Coby, Larson, & Parent won at NHMS

LOUDON, N.H. (WWLP) -  

A first win, then a close win, followed by a surprising win became the story of Saturday's racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points leader Doug Coby of Milford, Connecticut earned his 1st career victory at the Magic Mile in the F.W. Webb 100. The race lived up to fans' expectations with lead changes virtually every lap until the end. After the white flag Donny Lia made contact with 2nd place driver Ted Christopher, sending Ol" Blue into the front straight wall with Lia taking the Mystic Missile to the number 2 spot as the race finished under caution. Ron Silk came in 3rd, Ryan Newman 4th, and Rowan Pennink took 5th. Newman's Chevrolet had been repaired after a wreck on Friday.

With a smile, the Rocket Man told 22News that "I crashed the car in qualfying, ran out of talent!" Newman told 22News the work included "A new front nose, front frame horns, a little bit of body work, and some beating and banging on the frame a little bit." With just 2 races remaining this season on the tour, Coby, with 5 tour wins, has a 21 point lead over Ryan Preece, and an advantage of 24 points over defending champ Ron Silk.

California's Kyle Larson grabbed his 2nd win and continued a red hot streak in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East G-Oil 100 on Saturday. The 20 year old rookie was a half a car length better than Corey LaJoie at the checkered flag. Darrell Wallace, Jr. took 3rd place, Dylan Kwasniewski was 4th, and Chase Elliott battled back for 5th. Rally racing king Travis Pastrana enjoyed a 7th place finish, former Westfield driver Dale Quarterley drove a much improved car during the 2nd half of the race to 9th, and Jeff Anton of Russell came in 17th. Kyle Larson's win continues an incredible run of 9 top 10 finishes in 11 starts this season. Larson trails leader Brett Moffitt by just 3 points in the championship standings, with LaJoie 12 points back in 3rd, and Elliott 13 markers behind in 4th.

Joining Larson in NHMS Victory Lane was NASCAR Sprint Cup Owner/Driver Tony Stewart. The pair was off for a night of dirt track racing to Ohio's Big E, Eldora Speedway, which is owned by Stewart. Larson has also made 2 starts this season in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, coming in 6th and 10th.

Eddie MacDonald was 5th in the standings coming into Saturday's K&N race at the Magic Mile. His #71 Chevrolet was credited with an 8th place finish in the G-Oil 100 and MacDonald dropped from 5th to 6th in the standings, just 1 point behind Bryan Ortiz. But make no mistake, Eddie MacDonald and his team can be the pebble in the shoe of a number of the K&N teams that have more resources. MacDonald has no affiliation with a Sprint Cup team, is not someone's development driver, has a smaller budget than a number of the teams he races against, and prepares his car in a facility smaller than many of the homes being built today. But MacDonald's top 5 or top 10 points run is an accomplishment in itself. But the driver is not totally satisfield.

MacDonald told 22News, "The finishes haven't really been there that we wanted. But we're still working hard at it and trying to stay consistant. We do know what we're up against too, so we kind of have a little reality check too."

Ray Parent of Tiverton, Rhode Island was the surprise winner of the 4th annual Bond Auto Parts American-Canadian Tour Invitational at NHMS. Patrick Laperle ran 2nd with Joey Pole Polewarczyk nabbed 3rd. Tom Carey, Jr. of New Salem, Mass. came in 6th.