NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — On Saturday in northwestern North Carolina, Justin Bonsignore let the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour community know the championship will run through him.
An efficient day on his part and an inconsistent afternoon from rival Ron Silk at North Wilkesboro Speedway enabled Bonsignore to unofficially take a 10-point advantage in the point standings. Bonsignore‘s 44th career victory also put him in a tie with Reggie Ruggiero for second on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win list.
RELATED: Complete race results from Wilkesboro
Bonsignore got a head start on his competition the previous evening at North Wilkesboro with a similarly stellar performance. Many circumstances were different on Sunday compared to Saturday, yet Bonsignore maintained the status quo to take a second elevator ride to Victory Lane in one weekend.
“To come [to North Wilkesboro] last night, win that race and then come back today on a different tire with a different car and do it so convincingly with no tire stops is so special,” Bonsignore said. “You don‘t get cars like that too often. These things are so hard, and I thought we‘d have to win out to win the championship.
“Now we control our own destiny, and we‘ll head to Martinsville chasing a clock.”
The car Bonsignore piloted in Sunday‘s Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 was the same one he used to prevail at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park last weekend after leading 121 laps.
Last year‘s season finale at Martinsville Speedway convinced Bonsignore and everyone at Ken Massa Motorsports a major revamp was needed to that car. During the offseason, the car was torn down except for the center section and sat idle at Fury Race Cars up until recently.
Crew chief Ryan Stone moving the team‘s shop from Connecticut to North Carolina was the primary reason why one of Bonsignore‘s most efficient cars remained inactive for a prolonged period. Despite this, the new car Bonsignore had been using was just as strong, as he racked up two Modified Tour victories with it this year.
Bringing Bonsignore‘s older car back to the track has shifted the Modified Tour championship entirely in his favor. Once he dispatched Matt Hirschman and polesitter Austin Beers, Bonsignore went uncontested at North Wilkesboro the rest of the day, lapping all the way up to the fifth position.
Bonsignore intends to bring the same car from Thompson and North Wilkesboro to Martinsville with two goals in mind: Win the championship and a grandfather clock.
History has favored Bonsignore over Silk during their respective appearances at Martinsville. While Silk only has one career Martinsville top five back in 2009, Bonsignore‘s lone finish outside the top three in four starts was due to a mechanical failure he sustained in 2022.
Momentum is in Bonsignore‘s favor as he is on the precipice of a fourth Modified Tour title, but he plans to be pragmatic about his approach at Martinsville. A lot can go wrong at Martinsville with a larger field of cars entered, but Bonsignore is confident the speed of his car will enable him to close out 2024 on a perfect note.
“Ultimately, I want to win a grandfather clock,” Bonsignore said. “I‘ve won at all three [NASCAR] Cup Series race tracks this year so far, but the grandfather clock is the grandaddy of them all for sure. We‘ll be smart about who we race against and the places we put ourselves in as the race winds down.
“Everybody is going to be working hard to get better, but hopefully this car gets even better than it was today.”
Hirschman finished 6.5 seconds behind Bonsignore in the runner-up finish with Beers following him in third. Patrick Emerling and Tyler Rypkema rounded out the top five and the lead-lap finishers.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of Chase Dowling, Luke Baldwin, Bobby Labonte, Carson Loftin and Kyle Bonsignore. Silk ended up 11th, two laps behind Bonsignore.
Only one race remains to decide the 2024 Modified Tour championship. The final stop on the calendar will be at Martinsville on Saturday evening for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200, which airs live on FloRacing at 8 p.m. ET.
Read the full article here