Family Ties: Kyle Bonsignore Wins Whelen Modified Tour NAPA Fall Final 150 At Stafford

Kyle Bonsignore celebrates his first career Whelen Modified Tour victory in the NAPA Fall Final 150 Sunday at Stafford Speedway (Photo: Fran Lawlor)

STAFFORD – Late Sunday afternoon, Stafford Motor Speedway became the center of all Bonsignore family racing celebration.

That it was the day that NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour veteran Justin Bonsignore would get to celebrate his first series championship was hardly a surprise to many around the series.

That it was his lesser known cousin celebrating victory at the end of the day was the shocker to many.

Kyle Bonsignore, making his 11th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour start, won the NAPA Fall Final 150 at Stafford Speedway.

It was the first series victory for Bay Shore, N.Y. native Kyle Bonsignore and his North Carolina based part-time team.

“This is the coolest day of my life,” Kyle Bonsignore said.

“When we come anywhere up here we’re an underdog. This is our fifth race this year. These guys race almost every week. They’ve got such good crew chiefs and teams. They know their cars a lot better than we do just because they race more often on different tracks.”

Craig Lutz of Miller Place, N.Y. was second and Doug Coby of Milford third.

It marked the second consecutive Whelen Modified Tour event with a first-time winner. Chase Dowling got his first series victory in the Musket 250 on Sept. 22 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Using a late pit strategy for fresh tires, Kyle Bonsignore passed five-time series champion Coby for the lead on lap 146 and never trailed again.

“When I saw [Coby] was the last car that I had to pass to get the win I was kind of nervous because I know he can make his car kind of wide,” Kyle Bonsignore said, “But he drove me really clean. As clean as you can for trying to win this race. This is huge. This is the biggest race win of my career.”

Said Coby: “They won on strategy and … made good calls. He obviously stayed out of trouble when he had to and blasted through the field. I had nothing for him. I tried to block the bottom, I tried to block the top and the track was so grippy that he could go wherever he wanted on those tires. There was no way I was holding him off.”

Lutz matched his career best finish with a second.

“We started off with an awesome car and I was just taking time trying to get to the front,” Lutz said. “And then I came in for three tires earlier than I thought was the race winning strategy. At first I didn’t even remember who was driving the [No. 22]. When he got next to me I knew who it was. Awesome race for Kyle.”

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