PIT BOX: NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to North Wilkesboro Speedway for crucial championship tilt

After the race was postponed for two weeks due to Hurricane Helene‘s impact on the Appalachain Mountains, North Wilkesboro Speedway is set to host the penultimate event of the 2024 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.

Last year saw NASCAR‘s oldest division visit North Wilkesboro for the first time in its long, prestigious history. A field of 38 cars showed up to take the green flag, with veteran Matt Hirschman bringing home the victory over the championship frontrunners in Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore.

Just like 2023, Silk and Bonsignore enter Sunday‘s Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 atop the Modified Tour standings, with the former holding the points lead. Despite this, Bonsignore has momentum on his side for North Wilkesboro after winning at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Sunday.

A freshly repaved North Wilkesboro will present a plethora of challenges for Silk, Bonsignore and the rest of the Modified Tour field as they look to add their own successful chapter at one of the southeast‘s most prestigious facilities.

Tickets to the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 can be purchased here. Below is everything to know ahead of Sunday’s race, which starts at 2 p.m. ET and can be seen on FloRacing.

Brushy Mountain Powersports 150

Justin Bonsignore is all too familiar with how the penultimate race can decide the Modified Tour championship.

During last year‘s visit to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, Bonsignore and Ron Silk never left each other‘s sightlines until the final restart of the afternoon. A missed shift from Bonsignore from the front row knocked him to 13^thin the final running order, giving Silk the buffer he needed to secure the title at Martinsville Speedway.

North Wilkesboro now fills Thompson‘s role in the championship pursuit for 2024, but the stakes remain high for both title contenders. Bonsignore‘s triumph at Thompson last week trimmed the deficit to just five points, but Silk still leads all Modified Tour competitors with four victories on the year.

Although Bonsignore and Silk have come together on numerous occasions, their battle for the victory last weekend was both aggressive and clean. Should the two get into a heated duel at North Wilkesboro on Sunday, Patrick Emerling remains within range of the championship despite now being 21 points behind Silk.

The complete entry list for the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 will be released later this week.

RACING REFERENCE

Schedule: Sunday, October 20 … Final practice from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. ET … Qualifying at 1 p.m. ET … Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 at 2 p.m. ET.

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. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Brushy Mountain Powersports 150 is limited to 32 starters including Provisional Positions.

Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is twelve (12) tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and or/change tires during the event. The tire change rule is two (2) tires, per caution period.