the Stafford Motor Speedway at the age of 16 in the Late Model division, drove to his first career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour victory by winning the 35th Annual Tech-Net Spring Sizzler.
Coby and #77 Chase Racing team used pit strategy to their advantage, as they pitted earlier than some other front runners and then took over the lead when they eventually came to pit road. Coby inherited the lead on lap-135 when leader Rick Fuller came to pit road along with Chuck Hossfeld, Mike Andrews, and Jimmy Blewett. Once Coby took over the lead, he never relinquished it as he led the final 65 laps.
The race began with Chuck Hossfeld leading the first 21 laps before yielding the lead to John Blewett, III. Blewett held the top spot until lap-53, when Todd Szegedy took a turn up front. Szegedy led until lap-87, when Ted Christopher moved out front. Christopher was one of the final leaders to come to pit road for fresh tires, and he held the lead until he pitted under caution on lap-117. Christopher’s pit stop put Rick Fuller out front, but Fuller, who had pitted once earlier in the race, came back down pit road on lap-135, which put Coby in command of the race.
Coby had Donny Lia hounding him over the final 10-laps of the race, but Coby was able to navigate his way through lapped traffic well enough to hold off Lia at the checkered flag. Rounding out the top-5 behind Coby and Lia were Eric Beers, Mike Stefanik, and Ted Christopher.
Lia set fast time in qualifying with a time of 18.600 seconds at an average speed of 96.774 mph to win his second consecutive Tech-Net Spring Sizzler Bud Pole.
