CONCORD, N.C. — Less than 48 hours remain before the start of a new year and surprisingly, six-time and defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby remains unemployed.
The 40-year-old native of Milford, Conn., has been rideless since team owner Mike Smeriglio III announced he was retiring in early November. Coby won 21 Whelen Modified Tour races and five of his six championships while driving for Smeriglio.
“You work with enough people in racing that you don’t like, so you end up with the ones that you do like and you try to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” Coby said about the crew that surrounded him at Mike Smeriglio III Racing. “Everybody on our team has been able to put the benefit of the team first and there is no chatter behind each other’s back. We say things to each other’s faces, and I think that the back chatter is what usually undoes the good things about race teams.”
This isn’t the first time Coby has found himself searching for a place to race. Two years before his dominance of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour began with his first championship in 2012, Coby was entering his fourth consecutive season without a full-time ride.
He said it was late friend and sponsor, Harvey Berube of Reynolds Auto Wrecking, who helped him land a ride with Wayne Darling that led to the 2012 series championship.
“He was the first person, when I had lost my ride, that five years later he pulled aside Kevin Crowley, who was crew chief at the time for like Donny Lia and a bunch of other guys, he pulled Kevin aside and said, ‘How do we get Doug in a full-time ride?’” Coby recalled. “He helped orchestrate my deal with Wayne Darling, which led to the championship in 2012.”
Coby admitted that the things that motivated him during his ride search in 2010 have changed during the last 10 years. Instead, he appreciates what he went through at the time as he continues his search for a new car owner.
“I don’t necessarily look back on the things that motivated me then as motivation for now,” Coby explained. “I think it’s more of an appreciation and an understanding, especially considering I’m coming off the sixth championship and I’m still looking for a car owner for next year. I get a little bit of a flashback to 2010 where I was looking to put something together.”
As far as what comes next for Coby, he jokingly confirmed he won’t be signing a developmental contract with Ford anytime soon.
“Hailie Deegan stole my Ford driver-development ride, so I’m out there,” Coby said with a laugh.
Jokes aside, Coby is working on a deal to run in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour next season. He even admitted he’d entertain the idea of stepping up to ARCA or one of the NASCAR national tours if sponsorship comes together.
“I don’t have anything lined up quite yet. We’re working on some stuff with the modifieds,” Coby said. “There are always opportunities to run in ARCA, Truck or Xfinity if I have the sponsorship money to do it. That’s something I thought that was pretty cool over the last couple of years that I’ve made some connections in those arenas that I know I can call people up and say, ‘Hey, I have X amount of dollars of sponsorship, can I get in something?’ That never existed for me five years ago or 10 years ago.
“I would expect you’ll probably see me back in the modifieds and obviously I’m hoping that if I’m going to be racing the tour, I’m hoping it’s going to be with the same equipment and the same team that I’m with now and we don’t end up splitting up and doing separate stuff. We’re hoping to get some more information on that in the next week or two, just to see if there is any traction on some things we’ve been working on.”