|
|
|
09/17/2014 |
JUSTIN
BONSIGNORE LOOKING FOR FIRST STAFFORD VICTORY
IN NAPA FALL FINAL WEEKEND |
 As
the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour prepares for their
final visit of the 2014 season to Stafford Motor
Speedway, the race for the championship is as tight
as ever. Doug Coby currently leads Justin Bonsignore
by a scant 4 point margin, and the Tour heads to
Loudon, NH before coming to Stafford for the NAPA
Fall Final Weekend on Sept. 27-28.
With Bonsignore looking to erase that 4-point
deficit, he is still in search of his first win at
the Connecticut half-mile facility. Bonsignore has
won 2 of his 5 career pole positions at Stafford,
with both pole positions coming in qualifying for
the NAPA Fall Final Weekend. To date, Bonsignore’s
best career finish at Stafford has been a second
place effort. He finished second in last year’s NAPA
Spring Sizzler and he matched that effort again with
a second place finish in the June TSI
Harley-Davidson 125. Bonsignore has had some extra
practice at Stafford this season driving Art Barry’s
#21 machine in the Valenti Modified Racing Series.
In his 3 Stafford VMRS starts this season,
Bonsignore has twice finished third along with a
seventh place finish. Bonsignore knows he needs a
good finish to stay in championship contention, but
he also realizes it will be a tall task at Stafford.
“The last couple of years at Stafford, between Doug
[Coby] and Bobby [Santos], they’ve been pretty tough
to beat”, said Bonsignore. “Stafford hasn’t been one
of my better tracks so it would be nice to be able
to gain some points on Doug at New Hampshire before
we get to Stafford. On the other hand, we seem to
run better at Stafford when we have a two-day show
versus the one-day impound events and we have 2
poles at Stafford. It certainly wouldn’t hurt for us
to be on pole again because more often than not at
Stafford, a good qualifying effort makes your race a
lot easier and smoother than starting in the back
since track position is going to be so important.”
Bonsignore will have some winning momentum on his
side coming to Stafford as he won the most recent
VMRS race at Airborne Speedway with Barry’s #21
team.
“Any time you can win a race, it gets your
confidence level up high and there’s nothing better
than winning races,” said Bonsignore.
On paper, the experience factor would seem to lie in
Coby’s favor. Since the 2012 season, Coby has won 5
of the 14 NWMT races at Stafford and Coby is also
the 2012 NWMT champion as well as being the
championship runner up last season to Ryan Preece.
Bonsignore has yet to win at Stafford and he is also
a newcomer to racing for a championship, but rather
than say he is at a disadvantage, Bonsignore is
looking to the positives.
“Being in the championship race is a new situation
for us,” said Bonsignore. “I’m not really sure if
I’d rather be leading the points or chasing the
leader like we are now. I haven’t really been
looking at the points but we’re getting down to it
now with only a couple of races left and I’m sure
it’s going to be a hot topic of conversation when we
get to Stafford. All we can do is keep the same game
plan we’ve had all year long with regards to
qualifying and the race and not deviate from what’s
gotten us to the point we’re at now. The 2 team
hasn’t missed a beat all year long and with us being
new to the championship chase maybe that will help
us out. We’re definitely looking forward to going
back to Stafford and hopefully we can build up some
breathing room between us and Doug and the 2 team.
But with how strong they’ve been this year, we know
that’s going to be tough to do.”
The Whelen Modified Tour cars will qualify for the
NAPA Fall Final 150 on Saturday, Sept. 27 before
hitting the track for 150 laps on Sunday, Sept. 28.
The famous NAPA Pit Party, a meet and greet with
drivers and teams, will take place from 11:00am to
noon on Sunday, Sept. 28.
Tickets for the 42nd Annual NAPA Auto Parts Fall
Final Weekend are priced at $38.50 for adult general
admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and
children ages 5 and under are admitted free of
charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
seating is priced at $42.00 for all ages. All NAPA
Fall Final tickets are good for admission on both
Saturday and Sunday and ticket prices include 10% CT
Admission Tax. Visit your local participating NAPA
Auto Parts Store for discount ticket offers.
For more information on the 42nd Annual NAPA Auto
Parts Fall Final Weekend, or to order tickets,
contact the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
|
Source: Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted:
September 17, 2014 |
|
|
