Slideways Story: Justin Bonsignore Holds Off Doug Coby On Final Lap To Win Whelen Mod Tour Jennerstown Salutes 150

Justin Bonsignore celebrates victory Saturday at Jennerstown Speedway (Photo: Nate Smallwood/NASCAR)

On May 15 Doug Coby used a late pass of Justin Bonsignore to score his first Whelen Modified Tour victory at Riverhead Raceway. 

Saturday at Jennerstown (Pa.) Speedway the six-time Whelen Modified Tour champion Coby looked to put on an even more dramatic show against the reigning champion Bonsignore. 

But it was Bonsignore who was up to the task of defending his spot for a final lap showdown. 

Bonsignore was able to save himself from wrecking out of the lead with just over half a lap remaining and then held off the charge of Coby through the final two turns to win the Jennerstown Salutes 150 at Jennerstown Speedway Saturday. 

It was the 30th series victory for the Bonsignore, the two-time series champion from Holtsville, N.Y. 

“The driver just about gave it away there at the end,” Bonsignore said. “I let Doug get right back to me and almost spun out. … It’s great to get back to victory lane. … To get the Phoenix Communications guys back to victory lane. Get everybody back in victory lane. Have fans in the stands. Thank all the fans for coming out and sticking with the weather, I know it’s been tough.” 

Coby, of Milford, held on for second and Craig Lutz of Miller Place, N.Y. was third. Woody Pitkat of Stafford and Patrick Emerling of Orchard Park, N.Y. rounded out the top-five respectively. 

It was the first victory of the season for Bonsignore, who became the fourth different winner in four series events in 2021. Coby, Emerling and Eric Goodale also have wins. 

Coby closed coming to the white flag and coming off turn two Bonsignore’s car got sideways off the corner. Bonsignore wrestled the car back straight, but the miscue allowed Coby to get to his outside into the closing corners. The pair came off the final corner side-by-side with Bonsignore winning the race to the checkered flag. 

“I was trying to just mind the gap on the lapped cars and I knew Doug got caught up a little bit and I had a nice gap,” Bonsignore said. “The lapped cars started getting into each other when we took the two to go. And I missed turn one completely, I don’t know if I got just marbles on the right rear [tire] and just messed up. But once Doug got close there, six-time champion, one of the best, looking, looking, just doing everything he can. We touched bars down in [turn] three [on the last lap], but I didn’t have to do it to be bad. And then we just drag raced back to the line.” 

Comments

  1. 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱 🥱

    Little bit of a dud. Glad they got it done.

    That long run set things up. Kinda need a caution early in the race so cars can come in for adjustments and tighten up the field. Here, they just fell off, spread out, and got lapped… too bad.

    Good to see Woody get a Top 5, he had to work for it.

    A bit of a dud, but JBon and Kobe did what they had to do… chase points.

    Please NBC… get better camera operators.

  2. Snooze fest but it happens, series is just not what it used to be, 20 cars with 3 cars way off the pace.

  3. Still trying to figure out that debris yellow!!!

  4. Am I seeing correctly?? Only 20 cars for this show!!! I am usre many issues between distance AND weather, but 20?? It goes to prove 2-3 dominant cars, with the occassional “upset” win. NOT good for ANY series!!!

  5. This shows that the NWMT is not the premiere tour!

  6. Owners do not want to travel, and there’s lots of travel in this schedule.

    It just ain’t worth it.

    Gotta get Thompson back on the schedule.

  7. 🌈🦄2020 says

    Missy’s first ever top 20? Nevermind practically going out to Pittsburgh, next let’s go to Iowa. Thompson? nah, who wants to go to Thompson.

  8. 🌈🦄2020,
    Actually the 16th place finish at Jennerstown last night for Fifield was her 16th career top-20 finish with the series. Was not even her best career finish, which was a 15th place at Wall in 2019.

  9. 🌈🦄2020 says

    Wow. The only thing I pay attention to is how long it will take her to go laps down.

