Going Hunting: Justin Bonsignore Wins Pole For Whelen Modified Tour Mohegan Sun 100 At NHMS

LOUDON, N.H. – When it comes the late stages of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour schedule annually, Justin Bonsignore has more often than not late been the one being hunted. 

Saturday, the four-time series champion kicks off the final quarter of the Whelen Modified Tour season in the position of hunter. 

With four events remaining this season, Bonsignore sits second in the series standings, 17 points behind Austin Beers. 

Saturday Bonsignore goes looking to take a bite out of that lead at a place where’s he’s become familiar with success. 

And he’ll do it from the best starting spot possible. 

Bonsignore led the way in qualifying Friday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in preparation for Saturday’s Mohegan Sun 100 in Loudon. 

Bonsignore, of Holtsville, N.Y., toured. The 1.058-mile oval in 29.202 seconds (130.429 mph). 

“It’s always huge to bring a fast car to the biggest race of the year,” Bonsignore said. “We’ve been on the pole here three years in a row that we’ve had qualifying. Just a testament to [crew chief] Ryan Stone and all the guys. They work really hard to make sure this car is as trimmed out as possible. It’s really cool. We can start up front. Hopefully control the race. It’s important to control the race. Always be in the lead, control the restarts, control the pit strategy. All those things are important here. Obviously we’re not in the best of situations right now for points, so we’re going to have to try and go out and put pressure on those guys and try to win some races and see what we can do.” 

Craig Lutz of Miller Place, N.Y. was second in qualifying (29.277 seconds, 130.095 mph) and Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, Mass. was third in qualifying (29.367 seconds, 129.705 mph). 

Beers was 18th fastest of the 27 cars in qualifying Friday. 

“We’ve been getting our butts kicked here for a good part of the summer,” Bonsignore said. “He’s been consistent and we haven’t. There’s five of us within reach but I feel comfortable and confident in our team. We’ve got four really good race tracks here to end the season that we’ve won a lot of races at over the years. So this is a good start. We get a point for today. That’s important nowadays too. Hopefully we can just lead laps, lead the most laps and go on hopefully and have a shot at the end. You just want to be in position when you come off turn two here on the last lap. If we can do that we’ll have a good day and we’ll just keep the pressure on Austin. It’s his first time in this situation. They’re having a really good year. We can hopefully keep them honest until the end.” 

Saturday’s 27-car field features a number of high quality drivers who are not running the series for points this year. That group includes six-time series champion Doug Coby, two-time series champion Ron Silk, former series champion McKennedy and quite a few others. It makes for an interesting wrinkle for drivers who are in points battles. 

“They definitely won’t give a damn, I know that’s for sure when you come off turn two,” Bonsignore said. “But, hopefully we’ll be smart about those things. You’ve got to understand your surroundings and understand the situation. We’re here to win. This is our biggest race of the year, we want to win it. I won’t do anything stupid to get myself hurt or wrecked in turn three, but I’m going to go for the win as much as I can. But you’ve got to just know that those guys that aren’t here for points don’t care and you’ve got to be smart around them.” 

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