 (Photo: Billie Weiss/NASCAR) STORY BY NASCAR.COM
THOMPSON, Conn. — In a surprise to no one, Justin Bonsignore was fastest at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Thursday. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship points leader paced the one-hour practice session for the evening’s Thompson 150. The event marks the tour’s 2020 return to the historic .625-mile paved oval. Bonsignore drove the No. 51 Phoenix Communications LLC. Chevrolet to a fast lap of 18.974 seconds (118.583 mph). RELATED: Complete Practice Results The Long Island driver has 12 career wins at Thompson, including seven wins and a second in the last eight races. Doug Coby, the only other winner at Thompson in the last two years, was second quick at 19.013 (118.340). Timmy Solomito, the 2016 Icebreaker winner at Thompson, was third quick at 19.015 (118.328). Chris Pasteryak and Ron Silk were fourth and fifth, respectively. Ronnie Williams, Eric Goodale, Craig Lutz, Ryan Preece, and Jon McKennedy rounded out the top 10. Preece, the former NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion and current NASCAR Cup Series driver, is making his first tour start of the year.
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 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.  Justin Bonsignore (right) celebrates his Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole award with crew chief Ryan Stone. (Nate Smallwood/NASCAR) STORY BY NASCAR.COM
JENNERSTOWN, Pa. — Justin Bonsignore started on the pole and led every lap in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener at Jennerstown Speedway back in June. He’ll get the chance to try to do it again Saturday night. Bonsignore piloted the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet to the Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Award in qualifying Saturday at Jennerstown. He posted a lap of 18.238 seconds (103.038 mph) as the last car to take time for the Laurel Highlands 150 (7 p.m. ET, TrackPass on NBC Gold). It is Bonsignore’s 14th career pole. RELATED: Complete Qualifying Results | Justin Bonsignore Career Poles He knocked Dave Sapienza off the top spot with his run. Sapienza, who was fastest in practice, qualified second at 18.292 (102.733). Doug Coby qualified third at 18.294 (102.722). Coby trails Bonsignore by nine points heading into the fourth race of the season. Anthony Nocella and Craig Lutz qualified fourth and fifth, respectively. Matt Swanson, Patrick Emerling, Jon McKennedy, Woody Pitkat and Timmy Catalano completed the top 10.  Justin Bonsignore & team are heading back to Jennerstown Speedway following a win at the New York oval in June. (Nate Smallwood/NASCAR) STORY BY NASCAR.COM
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s first trip to Jennerstown Speedway in more than a decade could not have gone better for Justin Bonsignore. The tour will return to the Pennsylvania track Saturday for the Laurel Highlands 150 after just two months away, and the Holtsville, New York, driver will look for a repeat performance to pad his tour championship points lead. It’s six-time champion Doug Coby, however, who won the most recent NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers and there are a host of new names that have started 2020 with strong runs as they look to break into the title picture. Unlike the opener, which was held with empty grandstands, fans will be allowed for Saturday’s Laurel Highlands 150. WHAT TO WATCH FOR Bonsignore won the Mayhew Tools Pole Award and led every lap in the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet in the first race at Jennerstown. He’ll look to keep that perfect streak alive Saturday, as the race distance goes from 133 to 150, and will feature live pit stops instead of a halfway break. It wasn’t necessarily as easy as the box score indicated, though. Craig Lutz and Jon McKennedy both put together strong runs to finish second and third, respectively. Kyle Bonsignore, Calvin Carroll, Dave Sapienza and Chris Pasteryak are among a host of drivers who have put together several strong runs over the tour’s first three races. Lutz, McKennedy and Bonsignore each have one career win apiece, while the others are looking for that first victory. And then there’s Coby. The defending tour champion scored his first win as a driver/owner when the tour made its second stop of the season to New Hampshire’s White Mountain Motorsports Park. He’ll look to make similar gains after an uncharacteristic seventh-place run in the opener. RACE FACTS: RACE: LAUREL HIGHLANDS 150 PLACE: Jennerstown Speedway, Jennerstown, Pa. DATE: Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020 TIME: 7 p.m. ET LIVE TV/RADIO: Trackpass on NBC Gold 7 p.m. ET TAPE DELAY TV: NBCSN — Monday, Aug. 31, 3 p.m. ET TRACK LAYOUT: .522-mile paved oval EVENT SCHEDULE: Saturday, Aug. 22 — Garage opens: 1:15 p.m. ET; Practice: 3:45-4:30 p.m.; Qualifying: 5:45 p.m.; Laurel Highlands 150: 7 p.m. TWITTER: @jtownspeedway, @NASCARRoots HASHTAG: #NWMT RACE CENTER | ENTRY LIST | RACE SCHEDULE CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Laurel Highlands 150 is limited to 30, including provisional positions. The field will be set by qualifying (1-24) and provisional process per the entry blank (25-30) for the Laurel Highlands 150. In the event that qualifying as stated on this entry blank does not take place for any unforeseen circumstance, the field will be set in accordance with the 2020 NASCAR Touring Series Rule Book. QUALIFYING: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. Vehicles will be impounded after qualifying. Vehicle must qualify on race set up. The Laurel Highlands 150 will be 150 laps (78.3 miles) and is to be run in one (1) segments. The tire change rule is three (3) tires, any position. To utilize the third change tire, teams will designate a practice tire purchased at Jennerstown Speedway to be the third change tire. The maximum tire allotment available for this event is as follows: Four (4) tires for practice and four (4) for qualifying and to start the race, plus an additional two (2) for a total of 10 (10) tires.  