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On opening night at Riverhead Raceway, super sub Coby steers to victory in Miller Lite 200: Photos

Call him a super sub.

It’s hard to think of a six-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion being called a substitute driver, but that is the role Doug Coby played Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway. Like most of his racing roles, Coby, of Milford, Ct., met the challenge head on, winning the Miller Lite 200 event driving the famed Tommy Baldwin Racing 7NY. Coby was tabbed late in the week to drive for TBR after Jimmy Blewett of Howell, N.J., was forced to withdraw after his daughter became ill.

The only issue for Coby came late in the race when a caution flew, setting up an overtime finish. Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y., who won the last WMT at Riverhead last September, had worked his way from the 15th starting spot to second and he was going to get at least one crack at taking the lead from Coby. Coby was equal to the challenge and drove off to his third Riverhead win in the last four WMT races. It was his 32nd career win.

The next finishers after the second-place Emerling were Ron Silk of Nowalk, Ct., Dylan Slepian of Dix Hills and Timmy Solomito of Islip.

Photos by Bill Landon

Despite persistent drizzle and light rain, an entire program was raced for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.

A scheduled 20-lap Legend Race Car main event was shortened to 13 laps because of the late hour and multiple caution flags on a damp night. When the race was deemed official, Anthony Marsh of Riverhead, a three-time winner in 2021, had his fourth career win. Jim Sylvester of East Islip was second, with defending champion George Tomko Jr. of Aquebogue third.

In a 25-lap Crate Modified event, Eric Hersey of Ronkonkoma was declared the winner after last-lap contact between leader Alex Colasanto of Selden and challenger Michael Berner of Patchogue.

Dave Antos of Lindenhurst became the all-time leading winner of Street Stock races at the track when he won a non-stop, 20-lap race for his 10th career triumph.

Mike Mujsce Jr. of Hampton Bays led all the way to win a 20-lap Mini Stock event, the sixth win of his career, tying him with Tom Puccia of Shirley and Paul Wojcik of Patchogue for second on the all-time win list.