Tom Bowles of Frontstretch.com recently spoke to Doug Coby, who will make his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut at Bristol Motor Speedway in September.
Coby discussed how the opportunity with GMS Racing came together for Bristol and believing the Truck Series would be a natural fit for himself.
Bowles: Congrats on that deal with GMS Racing. Was that the first time you‘ve ever been offered a Truck deal, even with six championships in the Whelen Modified Series?
Coby: Right opportunity, right time. By chance, Mike Beam (GMS Racing President) drew my name for celebrity crew chief. He and I connected pretty quickly and he knew I was hungry to win that race. Man, he wanted to make the car as good as he could for me within Ray (Evernham, SRX co-founder)‘s rules. I think as the day went on, Mike hopefully saw the maturity that I have, the knowledge that I have, the feel for the car and what I wanted.
He trusted me and I trusted him. I let him make the final decision, but I just told him what I really needed in order to get the job done. I think that went a long way.
He told me, I‘m going to try and get you in a Truck, and it‘s probably going to be at Bristol. And I said, ‘OK, let‘s go.‘ And that‘s the first time anybody‘s ever called and said, ‘Hey, let‘s do this.‘ And it was really never about what [money] I could bring to the table.
Realistically, if I had money that I need to have to run Xfinity or Trucks, I could have done it years ago. There‘s opportunities if you have the funding. But that‘s just never been my focus. I‘ll take a lot of the blame for that.
Bowles: Well, you say you‘re old but there are plenty of full-time drivers running in their 40s, even their 50s. If there‘s a full-time Truck Series ride that opens up, are you open to taking it at this point in your career?
Coby: Well, of course I am, yeah. I‘ve always thought for the past several years, if I were to go anywhere, I‘ve felt that the Truck Series would be a natural fit. I‘ve always admired there were a nice mix of older and younger drivers in that series. That‘s really what‘s going to make the younger drivers better is having them compete against the Matt Craftons and the Johnny Sauters. You need more of them.
