(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
After a more than month-long break following the opening round of the 2022 season in February, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour kicks back into action Friday night.
This time the Tour invades Richmond Raceway for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150. It’s the second straight season the tour has visited the popular Richmond oval, but this year the event is being held in April instead of September. The Mods race Friday will kick off a weekend of racing that includes the NASCAR Xfinity Series on Saturday and the NASCAR Cup Series on Sunday.
This will mark the 12th time the Modified Tour has invaded the 0.75-mile track, with 2013 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ryan Preece emerging as the winner last year in the Tour’s return to the track after a nearly 20-year hiatus.
With Preece not competing this year at Richmond, the door is wide open for one of the approximately 30 drivers entered to earn a trip to Victory Lane on one of the Tour’s biggest stages.
Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond Raceway
What to watch for:
A strong entry list featuring an anticipated 30 cars for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 includes some of the top modified drivers in the country, headlined by defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore.
Bonsignore, back in his familiar No. 51 for team owner Ken Massa, will be looking to get his season pointed in the right direction after a disappointing start at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway. An overheating issue dropped him out of the New Smyrna race after just 32 laps, meaning Bonsignore has a lot of work to do if he hopes to stay in the hunt for his fourth series championship.
Among the most notable entries is Donny Lia, who is making his return to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour for the first time since 2017. Lia will pilot the Ole Blue No. 3 fielded by Boehler Racing Enterprises on Friday in the first of an expected six-race schedule this season.
Jon McKennedy, who finished second last season at Richmond behind Preece, will hope to improve by one position this year. He is in a different car this time around, as the veteran from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, has taken over the No. 79 entry owned by Tim Lepine.
Making his first start of the season with the Tour is 2010 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Bobby Santos III, who returns to the same No. 44 owned by Lawney Tinio that he drove in four races last year.
Other notable entries include two-time NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour champion Andy Seuss, Jimmy Blewett in Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s No. 7 and Max McLaughlin in Mike Curb’s No. 77.
The complete entry list for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 can be found here.
RACE FACTS
| Race | Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 |
| Date | Friday, April 1, 2022 |
| Track | Richmond Raceway |
| Layout | 0.75-mile paved oval |
| Location | Richmond, Virginia |
| Start time | 6:30 p.m. ET |
| Laps | 150 |
| Posted awards | $112,250 |
| Tickets | RichmondRaceway.com |
| TV channel | USA (Delayed: Saturday, April 9, 4 p.m. ET) |
| Live stream | FloRacing (Live) |
Schedule: Garage opens at 8:30 a.m. ET … Final practice from 1 – 2:15 p.m. ET … Single-car qualifying (two laps) at 4:15 p.m. ET … Race at 6:30 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 Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 is limited to 32 starters including Provisional Positions.
Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is fourteen (14) 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 six (6) tires, any position.
It is interesting that Preece, Williams, Hirschman, and Myers aren’t on the entry list. It seems as though, it should be the Bonsignore’s race to lose- even with McKennedy and Santos racing.
Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 Pick-em
01 Melissa Fifield
2 Chuck Hossfeld
3 Donny Lia
5 Kyle Ebersole
07 Patrick Emerling
7 Jimmy Blewett
16 Ron Silk
18 Ken Heagy
22 Kyle Bonsignore
24 Andrew Kraus
26 Gary McDonald
29 Spencer Davis
32 Tyler Rypkema
34 J.B. Fortin
36 David Sapienza
39 TBA William Stanley
44 Bobby Santos III
51 Justin Bonsignore
54 Tommy Catalano
55 Jeremy Gerstner
58 Eric Goodale
64 Austin Beers
70 Andy Seuss
71 James Pritchard Jr.
77 Max McLaughlin
78 Walter Sutcliffe Jr.
79 Jon Mckennedy
82 Craig Lutz
92 Anthony Nocella
97 Bryan Dauzat
120 Edward McCarthy
POINTS SYSTEM;
3 – points for picking the Winner
1- point for EACH car picked in top 5
2- points for most cars picked in top 5
3-points for the “Outsider”-can be any driver even a favorite points earned only for the win. Outsider cannot appear in your top 5. Go ahead and pick a top team for your outsider and you get two great chances at earning the 3 points. Just remember if he or she does not win you lose the points you may have gotten by including the driver in your top 5.
Tie Breaker-RaceDayCt rules. 1 point to the winner, 2 points for second, 3 for third etc. Lowest score wins the tiebreaker. Only applies in the event of a tie.
Any takers?????????
TOP 5 PICK’EM ….RICHMOND 150 ….. >>>>>>>>>>
HAVE FUN = BE HAPPY >>>>>>>>
1. 79 McKennedy
2. 51 J. Bonsignore
3. 16 Silk
4. 07 Emerling
5. 3 Donny Lia
the ” OUTSIDER PICK ”
7NY Jimmy Blewett
51 J Bon
79 McKenney
92 Nocella
7 Blewett
07 Emerling
Out side
24 Krause
16,7ny,79,58,07
Outsider 51
Top 5
51
16
07
7ny
82
Outsider
79
OK, I’m in! 1) Silk, 2) Emerling, 3) McKennedy, 4) Bonsignore, & 5) Santos. Outsider, Lia.
