(Press Release from NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications)
The battle for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship between Justin Bonsignore and Ron Silk has reached its crescendo as the series returns to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park this Sunday afternoon for the running of the World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com (4 p.m. ET on FloRacing).
The 152nd race in Whelen Modified Tour history at the 0.625-mile oval will pit the two championship contenders against each other in a game of oneupmanship as each man looks to gain an advantage ahead of the season finale at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 26.
Bonsignore is the most recent victor at Thompson after winning the Thompson 150 in August, which marked his 13th career Thompson victory in 42 starts at the track. He is tied with Ted Christopher for second on the all-time Whelen Modified Tour win list at Thompson, with Mike Stefanik sitting at the top of the record books with 15 Thompson Whelen Modified Tour wins.
Silk is no slouch either, having won five times at Thompson in 58 starts. His last victory at Thompson came in 2020. He also scored one victory at Thompson in 2012, two in 2008 and one in 2007.
Tickets to Sunday’s World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com are available trackside. Below is everything you need to know about the 17th race of the 2023 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season.
World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park
What to watch for:
For years, Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park hosted the final race of the season for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. While that may not still be the case, Thompson is set to play a huge part in the crowning of the 2023 series champion.
With just two points separating points leader Justin Bonsignore from his title rival Ron Silk, every position will matter as both men look to gain some sort of upper hand. With 17 victories at Thompson split between them, either driver could emerge as a winner Sunday and take one step closer to the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.
While the focus is on Bonsignore and Silk going into Sunday’s race, there are plenty of other drivers who will be looking to earn a trip to Victory Lane at one of the Modified Tour’s most storied facilities.
They include two-time Thompson winner Craig Lutz, who would love to give his team owner Danny Watts Jr. a going away present as Watts prepares to retire as a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour car owner at the conclusion of the season. Woody Pitkat will make his final start of the year aboard the No. 6 for another retiring car owner, Stan Mertz.
Austin Beers has been fast everywhere this season and will be looking for his third victory of the season in the No. 64 KLM Motorsports entry. Ronnie Williams, who sat on the pole for this race one year ago, returns aboard the No. 50 entry. Eric Goodale, the defending race winner, is also scheduled to compete in the No. 58.
Kyle Bonsignore will pursue his second victory of 2023 on Sunday while Bobby Santos III will look to improve upon his ninth-place finish at North Wilkesboro Speedway last weekend.
Other notable entries include Sam Rameau, Dave Sapienza, Anthony Sesely, Matt Swanson and Anthony Nocella, among others.
The complete entry list for Sunday’s World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com is available here.
RACE FACTS
| Race | World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com |
| Date | Saturday, Oct. 8, 2023 |
| Track | Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park |
| Layout | 0.625-mile paved oval |
| Location | Thompson, Connecticut |
| Start Time | 4 p.m. ET |
| Laps | 150 |
| Posted awards | $92,995 |
| Live stream | FloRacing (Live) |
Schedule: Saturday, Oct. 7 … Practice from 1 to 2:15 p.m. ET … Qualifying at 4 p.m. ET … Sunday, Oct. 8 … World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com at 4 p.m. ET (FloRacing).
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 World Series 150 presented by FloSports.com is limited to 30 starters including Provisional Positions.
Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is eleven (11) 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 three (3) tires, any position.
With a definite rain out on Saturday and maybe Friday night is it possible they just reschedule the whole event to a different weekend.
There was never a rain date announced for the world series. As of today they are planning on running everything Sunday if need be. The road course is king. Lucky that Sunday looks to be beautiful.
According to PASS website the PASS pro stock/SLM race scheduled to be held on Saturday of Thompson World series weekend has been cancelled. All other World series events are going on. If you look at the ACT website or Racing AMerica they still list PASS SLM as running on Saturday According to a World series schedule update posted on facebook, the PASS SLM race is off the schedule and Saturday grandstand tickets are still priced at the original 35.00. Racing America has a PPV on their schedule for all 3 days and you can purchase each day separately.
A comment on Thompsons facebook stated anything that doesn’t get in on Friday or Saturday will be run on Sunday. My question is with separate admissions for all 3 days, how do they plan to administer getting everyone in and out of the pits and grandstands if they have to run everything on Sunday. It just seems like a logistical nightmare. I am pretty sure they have been selling tickets for each day on the ACT website. I am thinking that because they didn’t reduce the price of Saturday when dropping the PASS race. So, if someone bought a Friday only ticket to run or see the ACT weekly late models. A worst-case scenario, Friday and Saturday is a wash. They will presumably run the Friday event at the start of Sunday, Clear the pits and grandstands of all Friday only ticket purchasers. Then let everyone in with a Saturday or Sat/Sun combo ticket run Saturday’s event. Then clear the grandstand and pits of all Saturday only ticketed individuals. Let all the Sunday only ticketed people in and run Sunday’s event. All starting at noon on Sunday because of noise ordinance laws. This article also states the Whelen tour going off at 4pm Sunday. Now, I don’t think that 4pm start time is set in stone, but they paused the 602 crate mod race at Norhwilksboro with around 20 laps to go, in order to run the Whelen tour event at its scheduled time.
I know I went to one World Series several years ago which ran everything on Sunday. It went amazingly well but back then they did not have separate admissions which require clearing the pits and grandstands. They also did not run. 3 SK events, 3 tour type modified events. and 3 limited sportsman/open street stock events in which many of the same cars will be entered into multiple events on the same day.
The weather looks iffy on Friday bad on Saturday and promising on Sunday To be clear. I am no meteorologist, but I have seen a lot of rain on race days this season. The forecast can certainly be wrong and or change for the better. I am just really curious how they would pull off a one-day world series, with 3 separate gen admission and pit admissions already sold. With PASS off the world series schedule there is no conflict with Oxfords PASS event next weekend if they needed to use next weekend as a makeup, It sounds like they intend on getting it in this weekend.
Hopefully friday goes off ok. If saturday is lost I would think the majority of fans will have 2 or 3 day passes anyhow so maybe if you only bought a saturday ticket they would expect you to trade up for a 2-day pass? Trying to switch the crowd on sunday would eat up way too much time I think.