THOMPSON, Conn. — A couple of crucial career milestones for Justin Bonsignore were reached during Sunday’s World Series 150 at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
Not only did Bonsignore take sole possession of second in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour wins at Thompson with 14 overall, but his 43rd career win moved him into sole possession of third on the all-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win list. The driver Bonsignore passed in both categories was Modified legend and 2008 series champion Ted Christopher.
Bonsignore had not won on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour since visiting Victory Lane at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in June. A proper return to form for Bonsignore at one of his best tracks involved Kenneth Massa Motorsports dusting off a car that had guided them to victory on multiple occasions.
“We worked hard all summer, but haven’t had the best car,” Bonsignore said. “We brought back ‘Old Faithful’. This car has been sitting bare bones since [the] last Martinsville [race] and we finally got it back together. It got us back into Victory Lane at Thompson and the guys did a great job today with the quick turnaround.”
With his triumph, Bonsignore now has momentum back on his side in the battle for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.
Ron Silk entered Thompson with an 11-point lead over Bonsignore, which partially stemmed from late-race contact between the two at Riverhead Raceway that knocked Bonsignore out of contention. Three wins in four races from Patrick Emerling left him 16 points behind Silk and only five points behind Bonsignore.
Thompson presented an ideal opportunity for Bonsignore to reestablish the rhythm he developed during the first half of the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour campaign. After overtaking Silk in the opening laps, Bonsignore pulled away from the field until the lone caution of the day was displayed for Joey Cipriano III’s spin.
A bad pit stop nearly unraveled Bonsignore’s stellar performance, as he was knocked back to sixth for the ensuing restart. It only took Bonsignore a handful of laps to work his back to second before eventually making the race-winning pass on Silk.
With the disappointment from Riverhead still fresh in his mind, Bonsignore was determined to best Silk without any extracurricular contact. A clean fight for the championship is Bonsignore’s goal for the last two races, adding that the finish to Thompson perfectly encapsulated how that could play out.
“This does show we can race each other cleanly in this series,” Bonsignore said. “Ron’s car was pretty good and I was trying to pressure him as much as I could. I think everybody thinks we’re going to wreck each other every week, but I wanted to do it the right way. Hopefully that sets a precedent that he can race us the same way for the rest of the year.”
Bonsignore already has a comfortable place in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour record books with 43 victories, a third of which have come at Thompson. He also sits only one win away from tying Reggie Ruggiero for second on the all-time win list.
Earning a fourth series championship at Martinsville Speedway later this month would only further cement his status as one of the greatest Modified competitors of all time.
“It’s humbling to be around Reggie and Teddy and to have your name mentioned with them is really special,” Bonsignore said. “Obviously we try not to think about that stuff while we’re still racing, but it is really awesome to have that much success in this series over the 15 years that we’ve been year. Hopefully we’ve got another 14 or 15 years in us if we can stay competitive.”
Anthony Nocella earned a second consecutive runner-up finish on Sunday. Silk followed Nocella in the third position with Austin Beers and Matt Hirschman completing the top five.
Chase Dowling, Emerling, Craig Lutz, Dave Sapienza and Kyle Bonsignore were the rest of the top 10 finishers.
The final two races of the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season will take place in the Southeast, with historic North Wilkesboro Speedway being the first of the two venues. The Brushy Mountain Powersports 150, which was rescheduled from Oct. 5 due to Hurricane Helene, takes place next Sunday, Oct. 20
Following victory lane ceremonies for the modified tour, Tyler Chapman scored his seventh win of the season by just 0.074-seconds over Nick Hovey with Meg Fuller taking home third in the AZ Roofing SK Light Modifieds event.
The NEMA Lites feature was won by Kyle Valeiri. The 20-lap street stock event went to Ryan Waterman.