51
44
7
16
77
outsider
16
NWMT Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 – April 1
Jake….79,51,16, 07, 3, >>>> 7ny
Viva…..51,79,92,7ny,07 >>>>24
Doug…16,7ny,79,58,07 >>>>>51
Earl……51,16,07,7ny,82 >>>>79
Eddie…16,07,79,51,44MA, >>3
The “Outsider” is pure stupidity. Might as well make it a “Pick 6”.
51, 16, 22, 77, 79 44
Dareal, the outsider pick is a second frst place pick, not a pick for 6th place.
Hey Mudbus. Remember how you had the Tour dead and buried? Great call. 30 plus cars for a long haul race with gas at $4.00+ a gallon. Hey look at it this way, you were only 100% wrong.
Fast Eddie, I understand… 5+1=6
Call it two first place picks, two second place picks… whatever… it’s stupid. Look at all the outsider picks… all are favored to win. So you pick two first place options? Two second place options? Makes no sense.
51-7ny-79-77-82
Dareal, you have to look at the picks in conjuntion with their potential point values, that’s what makes them different. Ultimately you want to pic 1-5 in exact order, with an extra winner’s pick. Why not make picks yourself and join us? My challenge is I go to a decent amount of Modified races (21 last year), which I would think helps my picking capabilities. Reality has showed me otherwise but I still had fun trying!
NWMT Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 – April 1
Jake….79,51,16, 07, 3, >>>> 7ny
Viva…..51,79,92,7ny,07 >>>>24
Doug…16,7ny,79,58,07 >>>>>51
Earl……51,16,07,7ny,82 >>>>79
Eddie…16,07,79,51,44MA, >>3
MBus….51,44MA, 7ny,16,77>>16 (Outsider can’t be in top 5, please pick again)
RFan…..51,16,22,77,79, >>>>44
KenL…..51,7ny,79,77,82>>>>>
Hello boys! I hope you all are having a wonderful 2022. 🤍 Anyone else flying Delta 5363 from LGA at 4:50 PM tomorrow? I’ll be at the Sky Club at Terminal C if anyone wants to chase down a few cocktails. 🍸🍸🍸
44, 79, 16, 51, 7 >>> 77
44, 51, 7ny, 16, 77>>>>07
I started the Pick’em Pool last year and like I stated at the time … It’s new and there will be tweaks along the way as we go… Last year I was the only one to hit the first time Winner’s Pick/ Wildcard . Doug has been excellent on handling the scores as I am usually quite busy turning wrenches at the Tracks…The Wildcard / Darkhorse pick was started in the SPIRIT of an upset Winner / first time / Winner in that series… but was only hit that one race …. Any way Doug suggested we change it to Outsider to add some more strategy and a way to increase the chances of hitting it.. Also we updated the tie breaker to simplify that process… So HAVE FUN = BE HAPPY enjoy the pool and by all means put your picks in as all are welcome to play… It’s the one thing we can all agree on and have some FUN playing along as the season progresses ….& thank you Doug for all you do to keep the Fun Rolling… Suitcase Jake …..
csg picks for Richmond
44ma 16 79 51 92 outside Ole blue 3
Enjoy the races. Is there a contest for Thompson?
We would like to have an Ice Breaker Pick’em…. But getting an entry list seems to be tough due to many factors….
Well, look at who is NOT on the Richmond entry list, and there you have the Thompson entry list.
There might be drivers running both, maybe a team that has cars to spare.
Pasternak, …
NWMT Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 – April 1
Jake….79,51,16, 07, 3, >>>>>>>>> 7ny
Viva…..51,79,92,7ny,07 >>>>>>>>>>24
Doug…16,7ny,79,58,07 >>>>>>>>>>51
Earl……51,16,07,7ny,82 >>>>>>>>>79
Eddie…16,07,79,51,44MA, >>>>>>>>3
MBus….51,44MA, 7ny,16,77>>16 (Outsider can’t be in top 5, please pick again)
RFan…..51,16,22,77,79, >>>>>>>>>44
KenL…..51,7ny,79,77,82>>>>>>>>>??
LizC……44ma, 79, 16, 51, 7ny >>>> 77
MikeH…44ma, 51, 7ny, 16, 77>>>>>07
CSG…….44ma,16, 79, 51, 92, >>> 3
Anyone wants to put Newman in feel free
Who is Pasternak? Never heard of him.
He plays for the Bruins! 🙂
👍, don’t follow hockey, that’s why I didn’t recognize the name………
NWMT Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 – April 1
51,54,2,5,32
Jake….79,51,16, 07, 3, >>>>>> 7ny…0+1+0>0=1
Viva…..51,79,92,7ny,07 >>>>>>>24…3+1+2>0=6 (69)
Doug…16,7ny,79,58,07 >>>>>>>51….0+0+0>3=3
Earl……51,16,07,7ny,82 >>>>>>79…..3+1+2>0=6 (58)
Eddie…16,07,79,51,44MA, >>>>>3…..0+1+0>0=1
MBus….51,44MA, 7ny,16,77>>16 …….3+1+2>0=6 (47)
RFan…..51,16,22,77,79, >>>>>>44…..3+1+2>0=6 (51)
KenL…..51,7ny,79,77,82>>>>>>??……3+1+2>0=6 (43) WINNER!
LizC……44ma, 79, 16, 51, 7ny > 77…..0+1+0>0=1
MikeH…44ma, 51, 7ny, 16, 77>>07…..0+1+0>0=1
CSG…….44ma,16, 79, 51, 92, > 3……0+1+0>0=1
KenL gets the win on the tie breaker in a 5 way tie.