By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
LANCASTER, N.Y. -- Justin Bonsignore came up just a few feet short of his second NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win of the season on Saturday, July 31, in the tour’s inaugural stop at New York International (Lancaster) Speedway in New York. Bonsignore was fastest in qualifying driving the Kenneth Massa Motorsports No. 51, qualified in third, and led some laps in the middle of the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150. On a caution with just 27 laps to go, Bonsignore and the team went to work on pit road, with fresh Hoosier rubber, but lost a few spots in the pits. Bonsignore rallied back to second spot, chasing down leader and hometown favorite Patrick Emerling -- hounding the back bumper of his closest championship contender right down to the final lap. Heading into turn three on the final lap, Bonsignore pulled alongside Emerling and the two had a drag-race to the stripe -- with Emerling edging out for the win. Bonsignore settled for second, his seventh top-five in the first eight races of the season. “Congrats to Patrick, it sucks to lose, especially to the guy you're battling for points,” Bonsignore said. “But the car was amazing on the long run. We picked a bad time to have our worst pit stop in five years. But the guys are always balanced out. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. We win and we lose as a team. Happy to get back to second. It was a really good night.” With the runner-up finish, Bonsignore lost a few points to Emerling, but still leads the Whelen Modified Tour championship point standings heading to the final six races of the season. Justin Bonsignore will return to the track on Friday, August 6, with the next NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour event at Stafford Motor Speedway. For more information on Justin Bonsignore, visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his athlete page on Facebook.
0 Comments
By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. -- Two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore leads the series to another new track this weekend as the points leader. The driver of the Kenneth Massa Motorsports, Phoenix Communications No. 51 leads the point standings by 10 points over Patrick Emerling -- as the series rolls to New York International (Lancaster) Speedway on Saturday, July 31 for the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150. The visit to the half-mile New York oval may fit right into Bonsignore’s wheelhouse. The team often performs well on new tracks, and is coming off a strong second-place finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last time out. The Lancaster event begins a crucial second half of the season stretch for Bonsignore in his chase for a third Whelen Modified Tour championship. Just six days after Lancaster, the tour will be back on track at Stafford Motor Speedway on August 6. “I’m excited to get to another new race track in a great part of the country in upstate and western New York,” Bonsignore said. “They have a lot of great fans out there. I always love the challenge of a new race track and we typically run well at them. It’s gonna be a tough learning curve and a tough battle. Hopefully we can keep the momentum going on the Whelen Modified Tour.” Saturday’s race day schedule includes one practice session from 2-3:15 p.m., with Mayhew Tools pole qualifying set for 5 p.m. The green flag for the Nu-Way Auto Parts 150 is set to drop at 8 p.m., and the race will air live on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. It will also be on TV, tape-delayed on NBCSN on Wednesday, August 11, at 2 p.m. For more information on Justin Bonsignore, visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his Athlete page on Facebook. For more information on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, visit NASCAR.com. By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
EPPING, N.H. -- After 125 grueling laps in the 10th annual SBM Classic at Star Speedway, Justin Bonsignore scored a seventh-place finish on Saturday, July 24. Competing in the third round of the Tri Track Open Modified Series season, Bonsignore, driving the Jimmy Paige prepared No. 00, finished second in his qualifying heat and ran inside the top-five for the first half of the race. Following a pit stop near the halfway point, Bonsignore worked his way from the bottom of the top-10 back into the top-five, and was up to third at one point in his quest to collect the winning check. However, a few late restarts and a differing tire strategy didn’t allow him to finish in the top-five. Bonsignore was able to score a solid seventh-place finish, his second top-10 run in Tri Track competition this season. “We were pretty good at the start of the race and before the pit stop I thought we were in good shape,” Bonsignore said. “We just didn’t make the right adjustment on the pit stop. We got bounced around a bit, lost a few spots… I’m just happy we were able to roll it in the trailer and head to the next race.” The next Tri Track Open Modified Series event on Bonsignore’s schedule is Saturday, August 14 at Monadnock Speedway. Bonsignore will return to the track with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour at New York International (Lancaster) Speedway on Saturday, July 31. For more information on Justin Bonsignore, visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his athlete page on Facebook. By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. -- Justin Bonsignore’s busy stretch of Modified racing continues this Saturday, July 24, at Star Speedway in Epping, New Hampshire. The Tri Track Open Modified Series is heading back to the track for their third race of the season, and Bonsignore will drive the Jimmy