Justin Bonsignore picked up his second win of the Whelen Modified Tour season at White Mountain Motorsports Park. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR) STORY BY NASCAR.COM
NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. — The first win was a dominating performance. The second was a late pass with a little help from the front bumper. In the end, Justin Bonsignore is 2-for-2 on the 2020 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. The Holtsville, New York, driver used a bump-and-run to wrestle the lead away from Matt Hirschman with seven laps to go and then withstood a challenge from Hirschman and Doug Coby on a green-white-checkered finish to win the Independence Day 200 in the tour’s inaugural visit to White Mountain Motorsports Park. Bonsignore led every lap in winning the season opener at Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway. Saturday night, he dogged Hirschman in the closing laps before pushing him out of the way and claiming the lead. A late caution pushed the race to 205 laps and Bonsignore edged Hirschman by .127 seconds at the line. It was Bonsignore’s 28th career win, moving him into a tie with Mike Ewanitsko and defending tour champion Doug Coby for sixth all-time in tour history. RELATED: White Mountain Results | Justin Bonsignore Career Statistics Hirschman, who won the Mayhew Tools Pole Award earlier in the day, crossed the finish side-by-side with Coby. Tommy Catalano finished fourth and Woody Pitkat made a late run to finish fifth. Dave Sapienza was sixth, followed by Chris Pasteryak, Craig Lutz, Jon McKennedy and Chase Dowling. Bonsignore opened up an 11-point lead on Hirschman and a 17 point advantage on Lutz and Coby in the championship standings. The Independence Day 200 aired live on TrackPass on NBC Gold, and will re-air on Sunday, July 12, 2020 at 11 p.m. ET.  Justin Bonsignore celebrates victory in the opening race of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season. (Nate Smallwood/NASCAR) STORY BY NASCAR.COM
JENNERSTOWN, Pa. — It was 253 days between NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour races, but Justin Bonsignore still ended up in the same place. After closing out the 2019 season with a win, and then waiting through the delay brought upon by the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Holtsville, New York, driver put forth a dominating performance in the 2020 season opener at Jennerstown Speedway. Bonsignore won the Mayhew Tools Pole Award and then marched virtually unchallenged to the win in the Morocco Welding/Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair. Bonsignore’s No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet finished 1.76 seconds ahead of runner-up Craig Lutz. Only the top four finished within 10 seconds of Bonsignore on the .522-mile oval as he claimed his 27th career win. The victory moved him to within one of Mike Ewanitsko and defending tour champion Doug Coby for sixth all-time in tour history. RELATED: Jennerstown Results | Justin Bonsignore Career Wins More importantly, it have Bonsignore the early leg up in the championship chase after he finished just eight points shy of Coby last year. Jon McKennedy overcame a mid-race flat tire to charge up to third, followed by Matt Hirschman and Calvin Carroll. Ron Silk finished sixth and Coby, who qualified second, was seventh. Kyle Bonsignore, Matt Swanson and Rob Summers rounded out the top 10. The Morocco Welding/Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair aired live on Trackpass on NBC Gold, and will re-air on Saturday, June 27 at 12am ET on NBCSN. The Whelen Modified Tour will return to action on Saturday, July 4, with its inaugural visit to White Mountain Motorsports Park in North Woodstock, New Hampshire.  Justin Bonsignore scored the Mayhew Tools dominator pole award for the Jennerstown season opener. (Nate Smallwood/NASCAR) STORY BY NASCAR.COM
JENNERSTOWN, Pa. — Justin Bonsignore was the last car out in qualifying, and the last driver who could keep Doug Coby from winning yet another Mayhew Tools Pole Award. Bonsignore did just that. The 32-year-old from Holtsville, New York, posted a lap of 18.191 to claim his 13th career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour pole in qualifying for Saturday afternoon’s season opening Morocco Welding/Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair. The lap knocked Coby off the provisional pole. Coby had the fastest lap to that point at 18.278 and will start second. RELATED: Jennerstown Qualifying Results | Justin Bonsignore Career Pole Awards Coby has 30 career poles, including winning them in eight of last year’s 16 races. Patrick Emerling qualified third at 18.281, followed by Dave Sapienza and Jon McKennedy. Matt Swanson, Craig Lutz, Ronnie Williams, Matt Hirschman and Eric Goodale rounded out the top 10. Hirschman had been fastest in the morning practice session. The opening Morocco Welding/Wade Cole Memorial 133 presented by Dunleavy’s Truck & Trailer Repair is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. live on Trackpass on NBC Gold.  Justin Bonsignore celebrates his sixth win of the 2019 season in the finale at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR) A STORY BY NASCAR.COM/Kyle Souza
