WETHERSVILLE, CT :: Doug Coby is the 2012 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion, and he finished runner-up in 2013. Coby has gotten off to quite a start this season with podium finishes in each race including a win in the most recent event at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Race22: Why did you get started racing?
Doug Coby: Why? Because my sister wanted to go to the races, and my parents bought her a car. And then she chose to go to a friend’s birthday party when school was starting, so I hopped in and started driving (laughs). True story.
R22: What race track do you wish was on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule that currently isn’t?
DC: Richmond. I went to college there and my first year on the Tour was the first year it came off the schedule. I was kind of looking forward to racing there and I think it should be on the schedule.
R22: That’s just really bad timing.
DC: Bad timing. Terrible. My luck.
R22: If money wasn’t an issue, what race track around the world would you most want to race at?
DC: I’d say Bristol. I’d always wanted to race there, and then when the Modifieds started going there I missed the first two years because I didn’t have a ride. And when I was a kid that was always my favorite track. But now that I’ve already raced there if you say a track that I haven’t raced on it would have to be Daytona.
R22: The full track, I’m assuming?
DC: The full track. The real race track.
R22: What makes Bristol in a Modified so much fun?
DC: I don’t know. I think Bristol is just fun no matter what it is. I don’t necessarily know if Bristol is the best track for the Modifieds. I think Modifieds are better on tracks that you’ve got to brake going into the corners and use some nerf bars. You can at Bristol, but it’s just one of those tracks where it’s so fast and everything is different from what we are used to. I don’t think we necessarily put on the best show at Bristol but it’s fun as hell to drive. So I don’t know. It’s a cool place. I would like to run anything there.
R22: Do you have any superstitions or routines that you do before each race?
DC: No, I mean I just put on my gear the same way. I put on my belts in the same order every time. And that’s moreso just so I don’t forget to do anything. Making sure I have my gloves and my earplugs. Like there’s been times that I’ve got my helmet and my gloves in the car and I left my earplugs in the SK or something like that. I don’t like freaking out before a race to run and go get something, so I like to have everything organized. But I do the same things. I clean out the engine before every restart at the same points on the track. Usually between turns one and two I pop it out of gear and clean out the carburetor a little bit to prevent it from loading up. That used to happen in my late model and pro stock and it might never happen in these cars but I do it anyway.
So just little habits. But nothing that I would be upset about not doing. So nothing too superstitious.
R22: What’s your usual prerace meal?
DC: Whatever is there. Hopefully brownies or cookies or something good (laughs).
R22: Away from the track, what’s a typical day like in the life of Doug Coby?
DC: I work from home in real estate. So I’m either at home on the computer paying bills or looking for houses or doing that kind of stuff. Or I’m out actually looking at the houses that are pieces of shit foreclosures that are moldy and full of crap and hopefully a good investment for us if we choose to buy it.
My days are always different I would say. Sometimes I’m working on Sundays. Sometimes I’m not working on Tuesdays. Sometimes it’s all seven days. And sometimes I have four days where I’m away racing. So it’s a real flexible career that I’m in. That’s pretty much it.
R22: So your boss is cool with you taking time to go race on weekdays?
DC: Yeah I am and my boss (laughs) so he’s really cool. And my business partner, Jason comes to the races to watch. It’s pretty easy with the two of us. He’s got some stuff he does and I’ve got some stuff I do and we keep each other in check to make sure we are doing work when we need to work. But I can go wherever I want when I want. And I work from the track to. I’ve got my cell phone out sending emails, answering phone calls from agents during the races. So that’s probably something that a lot of people here don’t do.
R22: How soon before a race do you put the phone away and get into race mode?
DC: I don’t need to get into race mode. It is what it is. If I have to call somebody when we are getting called to go line up I’ll make a phone call and then go line up. I try not to do it a whole lot. Because number one if they can’t hear me because of poor service reception I don’t like that. I don’t that sounds professional. And then number two if there’s noise in the background like cars or whatever I try to get away and go make phone calls. And that’s why I send a lot of text messages and emails, because I can do it when I want to do it and then answer when I want to answer. It makes life a lot easier to do that.
R22: What’s the last movie you saw and how was it?
DC: In the movies? I don’t watch a lot of movies to begin with, so I can’t really answer that question. It was probably something on television. I think I just saw part of Forest Gump for like the 40th time because it was on TNT or something like that. But I don’t remember the last time I actually got a movie. I don’t have a Netflix account or any of those online accounts to watch movies. And I don’t remember the last time I actually I went to a movie theater.
R22: Is it because you don’t have enough time to do it or watching movies just doesn’t thrill you?
DC: No, the problem is that I typically don’t remember movies. There was actually one time where I started watching a movie and then I realized a half hour later that I had seen it already. And I just kind of forgot that I had seen it. I’m not someone that can quote movies or watch it once and remember everything that happened it or have conversations about them so I just don’t watch them.
