(Press Release from Thompson Speedway)
The stars and cars of the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour are headed for Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park for the 10th race of their season on Wednesday, August 8.
And as the schedule begins to wind down for the modifieds, Thompson’s 29th annual Bud “King of Beers” 150 will play a crucial role in the championship chase. It also marks the final stop at Thompson for teams to tune on their equipment before the champion is crowned as part of the Sunoco World Series in October.
In two previous Thompson events this year, Justin Bonsignore drove the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc. Chevrolet into Victory Lane. In April’s Icebreaker 150, Bonsignore rolled by Jon McKennedy when McKennedy ran out of fuel and went on to score the victory. In June, a late caution flag allowed Bonsignore’s stellar pit crew to shine and get him out at the front of the pack, and he never gave up the top spot.
Bonsignore leads all active drivers with the most career wins on the 0.625-mile oval (seven) and has put together a fast start to the season that has him as the championship favorite to this point. But behind him, 2015 Sunoco Rookie of the Year Chase Dowling is looking to break into Thompson’s Victory Lane and Doug Coby will be looking to regain his magic on the high-banks. Coby swept all four races in 2015, and has five career wins in 56 career starts. He finished inside the podium during the Thompson 125.
Other entrants to watch include Timmy Solomito, Matt Swanson, Bobby Santos III and Ronnie Williams. For Williams, the Thompson stops so far this season have proven to be difficult for him during the race action, but not in practice or qualifying. Williams qualified on the front row for both races, but has failed to finish inside the top-10. Will the speed he has shown so far return and allow him to have a chance at the victory?
One entry in the field that Thompson local fans may really want to watch is Ray Parent.
The defending Thompson Late Model champion is making his move to the modified ranks with Don Parsons Racing and he will drive the No. 98 Make A Wish entry in the Bud “King of Beers” 150. Parent has plenty of laps around Thompson and will look to use that experience to help him expedite the learning process driving a modified. Parent started 23rd and finished 16th in the Thompson 125 back in June in his Whelen Modified Tour debut.
Along with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour, a full slate of NASCAR Whelen All American Series racing is also planned for the night. The Sunoco Modifieds, Late Models, Limited Sportsman and Mini Stock divisions will all compete in qualifying and feature racing. The NEMA Midgets will also return to the high-banks of Thompson for a 25-lap feature.
In the NWAAS Sunoco Modifieds, Keith Rocco has been victorious in three of the first four races, and holds a 28-point advantage in the championship point standings over Troy Talman. The only driver to knock Rocco off the top so far – Ryan Preece – will pull double duty and attempt to close the gap in the Sunoco Modified championship chase.
After some impressive runs to start the season, Nick Johnson finds himself in position to score a championship in the Late Model ranks. Johnson has finished inside the top five in all events so far in 2018, and holds a 17-point lead over Mark Jenison in the title fight. However, the top seven drivers are separated by 27 points – meaning it will be crucial for the eventual champion to score three consistent finishes at the front of the pack if they want to seal the deal.
Eric Bourgeois has won two races so far, and holds a 26-point lead in the Mini Stocks, while defending Limited Sportsman champion Shawn Monahan is running away with the Limited Sportsman title. Monahan is 27 points ahead of Chris Meyer with three races remaining and has already been victorious twice.
Qualifying racing gets underway at 5 p.m., and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will hit the track for group qualifying at 7 p.m. In the midst of feature racing, the Mini Stocks and the Late Models will follow the modifieds and complete the full night of racing. Paddock entry for the Bud 150 night is $50, while fans can walk into the front gate for just $44 and watch six action-packed feature events. As always, kids 12 & under are free for admission.
For more information on Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, check the track social media channels, or visit www.thompsonspeedway.com.
Should be a good show. I think Bonsignore has this one in the bag. Others to watch include Dowling, Tim Solomito and Jon Mc Kennedy. Dark horse being Rowan Pennick in “Ole Blue”
Rob p., what about Colbee? How can you not mention Colbee?