THOMPSON, Conn. — Celebrating on the highest stage of modified racing for the sixth time. Doug Coby sealed his sixth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship on Sunday, completing a season that put the Milford, Connecticut, driver back on top after one year away from tasting glory. The title was the sixth in the last eight years for the 40-year-old, and also helped him break a tie with Tony Hirschman with five series titles. Coby now only trails Mike Stefanik (seven) for the most Whelen Modified Tour titles in the modern era. RACING-REFERENCE: Sunoco World Series 150 Race Results "It’s just hard to put into words," Coby said. "We try to come out to have the best season of anybody, and win every race, everyone out there does. My team just finds a way to do it." Coby finished seventh in the Sunoco World Series 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, but it was enough to win him the title by eight points. It didn’t come without a bit of drama. Coby started third, but during a red flag for a multiple-car crash on lap 12, received some crucial information over the radio — oddly enough, from a fellow competitor. Woody Pitkat told Coby’s team the left-rear tire looked low on air pressure, and he was right. Coby pitted during the caution, changed the tire, and restarted deep in the field. It wasn’t long before he was back up inside the top 15, positioning himself where he needed to be to keep his points lead. By the end, seventh was enough to seal the deal. Justin Bonsignore won the season-finale, his sixth victory of the season, which helped him close the gap to just eight in the championship standings. Even though he came up short of his second consecutive Whelen Modified Tour title, Bonsignore scored victories in three of four races at Thompson this season — extending his active drivers lead to 12 wins at the Connecticut oval. "We spotted them way too many points in the beginning of the year. I’m really proud of our effort — we won a handful of races at the end of the year, and we didn’t get the championship, but we backed up our eight wins last year with six this year. Great car and a great pit stop (today)." Ron Silk finished second, while Matt Swanson, Bobby Santos III and Woody Pitkat finished the top five. Eric Goodale was sixth, followed by Coby, Chase Dowling, Rob Summers and Timmy Solomito. Behind the top two in the championship standings, Silk finished third, 62 points back, while Craig Lutz and Swanson finished the top five. The Sunoco World Series 150 will air on NBCSN on Thursday, October 17, at 7 p.m.  Justin Bonsignore will look to catch and pass Doug Coby to win his second Whelen Modified Tour championship at Thompson. (Adam Glanzman/NASCAR) STORY BY NASCAR.COM/KYLE SOUZA
Title time. After eight months of battling up and down the east coast, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion will be crowned on Sunday at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park in Connecticut. Thompson’s high-banks will end the season for the 13th consecutive year. CHAMPIONSHIP CLINCH SCENARIOS PDF SUNOCO WORLD SERIES 150 AT THOMPSON SPEEDWAY WHAT TO WATCH FOR Each of the two championship contenders are no strangers to success, either at Thompson, or in the championship battle. Doug Coby, who has five Whelen Modified Tour championships, is a six-time Thompson winner, including the Bud 150 in August. Justin Bonsignore, the defending Whelen Modified Tour champion, is an 11-time Thompson winner, including six of the last seven, and two this year. RACING-REFERENCE: Coby at Thompson | Bonsignore at Thompson Both of them are set to clash in Sunday’s 57th annual Sunoco World Series season finale. As part of a weekend that includes 20 different divisions from across New England, including the five NASCAR Whelen All-American Series track classes, the Whelen Modified Tour takes the spotlight as the final race of the weekend. If Coby earns the title, it will be his sixth in eight years, which would push him past Tony Hirschman, and into second all-time for Whelen Modified Tour titles in the modern era. The only driver ahead of both modified greats is the late Mike Stefanik, who had seven titles. Coby’s season includes four victories in 15 races, with 10 top five finishes, and eight Mayhew Tools Dominator pole awards. RACING-REFERENCE: Coby in 2019 | Bonsignore in 2019 Bonsignore, who walked away with the title last year, enters the finale looking to gain on some lost ground. His two DNF’s early in the season, combined with a finish outside the top 10 in the season-opener at Myrtle Beach Speedway, have him coming from behind. However, the Holtsville, New York, driver leads the series with five wins this season and also has nine top-five