Paige prepared No. 00 in the 125-lap special event. The race is the 10th annual SBM classic -- showcasing some of the top talent in all of Modified racing from across the country, with a purse of more than $65,000 on the line, with multiple special awards. The base purse to win the race is $6,000. The last time Bonsignore was at Star Speedway, on May 22, he was running inside the top-five with Tri Track late in the race before an overheating issue sidelined him from the finish. Since then, the series had practice at Seekonk Speedway on June 30 in preparation for a $10,000 to win race, but it was postponed to August 25 due to a power outage at the track. He’s hoping the May tune-up at Star was enough to prepare the team for success this time. “We’ve definitely been hitting on something since the first time at Star and had fast cars at the track right off the truck,” Bonsignore said. “Bummed that we couldn’t get the Seekonk race in before the postponement last time out, because I felt like we had a really good car. We were strong at Star in May before our issue, and I’m really excited to have a shot at winning this race. Hopefully we can start towards the front, lead some laps, hit the pit strategy and be in contention for the win.” The schedule for Saturday’s race events begins with Tri Track practice from 1:30-2:30 p.m., with qualifying heats set to begin just after 3:30 p.m. The 10th annual SBM 125 is set to take the green flag at approximately 6:30 p.m., and for those who can’t make it to the track, the race will air live on Speed51.TV. For more information on the Tri Track Open Modified Series, visit tritrackmodifieds.com and follow the series on social media. For more information on Justin Bonsignore, visit JustinBonsignore.com and visit his athlete page on Facebook. By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
LOUDON, N.H. — If it wasn’t for the final few feet, Justin Bonsignore may have been in Victory Lane on Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The driver of the Kenneth Massa Motorsports prepared No. 51 led the most laps in the Whelen 100, dominating the early stages of the race with NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece, and was in position on the last lap to score the win. When the field exited turn two on the final circuit, Bonsignore dove to the inside of leader Ron Silk — and Silk went to block him, and the two made typical New Hampshire contact. Into turn three, Silk drove up the track, trying to hold off Preece, who was charging on the outside, and Bonsignore slid to the bottom. The Holtsville, New York, native worked the inside of Silk into the final corner, and Bonsignore came off turn four in the lead. However, the car stumbled, running low on fuel, and Preece was able to slide by in the final few feet to take the win. Bonsignore finished second, scoring his ninth career top-five run at the ‘Magic Mile’, and posting a strong points day in the Whelen Modified Tour championship effort. “We play these races back on video and try to study and figure out what we can do on the last lap,” Bonsignore said. “We were just waiting for the end. I pushed Ron out front on the restart, and I knew Ron was going to throw the block. Preece was going to have a good run, but the car stumbled off turn four. But, we had an amazing car -- I can’t remember how many times someone had a lead like we had today. It was a really good day, with a really good car.” Leaving New Hampshire, Bonsignore took over the points lead for the Whelen Modified Tour in chase of his second consecutive, and third overall, championship. The next tour race on the schedule is set for Saturday, July 31, at New York International (Lancaster) Speedway. Justin Bonsignore will return to the track on Saturday, July 24, with the Tri Track Open Modified Series at Star Speedway. For more information on Justin Bonsignore, visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his athlete page on Facebook. By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. -- Two-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore returns to the track in NASCAR action for the first time in nearly one month this weekend at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Set to compete in the Whelen 100 at the ‘Magic Mile’, Bonsignore will drive the No. 51 Phoenix Communications machine for Kenneth Massa Motorsports hoping to score his second career points paying win at New Hampshire. Bonsignore’s first victory at the 1.058-mile oval was in 2016, and he also won the non-points Whelen All-Star Shootout at the track in 2018. With the restrictor plate racing that New Hampshire offers -- including drafting and tight packs of cars racing for the win late -- Bonsignore knows it’s going to be a tough task to win. He will enter the race just three points behind points leader Patrick Emerling in the title chase. “Definitely excited to get back going,” Bonsignore said. “It was a nice month off to regroup and get ready for the rest of the year. It’s pretty wide-open from here to the end of the year -- but the break was good for everyone to get organized for the final push that we hope will separate us from the rest of the pack. New Hampshire is like our Daytona 500. We’re anxious and excited to see where we stack up and we need to be in position towards the end to have a shot at it.” Saturday’s race day schedule will include quick turnarounds for race teams -- with just one practice session from 10-11 a.m., followed by Mayhew Tools pole qualifying at 11:30 a.m. The Whelen 100 will take the green flag at 12:45 p.m. The race will air live to a national audience on NBC Sports Gold and their TrackPass platform. For more information on Justin Bonsignore, visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his athlete page on Facebook. |
Archives
November 2023
|