  10. Problem with Thompson 2020?

  11. 🌈🦄2020 says

    Yeah I have a problem with Thompson. They don’t want the WMT is the problem.

  12. Regarding the Fifield 16th place at Wall…

    43.9% run under yellow

    Average green flag run: 8 laps

    The 01 got the lucky dog twice.

    Thirteen of the 28 starters were wrecked, damaged, hobbled, mechanical issues, or just sucked worse than usual or the 01, leaving the 01 to move up the field of 28 starting cars.

    Missy loves when cars wreck out, she moves up.

    Keep in mind, this was her best finish.

  13. 🌈🦄2020,
    I think saying “They don’t want the WMT” is making a complicated situation sound way too simple. I can assure you the promoters operating the track this year wanted to have multiple WMT events at the track in 2021. But, the finances involved did not work. This is a series that only four short track owner operators in America saw as a financially feasible series to put on at their facilities in 2021. If people who outright own their tracks can’t see the viability of the series financially for their operation, imagine how hard it is for a group that is already paying to lease the facility in the first place to do it.

  14. The don’t want the WMT? Since you seem to know what is going on please explain why they don’t want them.

    Could it be the financial obligation necessary did not work? Was it a better fit financially to have the open modified races instead? If I remember correctly the WMT was looking for multiple races at Thompson in 2021 however the numbers did not work out?

    If I am wrong please correct me.

  15. Shawn, do you think that when the dark cloud of COVID passes, things will get a little more optimistic for Thompson to get back on the NWMT schedule?

    I’m kinda thinking that COVID has made things tougher to host a NWMT event with all the NASCAR-esque expenses that makes them special. COVID has kept fans away and revenues down a bit. It is going to be interesting to see how well the fan base rebounds and attends the tracks.

  16. Darealgoodfela,
    I think right now it’s all about how things go for the promotional partnership at Thompson this year.

  17. How was the crowd? I didnt catch it on grassroots. I am hoping they got enough support to encourage them to go through with the Beechridge race he has scheduled. I believe this race was the first of 3 whelen races put on by the same promotional group that put on that short lived bullring bash series a couple of years ago. The bullring bash series lasted all of one event at white mtn when they had 3 scheduled. They did a heck of a job in putting out press releases though. I am hoping the same doesn thing doesnt happen here. The Whelen tour needs every race they got.

  18. wmass01013 says

    HONESTLY Its Simple Math, if you can pay a 25k purse, get 25-30 Tour Mods to show Up, Charge yur $30-35 FEE TO GET IN, get a decent crowd Covid or Not VS the 60K or more for the WMT, whar are you Going To DO?????? While i will always say the WMT still has the BEST Drivers and teams, the NASCAR brand certainly DOES not bring in the wow FACTOR is used to have, Nascar will have to adjust as Not only have more Tracks said NO, quite a few more Teams are saying No, will this change with NO COVID restrictions? Maybe a little, but will you see multiple WMT races at Thompson and Stafford anymore? Doubtfull!!!

  19. It’s hope it’s easy to evaluate, as in overwhelming crowds turn out. Many cars run other series and have to carefully pick and choose, or that leaves less than competitive cars hoping they can be a big fish in a small pond. It’s good to see the mix, and competitive NWMT and other Tour Type teams participating. We shall see. Things are looking good. I’m used to Open Mod Shows with the absolute best showing up… Evans, Bodine, Spencer and those kinda guys.

    The weekday night races, under the lights, at Thompson are some of my favorites. When there is a good weather night, big moon… just awesome. I’m there.