runs. Outside of the title battle, the race for third in the championship standings is tight, with Ron Silk leading Craig Lutz by just four. Lutz is coming off his first career Whelen Modified Tour victory in the NAPA Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway, while Silk has three wins driving for Kevin Stuart Motorsports. At the bottom of the top five, Matt Swanson leads a group of five drivers separated by just 10 points in the battle for fifth. RACE FACTS RACE: SUNOCO WORLD SERIES 150 PLACE: Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Thompson, Connecticut DATE: Sunday, October 13 TIME: 3:30 p.m. ET (approx.) TELEVISION: NBCSN, Thursday, October 17, 7 p.m. – FansChoice.TV (Live Broadcast) – 3:30 p.m. (approx.) TRACK LAYOUT: .625-mile banked oval 2018 WINNER: Justin Bonsignore 2018 POLE: Ronnie Williams RACEDAY SCHEDULE: Saturday: Garage Opens: 8 a.m., Practice: 11:15-12 p.m., Final Practice: 12:30-1:15 p.m., Group Qualifying: 4 p.m. Sunday: Garage Opens: 10 a.m., Autograph Session: 2:15-2:45 p.m., Sunoco World Series 150: 3:30 p.m. (approx.) TWITTER: @ThompsonSpdwy, @NASCARHomeTrack HASHTAG: #SunocoWorldSeries, #NWMTRACE CENTER | ENTRY LIST CREW CHIEF HANDOUT: The starting field for the Sunoco World Series 150 is 36 starters, including provisional positions. The first 30 drivers will secure starting positions through the qualifying process. The remaining six positions will be awarded through the provisional process. NASCAR group qualifying is in place for this event. Qualifying order will be determined by each vehicle’s fastest single lap from the official practice session(s). The number of groups for qualifying will be determined by NASCAR. Each group qualifying session will be five (5) minutes in duration and the fastest single lap speed of each vehicle will determine starting positions 1st through 30th. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on a vehicle after the vehicle enters the track to begin the qualifying session. Vehicles may not return to the track or make any further qualifying laps unless directed to do so by a NASCAR Official or in the event of a caution. Once a vehicle’s qualifying attempt is complete, the vehicle must proceed directly to the designated impound area once it enters pit road. The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) tires per team. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. The tire change rule is four (4) tires, any position.  A STORY BY NASCAR.COM/Kyle Souza
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Another track, another streak for Justin Bonsignore. The defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion earned his fourth straight victory at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday night in the Miller Lite 200, adding his eighth career win at his home track. He took the lead from Timmy Solomito on a restart with 11 laps to go, and held off Solomito in overtime to score the win. It was the fifth victory of the season for Bonsignore, and his 25th career in Whelen Modified Tour competition. He’s the only driver in the 64-race history at the track to win four straight, breaking a previous tie with Mike Ewanitskoand Ryan Preece, who both had three. The win also helped Bonsignore close the gap in the championship standings with just three races remaining. "Anytime we come here, we want to win. We love coming home," Bonsignore said. "I’ve just been really fortunate with good cars here with Ryan (Stone, crew chief), to be able to win four in a row." RACING-REFERENCE: Miller Lite 200 Race Results Bonsignore’s path to Victory Lane saw him fend-off another local favorite. He started second, but dropped to the bottom of the top five early, and had to spend much of the middle of the race charging back through. Former track champion Tom Rogers Jr. led from laps 32 to 124, driving away from the field before a caution flew just after the halfway point. Rogers would struggle to keep his podium running spot, while Solomito took control of the race out front on lap 146, and Bonsignore followed by Rogers shortly after. Bonsignore would chase down Solomito as the two cut through lapped traffic, but didn’t quite seem to have the run to try and get around. But a caution with 16 laps to go changed that. Bonsignore worked the outside of Solomito on the restart, and was able to clear him for the top spot. He would have to hold his ground as the leader during two final restarts, but was able to accomplish the task. Solomito would finish second, his best effort of the season, while Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole winner Craig Lutz was third. Kyle Soper, Riverhead’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Modified points leader, was fourth, followed by Patrick Emerling. Chuck Hossfeld was sixth, followed by Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender J.B. Fortin, J.R. Bertuccio, Rogers and John Beatty Jr. After starting inside the top five, contact between Bonsignore and Doug Coby sent Coby spinning early. The points leader would charge back into the middle of the top 10, but after contact in the final corner, he spun again, and finished 15th. Coby leads Bonsignore by 19 points in the standings, while Ron Silk is third, 45 back. The Miller Lite 200 will air on NBCSN on Wednesday, September 11, at 6 p.m. |
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