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Kevin Kovac
CONCORD, N.C. (November 24) - Vic Coffey continued the rich DIRTcar big-block Modified pipeline to the World of Outlaws Late Model Series in 2008.
The Leicester, N.Y., resident became the third driver with big-block Modified roots in the last five years to win the national dirt Late Model tour's Rookie of the Year Award Presented by ButlerBuilt, joining fellow upstate New Yorkers Tim McCreadie (2004) and Tim Fuller (2007).
It was a satisfying accomplishment for the 37-year-old Coffey, who began the 2008 campaign without concrete plans to chase the WoO LMS.
"We started out taking it one race at a time," said Coffey, who entered the season-opening Alltel DIRTcar Nationals events in February at Florida's Volusia Speedway Park but skipped the next WoO LMS show six weeks later at Pike County Speedway in Magnolia, Miss. "Then, the next thing you know, we're going to every race."
Indeed, after bypassing the 'March Through Dixie 100' at Pike County, Coffey became a WoO LMS regular. He entered 38 of the season's 43 overall events, with his only absences over the remaining months coming in the four races run on Canadian soil.
Though Coffey took his share of lumps during a season that saw him score a modest two top-five and nine top-10 finishes, he cruised to the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year crown. With a driver's best 30 finishes used to determine the top rookie, Coffey's total of 3,921 points easily outdistanced fellow DIRTcar big-block Modified converts Joe Isabell of Pennellville, N.Y. (3,090 points) and Danny Johnson of Phelps, N.Y. (2,437 points).
Coffey, who also finished 10th in the overall WoO LMS points standings, will receive a Rookie of the Year check worth $15,000 during the tour's 'Night of Champions' Awards Banquet on Dec. 11 at the International Plaza Resort & Spa in Orlando, Fla.
"As a racer you always think you could have done better, but we're real proud of our season," said Coffey, who became known as the 'Captain' while on the road this season. "We knew we were going to struggle going to so many new places and running against the competition with the Outlaws, but our goal was to win the Rookie of the Year and get better with a Late Model and we did that.
"You don't learn anything if you don't race against the best, so doing (the WoO LMS) got us up to speed with the Late Model. I don't think we could've gotten any better experience than we did this year. This was definitely the most I've ever learned in a single season."
A two-time victor (2002 and 2007) of DIRTcar big-block Modified racing's marquee $50,000-to-win Rite Aid 200 at the one-mile New York State Fairgrounds oval in Syracuse, N.Y., Coffey came to the WoO LMS this season after dabbling in dirt Late Model competition since 2003. His handful of annual full-fender starts included a feature win on Sept. 9, 2007, at Little Valley (N.Y.) Speedway.
Despite his dirt Late Model inexperience, Coffey certainly wasn't an unknown quantity to WoO LMS denizens when he finally made his Rookie of the Year intentions known. Competing out of the same Avon, N.Y.-based Sweeteners Plus Racing stable that propelled McCreadie to the WoO LMS Rookie of the Year Award and the 2006 tour points championship, he enjoyed an immediate measure of familiarity with teams and fans. In addition, Coffey entered 2008 with 10 career WoO LMS A-Main starts to his credit, including a top finish of fourth on June 24, 2007, at Cayuga County Fair Speedway in Weedsport, N.Y., and a starting berth in the historic inaugural event of the tour's World Racing Group-era on Feb. 3, 2004, at Volusia Speedway Park (a 23rd-place finish).
But while Coffey enjoyed solid backing from Sweeteners Plus team owner Carl Myers (Coffey's step-father) and a built-in reservoir of knowledge to draw upon (including teammate McCreadie, who entered 23 WoO LMS events this season, and former WoO LMS Crew Chief of the Year Tommy Grecco), it was up to him to make his own mark on the tour.
Coffey did that by grounding out a workmanlike campaign, learning the ropes of big-time dirt Late Model racing beyond the headlines. Considering that neither his racing arsenal nor his race car transporter was truly ready for the grind of the complete WoO LMS schedule, he came out of the experience stronger and battle-tested.
"Having just one car for most of the year was the biggest challenge," analyzed Coffey, who traveled a majority of the tour with mechanic Johnny Cocco and truck driver Dave ('Frog') Griepsma (Grecco joined them at selected events). "We had two cars in Florida to start the year, but then the frame got bent on one of them and we didn't fix it and other cars we ordered took longer to get than we thought, so we basically went from April to August with one car. We had motors and spare parts, but it was tough keeping one car up with all the racing we did.
"When we finally went to two cars (a Victory Circle chassis joined Coffey's tried-and-true Rocket late in the summer), we actually had to find space in the trailer to put our stuff. We had been putting all our tires upstairs where the second car goes, so we lost all that space when we started bringing along another car.
"We weren't really equipped this year to do this deal out of this trailer," he added. "We raced a lot with the Modifieds, but we didn't spend the time on the road like you do with the Outlaws. You need more tire racks and space for spare parts in the trailer if you're gonna be on the road for weeks at a time and you need living quarters in the hauler, and we didn't have that."
Coffey and Co. were unique in that they were only WoO LMS regulars who didn't travel in huge, house-on-wheels rigs. The team's trailer was pulled by a standard semi-tractor, forcing them to find hotels each night on the road.
"With this (hauler) not having living quarters in it, we couldn't just pull over whenever we wanted to and sleep or stay at the track," said Coffey, who became a father for the third time in the midst of his traveling when his wife Jillian gave birth to a boy, Kasey, in April. "Searching for hotels and unloading in parking lots to work on the car instead of going straight to the next track made traveling a little different for us. Being better equipped with the hauler will make life much easier."
Coffey is already gearing up for a bigger assault on the 2009 WoO LMS, starting with plans for a transporter that's more up to touring code. He'll roll into the new campaign with confidence as well after registering his best runs of '08 late in the season. The two top-five finishes on Coffey's ledger came in a span of five events heading down the stretch - a fourth (matching his career-best WoO LMS outing) on Aug. 29 at Bedford (Pa.) Speedway and a fifth on Oct. 7 at Fayetteville (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
"Those (Bedford and Fayetteville) races would have to be the highlights of our season," said Coffey, who also recorded his first career WoO LMS Fast Time honor on July 13 at North Dakota's Williston Basin Speedway. "It felt good to have some good runs, some top-fives, before the season ended. I think it shows that we're there, we're getting better.
"It gives us something to build on for next year."
For more information on the WoO LMS, visit www.worldofoutlaws.com.
2008 World of Outlaws Late Model Series Rookie of the Year Points Standings (points determined using drivers' best 30 finishes ):
1. Vic Coffey/Leicester, NY (38 races) - 3,921 points
2. Joe Isabell/Pennellville, NY (39 races) - 3,090 points
3. Danny Johnson/Phelps, NY (25 races) - 2,437 points
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