  20. WeldingWonders says

    MELLISSA FIFIELD “MIISSY” COUNTER

    DAREALGOODFELLA

    Missy can’t drive.
    Missy is not the only
    Missy tried to run the MRS,
    Missy is 26 years old.
    Missy can not drive fast.
    Missy is not racy. Missy doesn’t get near the edge
    Missy can run her NWMT car on the SK
    Missy can’t drive and can not be trusted
    ran well over a second faster than Missy?
    Missy seems to be afraid to go fast,
    Missy stays up in the racing groove
    Missy is not a victim of sexism
    After six years, the performance of Missy as a driver
    Missy is not helping the girl power movement
    This racing deal with Missy has nothing to do with rights.
    some of the ire focused on Missy.
    no response from the crowd when Missy is announced
    it was God’s will that Missy won the MPD
    Missy is showing that the stereotype that girls can’t do it is true
    No, I’m not upset that Missy won the MPD
    Until Missy won,
    ire focused on Missy.
    Here’s a huge difference between Carroll and Missy
    Is Missy really in the same class
    Why is Missy the one being picked out?
    e look at Missy when trying
    , Missy would have been fired
    If Missy didn’t run her own car
    Missy is definitely not getting the love
    Missy has no place on t
    Missy. The stats of the 01 are horrible.
    Missy can have any equipment she wants
    Missy loves when cars wreck out, she moves up.

    2020
    Missy’s first ever top 20?

  21. Fast Eddie says

    If Thompson has a successful season this year, what incentive would they have to commit $50-70K per event to have NASCAR involvement? I think if tracks around here have profitable seasons it will be up to NASCAR to restructure their fees and provide more appealing (read less expensive) monetary commitment proposals to be more involved in the northeast.

  22. 🌈🦄2020 says

    “COVID has kept fans away and revenues down a bit.” Did you go to the world series last year? No. Did you go to the icebreaker this year? No.

  23. 🌈🦄2020 says

    Charge your $30-$35 fee to get in? Are we talking Thompson here? 😂

  24. csg, there was no crowd… handful of people. When the camera showed the stands, it was sparse. Keep in mind it was terrible weather. It was incredible luck that the race happened at all given the forecast was rain, it was raining earlier, and it rained a bit during the day, delaying race day activities a bit.

  25. Doug’s, (and Insipid Cybil, WeldingWonders, RickyinMass, and his other screen names) cover song:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnzHtm1jhL4

  26. The Atomic Punk says

    Fact is the only cars the 01 finishes ahead of are cars involved in on track incidents….. Bet she goes ” Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee” down the straights.

  27. Amazing Grace on the bag pipes got me misting up. It is Memorial Day tomorrow so my memorial goes to PFC Gerhard M Rolfs. Born July 9, 1949 and died of multiple fragmentation wounds serving in Vietnam September 12, 1969.

    https://www.honorstates.org/index.php?id=295532

    Best race of the day Woody Pitkat. Showing how you fight for every position after going a lap down, getting back on the lead lap, making adjustments and going on to a stellar 4th place finish.
    Patrick Emerling an at-a-boy for making the best of an imperfect car, maxing out his finish and not hurting himself at all in the standings for the year.
    The NWMT not the premier modified series you say? My view is that this proved they are. Drawing the top contenders in horrible conditions in a far off place, sticking to the plan, executing a moving pre race ceremony and pulling off a good if not great race that had it’s moments. You didn’t enjoy that you weren’t paying attention.
    Fifield still racing, still taking shots after years and years and still doing something the people taking the shots never had the chops to attempt on any level.
    Not a full field you say and it’s an embarrassment. You’ve got to be kidding. Referring to the less competitive part timers as field fillers and back markers and causing cautions. When they don’t show up and there are almost no cautions that’s a problem as well.
    We can never know how successful it was not knowing the streaming viewership but my guess is that it was substantial. The announcer all by himself was simply terrific,
    Great track. They’ll be back.

  28. Liz Cherokee says

    YESSSSSS!!! 16th for Melissa! Great! I’ll drink to that! In fact, I am right now!
    I guess I should be surprised that you blokes talk about her so much. After all, she’s won the Whelen Modified Tour’s Most Popular Driver Award three consecutive times!

  29. Hey Shawn, NASCAR hasn’t completed the points standings after the Jennerstown race. It’s a partial update, and no points added yet. You have any idea why the delay?

