RICHMOND, Va. — After finishing last in the opening race of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway, reigning series champion Justin Bonsignore needed to rebound.
He did on Friday night, executing a late-race pass of Tommy Catalano to win the Virginia Is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway.
Bonsignore started from the pole and led early, but pit strategy shuffled him out of the lead and into the pack for much of the race. Meanwhile, 24-year-old Catalano enjoyed multiple turns at the front of the field as he appeared destined for his maiden Tour win.
However, Bonsignore had other plans.
Restarting seventh with 49 laps left, Bonsignore worked his way to second and set off in pursuit of Catalano. It took Bonsignore 20 laps to run down Catalano, but once he did, the fight for the lead was on.
With 11 laps left, Bonsignore made the move to Catalano’s inside. The two stayed side-by-side for the next lap before Bonsignore ultimately emerged with the race lead. He led the rest of the way for his first Tour win of the year and 32nd of his career.
“It’s been a long seven weeks, just driving home from work every day and you’re like, ‘Man, we are dead last in points,’” Bonsignore said. “Deep down we know New Smyrna was out of our control. You’re going to have parts failures in this series. It was just important to come back and try and have a good day.
“It’s nice to bounce back. More than anything it’s the confidence that it’ll give our team.”
Catalano settled for second after leading a majority of the race. It’s his best Tour finish in 51 starts dating back to 2018.
“It’s one of those deals where you’re so excited, but at the same time, you’re disappointed,” Catalano said. “We came here with the goal of finishing in the top 10. A good day for us would have been a top-10 finish. To come 10 laps short of winning the race is definitely nothing to hang our heads on.”
Chuck Hossfeld rallied late to finish third, with Kyle Ebersole overcoming a spin during qualifying to finish fourth ahead of Tyler Rypkema in fifth.
Ryan Newman, making his first Tour start of the season for the debuting SS Racing team, led a few laps early in the race before fading to a 13th-place finish.
The finish:
Justin Bonsignore, Tommy Catalano, Chuck Hossfeld, Kyle Ebersole, Tyler Rypkema, Eric Goodale, Jimmy Blewett, Jon McKennedy, Donny Lia, Ron Silk, Austin Beers, Max McLaughlin, Ryan Newman, J.B. Fortin, Craig Lutz, Dave Sapienza, Bobby Santos, Andrew Krause, Jeremy Gerstner, Kyle Bonsignore, James Pritchard Jr., Gary McDonald, Ed McCarthy, Bryan Dauzat, Patrick Emerling, Spencer Davis, Melissa Fifield.