MODIFIEDS: Doug Coby’s return to the tour ends early due to engine failure
by Ben Schneider / LASTCAR.info Staff Writer
On Saturday, September 20, 2025, Doug Coby finished last in the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway when his No. 7(NY) Tommy Baldwin Racing entry fell out with an engine failure after 6 of 101 laps.
The finish came in Bollman’s 290th career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start.
The Baldwin name is synonymous with the Modified Tour. The late Tom Baldwin Sr. competed in modified racing for four decades until his death in 2004, when he was killed in an accident at Thompson International Speedway. His son, Tommy Baldwin Jr., enjoyed a successful career as a mechanic, crew chief, and Busch Series team owner before starting a Cup Series team in 2009. Over eight full-time seasons, TBR enjoyed its most success with Dave Blaney behind the wheel, finishing third at Talladega in 2011 and nearly stealing the win in the 2012 Daytona 500, leading the race on an off-sequence pit strategy when Juan Pablo Montoya infamously hit a jet dryer under caution. Blaney ultimately finished 15th in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
TBR sold its charter to Leavine Family Racing at the end of 2016. Baldwin kept the team in Cup on a part-time basis in 2017 and briefly revived the team in 2020, but has since turned his ownership efforts fully to the Modified Tour (He remains active in the Cup Series as competition director for Rick Ware Racing.)
Around the same time, Coby emerged as one of the best on the Modified Tour. The veteran driver won his first series championship for team owner Wayne Darling in 2012 before joining Mike Smeriglio III’s team in 2014, where he would go on to win five more championships in the next six seasons before Smeriglio sold the team at the end of 2019. Coby’s success led to him purchasing one of Smeriglio’s cars and starting his own operation in 2020, also an opportunity to run at Stafford in the short-lived Superstart Racing Experience (SRX) in 2021. A win in that SRX event, in turn, led to a Truck Series start at Bristol with GMS later that year - to date, this is Coby’s only start in NASCAR’s three national touring divisions.
After starting the 2022 season on the sidelines, Coby teamed up wth Baldwin as a relief driver for Jimmy Blewett, winning his first start for the team at Riverhead. Coby, Blewett, and Mike Christopher Jr. ultimately combined to win the Owners’ Championship for TBR that season, and the team signed Coby full-time for 2023 later that offseason.
Baldwin and Coby’s 2023 season was interrupted by a cancer diagnosis for Baldwin, leading the team to scale back to part-time and only run two of the series’ final seven races that season. Thankfully, Baldwin entered remission in 2024, and the team returned to the Modified Tour with Coby for five races that season, with Coby’s season-best of third coming at the season-opener at New Smyrna.
In 2025, Baldwin’s son, Luke, started the season as the team’s full-time driver, running the first 11 races with a best finish of second at North Wilkesboro. With Luke committed to competing for the SMART Modified Tour championship, TBR skipped Race 12 at Oswego before reuniting with Coby for Race 13 at New Hampshire. Despite the pair’s past success together, Coby struggled for speed in practice and qualifying, ultimately having to settle for a 21st-place starting spot.
Mike Marshall’s No. 29 sits last on the grid (PHOTO: Ben Schneider, @bcschneider53)
On race day, Mike Marshall lined up 27th and last on the grid. While Marshall led the last-place spot for the first several laps, the position was quickly secured by Coby, whose engine proved to be the culprit of the team’s struggles. While Coby’s return to the Modified Tour was much shorter-lived than expected, the result is not at all indicative of the passion and heart shown by both driver and team throughout their storied careers. Marshall, meanwhile, ultimately persevered to finish 15th, equaling his career-best in the series.
At the front of the field, Tyler Rypkema picked up his first career victory in spectacular style, crossing the finish line with only three wheels after contact with Justin Bonsignore put him into the outside wall coming off of Turn 4 to take the checkered flag.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
27) #7-Doug Coby / 6 laps / engine
26) #14-Jacob Lutz / 16 laps / engine
25) #15-Joey Cipriano III / 29 laps / crash
24) #16-Ron Silk / 65 laps / crash
23) #77-Gary Putnam / 72 laps / suspension