  30. knuckles mahoney says

    Yup Liz, she was the most popular driver 3 times. And Trump was the 2nd best president. only 2nd to Reagan. Not sure it means much now.

  31. Darealgoodfella,
    I think they’ve just been letting things fall by the wayside as far as online updating of stuff with the Whelen Modified Tour.

  32. After that post Shawn I can see what the issue is with the WMT. The problem starts at the top. As I have said many times the WMT has become the red headed bastard step child of NASCAR. I just hope they are not setting the series up to fail.

  33. Shawn,
    Given the circumstances, NASCAR should be doing far more online, now more than ever. NASCAR had been pretty good about getting results up quickly. A few years ago, I did let them know that with modern technology, results can be published near instantly, and not as slow as a weekly paper. That it’s a partial update is just strange, or very sloppy and unprofessional. I was thinking maybe there was a finding in post race tech that needs to be sorted out before the results and standings are finalized.

    knuckles, Trump and Reagan are tied for worst. Trump made it to office the way some won the MPD award. Oh, late breaking newsflash… Trump is declared the worst with results from a latest recount. Trump really needs to stop the recounts for they are hurting him and destroying the GOP. But then, is that really a bad thing? He is a Scorched Earther.

  34. Doug,
    All the statistics are updated on that page you linked to, except for the actual point totals. What is currently reflected on there is the point totals after three events, not four.

  35. And I doubt Goodale is still in first place in the standings after the DNF. So the standings need to get sorted out after the points are updated.

    Strange that NASCAR would do that.

  36. OK then how about an unofficial 4 race point total
    Emerling (125 + 39)——164
    JB (116 + 43 +3 +1 +1)—-164
    Coby (118 +42 +1)——-161
    KB (113 + 37 +1 )——-151
    Goodale (125 + 26)—–146
    Tommy C (111 + 35)—-146
    Woody (103 + 40) ———143

    No perfect but it should be in the ball park.

  37. wmass01013 says

    YES Because if the point standings on MAY 31st are not updated instantly the entire world will be in crisis, my god some guys need a LIFE, GET OUT of yur basement DA DUMB and go for a walk outside, whats the frickin BIG DEAL??????????????

  38. wmass01013,
    As far as the points not being updated online for the series, I would say that is an issue. No, it’s not the end of the world, but it’s an issue that is fair to be pointed out. NASCAR went far in emphasizing throughout February and March that the Whelen Modified Tour is the most professionally operated Tour Type Modified series running today. It’s been standard operating procedure with the Whelen Modified Tour for years that updated point standings are typically available within hours of an event’s conclusion. That it’s nearly 48 hours since the event was run and there are no updated point standings is definitely dropping the ball on someone’s part and worthy of being pointed out.

  39. I leave the track and by the time I’m home, the NWMT website is updated with the current race results.

  40. wmass01013 says

    Ok Shawn as YOU should know with electronics, SOMETIME FAIL Happens as has been the case when this site has been offline for days, OBVIOUSLY, the point STANDINGS ADDED the 4th race BUT not the total points, ELECTRONIC issue and with being a Holiday WEEKEND OK, I AM SURE this site is professionally run but sometimes things happen My god i am not gonna go the route of JD but the constant bashing of NASCAR is getting tiring!!!!!!!!!!!!

  41. wmass01013,
    For the record, I’ve operated this website since June of 2012 and during that time it has only been offline for more than a four hour span one time. But I get your point about electronics and mistakes and such.
    That said, someone pointing out something was not done is not “bashing”. Someone brought up the points not being updated and you chastised that person for it and I was simply responding to you saying anyone has the right to point out that the updated points are missing. And while it might not be a big deal to you, it is to a lot of people. In the last 24 hours I’ve had more than 30 people contact me asking my why the updated points are not available, and that includes multiple people directly involved with the series as competitors, crew members and team owners. As I said in the last comment to you, I understand it’s not the end of the world, but I also think it’s fair for people to point it out.

