Bonsignore returns to winning ways at monadnock

Photo: (Kathryn Riley/NASCAR)

WINCHESTER, N.H. — That didn’t take long.

After a pair of races out of Victory Lane, Justin Bonsignore found himself right back on familiar ground as he executed a late pass on Ron Silk to capture the Advanced Gas Distributors Inc. 200 Wade Cole Memorial Sunday afternoon at Monadnock Speedway.

It was Bonsignore’s third win in five races on the season and his sixth in the last 10 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour events dating back to last Aug. 31.

To cap his 29th career win, he wheeled the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet in a slide across the finish line — 1.085 seconds ahead of Silk. Jon McKennedy won the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award in qualifying and led the first 61 laps before Silk, who was fastest in practice and qualified third, got past him. Bonsignore tracked him down and the two swapped the top spot before Bonsignore took it for good with 25 laps remaining.

Bonsignore’s 29th career tour win moved him back into a tie with six-time champion Doug Coby, who finished third, for sixth on the all-time wins list. More importantly, it bumped Bonsignore’s championship points lead back up to 16 over Coby. After winning the first two races of the season, back-to-back fifth-place runs had chipped away at the Long Island driver’s lead.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, which significantly altered the 2020 Whelen Modified schedule, Monadnock was a late addition. But the return to the quarter-mile for the first time since 2016 was a welcome addition for Bonsignore, who won there in 2013 and ’14.

RELATED: Complete Results | Justin Bonsignore Career Wins

The Advanced Gas Distributors Inc. 200 Wade Cole Memorial, which streamed live on TrackPass on NBC Gold, was postponed from Saturday to Sunday by weather. Anthony Nocella finished fourth and Ronnie Williams fifth. Matt Hirschman, Woody Pitkat, Sam Rameau, McKennedy and Craig Lutz completed the top 10. Lutz and McKennedy are tied for third in points, 30 points back of Bonsignore.

The Whelen Modified Tour will have a quick turnaround, racing at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Connecticut on Wednesday, Sept. 2.