On Sept. 21 Justin Bonsignore finished eighth in the Whelen Modified Tour Winchester Fair at Monadnock Speedway. He left the track 11 points behind reigning division championship Ron Silk after 13 of 16 events for the season.
And then Bonsignore got going, and going and going.
Bonsignore’s meteoric blast through the final three events of the season ended Saturday in victory lane at Martinsville Speedway in all sorts of historical fashion.
Bonsignore won the Whelen Modified Tour Virginia Is For Racing Lovers 200 Saturday at Martinsville Speedway.
The victory clinched Bonsignore’s fourth Whelen Modified Tour title.
“It’s a year of hard work and a lot of ups and downs,” Bonsignore said. “Middle of September wasn’t looking good and all of the sudden we got hot. Three in a row is something I’ve never done in my career, and to cap it off with a [Martinsville Speedway] Grandfather Clock. It’s just really really awesome.”
Bonsignore came into Saturday’s event with a 10-point advantage over second place Silk in the standings. Patrick Emerling came into the event third in the standings, 24 points off the lead.
With Bonsignore leading the race, Silk slowed from sixth place on lap 138 and headed down pit road under green. After getting fuel, Silk went back out on track but headed back to pit road three laps later and went behind the wall. Silk’s crew chief Phil Moran said motor issues ended the night for the reigning champions.
Bonsignore led the race the rest of the way.
It was Bonsignore’s third consecutive victory to close out the season and his fifth victory of the season. Bonsignore won on Oct. 13 at Thompson Speedway and Oct. 20 at North Wilkesboro.
“We watched other people celebrate two years in a row here and we lost,” Bonsignore said. “That’s tough to watch. Just a lot of hard work by [crew chief] Ryan Stone and [team owner] Ken Massa to keep things going in the direction we want to go. Ryan works really hard and Ken lets him do whatever he needs to make these race cars as fast as they are. This car came out at Thompson and won the last three [races]. It’s just really hard to put into words how special this stuff is.”
Bonsignore also won series titles in 2018, 2020 and 2021. Bonsignore is one of only four drivers to have four or more Whelen Modified Tour titles in the 40 year history of the series, joining Mike Stefanik (seven), Doug Coby (six) and Tony Hirschman (five).
Adding to the history of the night was Bonsignore’s series win total. It was his 45th career series victory, giving him sole possession of second place on the division’s all-time win list. Bonsignore had tied Reggie Ruggiero for second on the division’s all-time win list last week at North Wilkesboro. Stefanik is the division’s all-time win leader with 74 series victories.
“Ken and Janine Massa, this our 15th season together,” Bonsignore said. “They’ve changed my life on and off the race track. … These things are hard to win. I know people think that this stuff is easy and it’s not as hard as it used to be back in the day, but this stuff is still hard and there’s really good guys in this garage and we’re just fortunate enough to win this one tonight.”
Silk was scored 17th in the 23-car field and ended up second in the standings, 32 points behind Bonsignore. Emerling, who finished 10th, saw his first year team end up third in the standings, 38 points off the top spot.
Matt Hirschman was second Saturday at Martinsville and Jacob Lutz was third.
The first caution flew on lap four for the stopped car of Trevor Catalano. Bonsignore went to battle with Luke Baldwin for the top spot on the lap 10 restart.
Three laps later Tommy Catalano and Tim Connolly wrecked to bring out the second caution.
Bonsignore controlled on the ensuing restart and the long green flag run that ran to lap 52 when the race was slowed after Trevor Catalano’s motor blew.
On the restart it was Patrick Emerling going to the lead from lap 58-66. Austin Beers led laps 67 and 68 before Craig Lutz took over out front from on 69 to 120.
With Craig Lutz leading, Beers in second and Bonsignore in third, caution flew for the slowed car of Trevor Catalano on lap 118.
The race restarted with Bonsignore leading, Silk in second, Beers in third and Craig Lutz in fourth.
On the restart Silk fell back to sixth place before caution was back out for issues with Bobby Labonte on lap 129.
Bonsignore led a race-high 136 laps.
Related: NASCAR Releases 2025 Whelen Modified Tour Schedule
Related: Whelen Engineering Extends Partnership As NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Title Sponsor
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Congrats to the #51 team. They clicked at the right time and they were consistent enough the entire year to stay in it. The tour is in trouble. Lack of car count, increased costs and lack of pay days. No real interest it seems anymore. Very little promotion. Nascar doesn’t care either. The southern tour seems to be on the rise more then the north guys.
The Mazda buzz bombers were more entertaining than the nascar mods