One for the thumb as Coby gets 5th Whelen Modified championship

After a tough start to his season in April when he finished last in the season opening race at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Doug Coby felt an entirely different emotion this time at the historic Connecticut facility.

Coby finished fifth in the Sunoco World Series 150 which was good enough to hold off Timmy Solomito for the title while Solomito did all he could to catch Coby winning his fifth race of the season.

Just like he did during his second championship season in 2014, Coby only won once during the 2017 campaign, but he used consistency to capture the crown and score his fifth ring.

"We just kind of tugged away this year," Coby said. "We won one race in 2014 when we won the championship and we only won once this year. We were just so consistent."

The Milford, Conn. driver also joined NASCAR hall of Fame members and modified legends Jerry Cook and the late Richie Evans as the only driver to win five modified titles and the first to accomplish the feat in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

"We were good all year and we were kind of under the radar. This was a different championship because we to crawl all summer because we had to get back in it," Coby said. "We had to chip away this year. The common denominator in all of these titles was a team that never quit."

Coby finished the 16-race season with 604 points, with Solomito six points behind in second. Justin Bonsignore finished third with Rowan Pennink and Eric Goodale fourth and fifth in the final standings.

Chase Dowling finished second with Ron Silk third and Pennink fourth. Finishing sixth through 10^th were Andrew Krause, Woody Pitkat, Dave Sapienza, Jamie Tomaino and Justin Bonsignore.