Justin Bonsignore celebrates victory Saturday at Monadnock Speedway (Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images for NASCAR)
Staying the course paid dividends for Justin Bonsignore Saturday at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H.
Bonsignore’s team set a plan, stayed with the plan and the Holtsville, N.Y. driver was in perfect position to rally late when needed.
Bonsignore passed Ryan Preece for the lead on lap 174 and won the NASCAR Whene Whelen Modified Tour O’Reilly 200 Saturday at Monadnock.
It was the second victory of the season for Bonsignore, who won the season opening event at Thompson Speedway in April. It was the second consecutive year that Bonsignore has won in the division’s lone annual visit to the track.
Preece, of Berlin was second and Eric Goodale of Riverhead, N.Y. third.
Bonsignore started on the pole in the event that went green-to-checker. Six cars were left on the lead lap at the finish.
Preece went by Bonsignore for the lead on the first lap and seemed to check out from him, but Bonsignore was ready to strike when Preece faded.
“We were very concerned,” Bonsignore said. “When I couldn’t see him any more. I knew if it stayed green I didn’t know if I’d have a chance to get back to him. His car just faded a little quicker than I expected it to.
“Green to checkered at Monadnock is unbelievable. We didn’t deviate from the plan. We knew wanted to run a certain pace for 170 laps and we knew when it was go time it was go. At that point Ryan had already faded back to us. … Unbelievable to go back-to-back here at Monadnock.”
The runner-up finish marked a season best for Preece, the reigning series champion.
“We keep making gains every single week,” Preece said. “I was so happy. This was the best front end car I’ve had all year. We’re making small gains. We just missed it a little bit. I knew we were really good early so I was just trying to take it easy but at the same time lap as many cars as I could and we ended up going to green to checker. Justin, they were real good and he was able to win this one, but we’re getting there.”
Rookie Tommy Barrett Jr. of Millis, Mass. was fourth and series points leader Doug Coby of Milford was fifth.
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