Longtime Modified team owner Gary Casella has a reputation for always putting the top talent available on the track for his team.
When the Tri-Track Open Modified Series arrives at Stafford Motor Speedway for the inaugural CBYD Modified Classic 81 on Oct. 24, Casella will be doubling that typical effort of fielding top-notch talent in a huge way.
RaceDayCT has learned exclusively that Casella will field a car for current NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points leader Justin Bonsignore at Stafford on Oct. 24.
“It’s a cool opportunity to run this race and drive for Gary,” Bonsignore told RaceDayCT. “Gary has been around a long time. I’ve always been intrigued by his team. They’ve always had good cars.”
Bonsignore, who is on the cusp of clinching his second Whelen Modified Tour title Sunday at Thompson Speedway for Kenneth Massa Motorsports, will be teamed with six-time Whelen Modified Tour champion Doug Coby in a two-car Casella stable at Stafford. Coby announced he would drive a Casella entry for the event early Thursday.
“When the opportunity came up I was definitely excited,” Bonsignore said. “It’s kind of funny to find out that Doug was also doing the same thing even though neither of us knew about the other.”
Friends off the track, Coby and Bonsignore have been fierce rivals on the track for years, and have become well known for playing that rivalry up in a humorous manner through social media.
“There’s a good chuckle, a good laugh in that,” Bonsignore said of he and Coby being teammates. “I think it will be fun. He’ll have a few of his team guys there helping and we’ll have a few of ours and intermingle with those guys. Obviously the goal will be to have both cars up front if we can and be successful for Gary and his team. But at the same time obviously we want to beat Doug like we want to beat everybody else.”
Asked about the possibility of being Bonsignore’s teammate on track Coby said: “Well, he’s not winning.”
Bonsignore is looking to clinch his second Whelen Modified Tour championship in Sunday’s Sunoco World Series 150 at Thompson Speedway. He also won the title in 2018. Bonsignore goes into the event Sunday leading second place Coby in the Whelen Modified Tour standings by 27 points. Bonsignore needs to finish 23rd or better in Sunday’s event to clinch the title.
With Bonsignore and Coby in the field at Stafford, the Tri-Track Open Modified Series will now have drivers representing nine of the last 10 Whelen Modified Tour champions, including 2020. Bonsignore or Coby will win the title this season.
Coby has Whelen Modified Tour titles in 2012, ’14, ’15, ’16, ’17 and ’19. Ron Silk, the 2011 Whelen Modified Tour champion, is also committed to Stafford.
NASCAR Cup Series regular Ryan Preece is the only Whelen Modified Tour champion from the last 10 years currently not committed to the inaugural Tri-Track Open Modified Series event at Stafford. Rumors have swirled that Preece will likely enter the event, though he has not committed to that.
So we might as well just assume Santos is coming too. Everybody else who said they weren’t coming is coming.
I’m still not picking a guy who is 0-38 to win. Sorry Justin.
Doug must be breathing into a brown paper bag at this point.
Indeed JD. Enthusiasm! God forbid we have too much of that.
I’ll let you have your moment.
Gary Cossella always fields fast cars. With both Doug and Justin teaming up, there’s a good chance of victory, maybe even a 1-2 finish. It’ll be interesting to see how fast they adapt to the TROYER cars, as both have been in LFR cars for a while now.
Should be an interesting race. The question is who will run what engine package?
Especially now that they may be an engine down.