Kentucky Fried Competition: Carolina’s Coble Dominates Humpy Hundred Weekend
by Jason Buckley
Rivalries are legendary in the sports world. In the National Football League there is the Washington Redskins and the Dallas Cowboys, Major League Baseball has the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox and the National Hockey League has the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Blackhawks. The fans are fanatic and the players step up their game when playing against their traditional rival.
In Legends racing, rivalries form at the driver versus driver level, or sometimes team versus team. But a few form at the state borderline. When an outsider comes to another state to race, the locals do everything they can to send the driver back to their state without a trophy or their dignity. On the other end, the outsider does what they can to show up the locals in their own playground.
Carolinas driver Mitchell Coble did just that this past weekend at Kentucky Speedway, dominating the “Humpy Hundred” on Saturday, following it up with another win Sunday in the combined Pro/Masters Legends race in a weekend doubleheader at the famed track.
“It is cool to win at Kentucky (being from North Carolina),” said Coble. “When you pull up they definitely know who you are. There is a competitive edge between the local drivers and the outsiders.”
Coble, coming off a win at Friendship Motor Speedway (NC) a few weeks back, unloaded his #4 Legends car as the man to beat in Kentucky for the special 100-lap race. He carried that momentum throughout the weekend.
“Saturday in practice we were the fastest,” said Coble. “We qualified on the pole and dropped back to third on the start of the race. Clay Hair and Paddy Rodenbeck got by us there. Then we passed them back about lap 30 and led the rest of the race.
Carolinas driver Mitchell Coble traveled to Kentucky, claiming two wins. (photo courtesy John Hendrick / HendrickSportsPhoto.com)
“On Sunday we were second quickest in practice and started second as well. Clay got by me on the start. We raced it out until lap 25 and we came out the winner. It was a pretty cool weekend for us.”
Not only did Coble beat the local Kentucky and KOIL Series drivers, he bested one of Carolina’s best Masters drivers and another leading Pro driver to win his second-career “Humpy Hundred” race, both in different car makes.
“We had a lot of fun racing Clay and Paddy in the ‘Humpy Hundred’ on Saturday,” said Coble. “It feels real good to beat them. You can tell anyone you beat Clay and they know who you are talking about. He has a place in racing history, and that makes it special to beat him.
Mitchell Coble's #4 Legends car is well known across the Carolinas. (LN Photo)
“It was also a real special win because I won the ‘Humpy Hundred’ in 2005 driving a Bandolero. We are probably the only driver to win it in both a Bandolero and a Legends.”
Coble only had a few days to enjoy his “outsider” victories as it was back to business in the Carolinas for the young driver, preparing for the June 12th start of the Summer Shootout at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (NC).
“That is three wins in a row for us,” said Coble. “It is building a lot of momentum two weeks before the Summer Shootout. We will be testing at Lowe’s (Lowe’s Motor Speedway) Tuesday night, and who knows. We might make it four or five wins in a row this weekend. We will probably head over to Friendship on Saturday and see how we do there. We will probably scuff in some tires for the Shootout and use it as a test. Then go down to Lowe’s on Monday night and get the car dialed in for Tuesday.
“Our goal for the Summer Shootout is to just win some races and hopefully come out good in the championship. We are not really shooting for that though. We are just looking to win races and finish in the top-five.”
Still, Coble is enjoying his double win in Kentucky this weekend while the locals have to wait another year to try to reclaim the trophy for their state.
“It was fun to go up to Kentucky. It was pretty laid back up there. We had a lot of fun.”
Besides Coble, Carolinas drivers Clay Hair and Parker Hammons also won the Masters and Semi Pro division races respectively, completing the Carolina sweep of all Legends action at Kentucky Speedway over the weekend. We will have more on the Carolina domination at Kentucky Speedway in the coming days on LegendsNation.com.