I think “Ole Blue” has a good result coming.
And Rob Summers and Sapienza will be getting better results.
Although Doug COBY ( Colby is a type of cheese) has been running well, just don’t see him getting it done. I think LFR put him in time out, as the other LFR cars seem to have speed and he doesn’t. The others you mentioned are just top 10 guys, but how about Ronnie Williams he seems to have food speed just needs a lucky break
It’s go time for Colbee and the big bad deuce dareal.They have to start running the table right now and hope for bad things for Justin,Chase,Timmy and others or it’s gonna be over sooner than later.At the end of the day they are capable of making a run but like the mere mortals they are have no control over others fortunes.Shaping up as a tall order.
I’m thinking something changed a bit and it’s outside the test parameters of the 2 crew. The 2 has done numerous private track rentals and did hundreds if not thousands of test laps. Cognitive ability should be able to fix their problems, not some notes with a table of settings. And they had their flux capacitor taken away too. The car is doing this, or not doing that, so we need to adjust this. If they knew the behavior of a car, they could do just that.
How is Fuller going to sell cars if only one is performing, the deuce, time to spread the wealth around.
humphry, where have you been… the deuce is not performing. It’s in 8th place, 102 points out of first place. All cars ahead of it need to have lots of bad luck and numerous DNFs. The deuce needs the top 5 cars to forget to show up to a few races.
So now, the 51 and 15 are running well. The 2, 44 and 01 are struggling mightily. The 2 is collecting an average of 31 points per race, the 44 is collecting an average of 38 points per race. The 51 is collecting 43.75 points per race. The 6 is collecting 36.14 points per race (only 7 races), and the 3 is collecting 37.6 points per race (only 7 races). Bonus points are crucial. Remarkable where the 6 and 3 are in points given they missed a race. The 3 and 6 are ahead of the big, bad 2.
The 2 is currently 102 points out first place, a very deep hole. The sides of the hole are caving in on the 2.
Once again dareal has it all figured out,can’t thank you enough hope you can make the race or are you helping out at F1 on the 8th
YES we are alllllllllllll so lucky to have an EXPERT here to school us on everything about the WMT
The issue with Coby is having bad luck. Loudon – Newman hitting his car in the pit box, finished 26th. Langley – LR tire falling off, finished 24th. Stafford – Can’t remember the issue, finished 21st. The races he didn’t have mechanical issues, his finishes were, 14th, 6th, 12th, and two 3rds. No great but respectable.
Just Me, even without bad luck, the 2 is not running up to the levels it has in recent years.
Probably not getting the latest setup secrets from LFR. lol.
On Septer 24, 2016 an epic thread was launched. The topic was Justin Bonsignor who had just won the FW Webb 100 at NHMS. Over 13 days it eventually contained 162 comments, roughly 1500 lines of text of which half were from Darealgoodfella. Dareal corrected, mocked, taunted, cajoled and otherwise talked down to person after person with unequaled resolve. It’s was a tour de force and predictable except for one thing. One of the people he talked down to was none other then Justiin Bonsignor. The guy that won the race, was second in points at the time and finished second in points. That Justin Bonsignor.
Justin “chimed in” for two reason basically.One to contest Dareal’s observation that JB had been “erratic” that season. Second to correct Dareal’s continuous theme that Doug Coby’s carb was a cheater and responsible for his success.
What JB got was exactly what most that cross Dareal get. Condescension, lecturing, advice with a heavy dose of narcissism. It was breathtaking in it’s arrogance.
Long story short the carb correction by JB was rejected and the flux capacitor was born. A vague reference to a cheater source for speed that was completely made up. And dumb seeing as how crediting a capacitor for speed in kind of like crediting a fuel cell for speed. None the less Dareal went on to reference the cheating carb via flux capacitor for literally hundreds of entries right up to now.
So if you think you have a chance in putting a dent in this knuckleheads self image of infallibility just ask Justin Bonsignor how he made out. Dareal burps brilliance and farts rainbows without even trying.
