MODIFIED SPOTLIGHT: Coby Finds Comfort Zone

MILFORD, Conn. – There was a time, hard as it is to believe, when Doug Coby didn't see him being a Modified driver.

Fast-forward to 2013, and the reigning NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has become entrenched not only as a fixture on the Tour but also as one of the insightful voices among a small handful of active champions.

Coby's abilities – and his personality – seem well suited to the Little Engine That Could team owned by Wayne Darling.

“Once you're comfortable in your own skin, with your own team, you can have a lot more fun with it,” said Coby, whose father was a Modified driver at Riverside Park and Stafford Speedway a generation ago. “It's really pretty funny, because I always joke with (multi-time Tour champion) Mike Stefanik now. He came to all our quarter-midget banquets as a guest speaker when I was a kid. Now he tells me that I'm the one who's going to be going to those quarter-midget banquets.”

It was a strange path to Modified success for Coby. While fellow Tour champions like Ron Silk or Todd Szegedy grew up racing go-karts and then graduated into Modifieds, Coby started out in full-bodied stock cars. He won the final Pro Stock championship at Stafford in 2000, and then found himself searching for what was next.

Rubbin's Racing, Right?

Kyle Busch's name offends fans more than his actions

Kyle Busch led most of the Darlington Raceway but was pushed for the lead by Kasey Kahne on a late restart.  Kahne pulled ahead of him briefly in turns 3 and 4 before Busch dive-bombed the corner in turn 1.  Unable to hold the corner, the No. 18 slid up the track toward the No. 5's rear left side.

As the two separated, Kahne's car went for spin and the NASCAR community went with him.  Multiple replays were inconclusive in determining whether or not Busch actually made contact, but every fan seemed to have a concrete answer: some saying there was clearly contact, some saying there was clearly no contact at all.

As usual, Kyle Busch was a catalyst for a NASCAR debate.  Even the driver's themselves weren't sure about the contact.

Magic Mile Power Rankings

Race 11 - Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway

Matt Kenseth proved once again that the move he made this offseason to Joe Gibbs Racing was the right one, winning for the third time this season and second time in four weeks.

Kenseth wasn't the only one celebrating in the Joe Gibbs camp on Saturday night, however, as Denny Hamlin finished second in his first full race back from a back injury and Kyle Busch led 265 laps en route to a sixth-place finish.

In exactly 10 words for each driver, here's a look at the Magic Mile Power Rankings* heading into Saturday night's All-Star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

FANTASY: Oh My Darling

Bojangles' Southern 500 Fantasy Preview

Jeff Gordon heads to Darlington in need of a win and
has seven victories at the track in his career. (Getty)

NASCAR is in its southern swing right now.  The past two races have ended in green-white-checkered finishes.  Front Row Motorsports won last week's race at Talladega, and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing nearly did the same the previous week.  Both teams did that with drivers running well outside the top-20 in this year's standings.

As the trip through the South continues and the Sprint Cup Series unloads in Darlington, S.C., is there any reason to think that a track nicknamed "Too Tough To Tame" will be the one that provides a rare dull race?  I doubt it.

The drivers have to be excited about leaving a Talladega track known for its big wrecks and heading to the egg-shaped oval that holds clearer expectations for their performance.  In preparation for the Yahoo! Fantasy Auto Racing week, let's take a look at this week's favorites:

The Track

Darlington Raceway has a few nicknames.  "Too Tough To Tame" being one and "The Lady in Black" being another.  It's one of the series most historic tracks, having hosted the Cup Series since 1950.  The 1.366-mile length qualifies Darlington as an intermediate, but it is far from the cookie-cutter variety.  When it was built by Harold Brasington, it was done so with the agreement that it wouldn't disrupt the former land owner's minnow pond on the west side of the track.  This resulted in the turn 1 and 2 area being much tighter than in turns 3 and 4, so as not to extend into the pond.

A Front Row Finish

David Ragan brought Front Row Motorsports to
victory lane for the first time on Sunday. (Getty)

"Really?  David Ragan!  Really!?"

I yelled that at no one in particular when Ragan's No. 34 held off the No. 99 of Carl Edwards, as they headed through Talladega Superspeedway's tri-oval and toward the start/finish line.

I certainly wasn't mad.  Sure, I was content with Edwards winning the race and continuing his strong start to the season, but I wasn't frustrated to see Ragan pull ahead.  I knew that of all the drivers, Ragan deserved a win more than most.  My reaction was more shock that it was his Front Row Motorsports Ford that was taking the checkered flag at the end of a wild and rain-delayed Aaron's 499.

Perhaps it was the ensuing darkness that was playing tricks on my eyes?  Perhaps the NASCAR on FOX crew was having trouble identifying the cars at that time of evening?

Nope.

Low and behold, when the race ended, it was the No. 34 that crossed the line first and brought owner Bob Jenkins and his Front Row Motorsports outfit to victory lane for the first time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.