  42. As of this writing (check the time stamp above) the NWMT Jennerstown race results still do not have points assigned and season standings are still not updated.

    Kinda bizarre that it was started and left incomplete.

  43. Here’s the latest Jennerstown results as of 3:18 PM on 5/31:

    https://www.racing-reference.info/race-results/2021-04/N/

    Notice the lack of points and laps led DATA. Then look below and see the so-called “Points Standings after this race” and it is the results after three races, not after Jennerstown, the FOURTH race.

    Pay attention people.

    How did post race tech go? Any problems???

  44. Points watching if fun. If my cyphers are right it’s pretty clear how important winning races is and accumulating bonus point with the three top teams winning races.
    Coby’s locked and loaded on the bright lights of the SRX race but one wonders if he is going to send the 10 up to Oswego to stay in the owners championship race. Heard he was then he wasn’t.
    It looked good on paper with Emerling going to his home turf for the next one. The numbers don’t look good unfortunately.
    Four races at Oswego 2016 to 2019 for Emerling, Bonsignor and Coby. Emerling average start 4.3, finish 11. Bonsignor average start 5.5, average finish 3.75. Coby average start 3.75, average finish 3.5.
    One win each for Bonsignor and Coby at Oswego.
    I don’t know is the team going to the SRX race and enjoying the big stage with Coby. No prep, to travel, no pressure. Or are they a little disappointed the missed race will affectively take them out of the owners points race that is a feather in their caps as much as the owner.
    Big weekend starting off with the Twisted Tea 80 on Friday. On Saturday the Steel Palace 150 starts at 7:30 and the SRX in prime time 8 to 10. Ruh ro!

  45. Facebook in the last half hour.
    “Doug Coby Racing·
    Chase Dowling To Drive For Doug Coby Racing in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Action at Oswego Speedway 🎇”

    Guess it’s no night off for the team. Nice choice don’t you think?

  46. There must be something in the drinking water in Hampden County.

  47. What a coincidence… Hampden County is adjacent to Enfield.

  48. During Truck, xfinity and Cup races, the standings are often calculated in real time during the races. Results are ready instantly.

    Here we are, days after a NWMT race, and still we ain’t got no finalized results.

  49. Whatever happened to the scales Earl? You know the dust up we had about toe you sighted the spot in your garage with the marks to do the toe the same way every time while working with Art Barry. That was you wasn’t it? You even said you had those scales calibrated every so often as I recall. What ever happened to those scales you can’t be bringing them to Arizona with you. Or are you.
    Funny you should mention water Earl I’m wondering if it’s on your mind. I was watching The News Hour and they were explaining about the extent of the drought in the west with your new home included in the drought region. You won’t be looking at pandemic numbers now you’ll be looking at the most recent drought reports like this one for April.

    https://new.azwater.gov/drought/drought-status

    I know you won’t be missing Democrats, gun laws and snow Earl but I bet you will miss abundant water resources at some point in the future.
    Are you having sport with me Earl………again. Being buddies was brief and nice but over and now it’s back to throwing darts. . That’s fine you’re a short timer in these here parts and just on the cusp of the big move so it’s all good. No I won’t be busting your chops after you’re long gone and decide to weigh in long distance although you may not want to throw any darts that refer to loyalty to any given track or type of racing. Best to leave those darts in the quiver. Is there such a thing as a dart quiver??
    I think I held up my end of the conversation here. Several comments whining about the lack of updated points when it would have been faster just to figure it out. That’s what we racers do isn’t it Earl. Spectators wait for things to be served up and complain when they don’t get them while the racers figure out what’s wrong and do what they can to fix it.
    I may be physically in Enfield, Ct but mentally I’m already thinking about what will happen up in Oswego. providing some relevant stats to help predict what may happen and how it will affect the points that I may not have nailed but at least attempted to figure out. Not that there’s anything wrong with a good dart game it’s just not something I’m that interested in..

  50. Will the NWMT Jennerstown race results and standings be updated before the June 12 Oswego race?

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