The certifiable Sybil can’t get the idea of “The Flux Capacitor”.It’s a reference to a movie that this multi personality nutbag can’t seem understand and probably never saw.Shawn should hire him as site hysterical historian.BTW me thinks another personality has transited though in the last few days.Also while were at it, most folks are familiar with the different varieties found in the cheese aisle.It’s a joke! lighten up already.It isn’t even disrespectful to Doug.It is done in fun.Take a chill pill already but definitely everyone should continue peeing in sybil’s corn flakes.He/She is obsessed with pee so get ready for the response.
This season, Justin Bonsignore has been incredibly consistent (aka: not erratic) and look at the results!!! JBon is driving much better. He has turned it up.
Colbee has been very erratic, with some bad luck thrown in, and look at the fall in results. Colbee used to be very consistent. If Colbee can’t get out front and away from traffic, he and the traffic are in trouble.
Well, some flux capacitors are more equal than others. Always a problem. Like the controversy with the pop off valves on the Indy cars. Always had to have the more equal one. Insipid Sybil is seething at her failure to understand the importance of the flux capacitor, and its role in the performance of the car. The First Amendment Rights were clearly oppressed due to the lack of exposure of the multiple carburetor confiscations.
It’s the weekend and certifiable insipid Sybil et al. are out of the cage!!!
What, too much? Here’s the thread if anyone is interested. It’s a good read. My take is JB comes of as a pretty classy guy and smart.
https://racedayct.com/2016/09/altered-fate-justin-bonsignore-wins-whelen-mod-tour-f-w-webb-100-at-nhms/#comments
Remember we’re the backbone of racing, the fans. Some of us spent a lifetime at the track, working on cars, getting to know the competition. Others watch races on TV, or the internet. None the less we’re still fans. We all have different opinions, drivers we like, drivers we hate, but we’re still fans. When I read dareals submissions I see a frustrated individual who must always get in the last word, and stir up controversy. When I read Doug’s submissions I see a guy who spent time at the track, and breaks things down based on logic and fact. Two totally different views, but at the end of the day they’re both Fan’s. And Fan’s are what keeps the sport of racing alive. Without Fan’s it’s just a bunch of guys driving around in ovals.
If Coby does possess a flux capacitor, he should crack out the time traveling Delorean, and go back to fix whatever they changed LOL. No seriously Coby’s performance has been off compared to previous years. Don’t know if it’s the car, or maybe their relationship with LFR, but definitely off. Others are struggling too though. Salomito in the 16 Woody in the 82, Santos in the 44 just to name a few. And look at Peece this past weekend at New Hampshire, uncharacteristically lacking speed which put him back in the pack and BAM he touches wheels with someone, finished 27th. I can’t put my finger on it yet but something is off, maybe with the tires, maybe with the spec motors who knows but allot of good teams have under performed this season.
Uh-oh. Rob p. also notices that the almighty black deuce and the LFR chassis are not the cat’s meow, that something isn’t right. A tragic fall from grace. Rob, watch out, the knives will be out. Never speak out unsavorily about Colbee, the deuce, or the fanboys favorite chassis. Good point on the flux capacitor and time machine. Maybe work a Mr. Fusion into the mix.
JEEZ more dribble, the team has won 5 championships and you DONT think the other teams do things to catch up, its racing, things happen, bad luck happens, other teams gain experience and jell together, THE sport is ever evolving, give it a rest MR know it alllllll
Did Coby get voted off of LFR island? Called this out before the season started that with Dowling being in the LFR house car Coby would suffer. Just didn’t expect such a sharp drop in performance.
Maybe God stopped blessing Doug, so he could bless Burt Meyers. OMG. LMFAO
I’m looking forward to this. It’s always a great night out in New England.
Thompson has great ticket lines, very fast, and plenty of concession stands, hardly ever a line and if there is it moves quickly.
I might bring a bag of frosted flakes for a snack.