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By Souza Media/Kyle Souza
Photo Noah Watts/Myracenews
HOLTSVILLE, N.Y. — With just three races left in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship battle, points leader Justin Bonsignore heads to Richmond Raceway this Friday, September 10, for race 12 of 14. Bonsignore will drive the No. 51 Kenneth Massa Motorsports entry in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 — as the Whelen Modified Tour returns to Richmond for the first time since 2002.
Bonsignore doesn’t have any competitive laps at the Virginia oval — but he did complete a Hoosier tire test at the track earlier this season. Although he was the only car on the track that day, Bonsignore may have a slight advantage over some of his competitors entering the race. He leads the Whelen Modified Tour championship standings by 20 points over Patrick Emerling, as the two-time champion looks to seal his third title in the last four years.
Bonsignore will carry sponsorship from Coastal Fiber, LLC, for the second time this year. As a local Virginia company that is a full service fiber optic construction and splicing company, Coastal Fiber is happy to be on the car for this event. Already an established part of the team, Coastal Fiber founder Mark Langevin also is the owner of Phoenix Communications, Inc., Bonsignore’s primary sponsor on the Tour.
“If we do have any advantage it will be minimal, the Whelen Modified Tour has a lot of good teams and drivers that adapt quickly to new tracks,” Bonsignore said. “But it might save us a few minutes of getting up to speed in practice. Any time we can go to a NASCAR Cup Series facility and be able to race with the Modifieds, it’s huge. This race has a lot of hype behind it. If you can win there, it will be a prominent spot in the trophy case.”
On the points front, Bonsignore knows the final three races need to play out his way to win another title.
“I’ve learned to be more mindful of the bigger picture all year, but we want to go out there and win the race. We can’t lose a large chunk of points,” Bonsignore continued. “We want to win all three races that are left. Mark and the team from Coastal Fiber will have multiple people in the stands and we look forward to having a good showing for them and we thank them for their support.”
Following Richmond, Bonsignore and the rest of the tour will roll to Riverhead Raceway on Saturday, September 18, then Stafford Motor Speedway to close the season on Saturday, September 25.
Friday’s race day schedule at Richmond will include one, 90-minute practice session from 1:30-3 p.m. Mayhew Tools Dominator Pole Qualifying will take place at 5 p.m. for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150, with the green flag set to drop at 7 p.m. The race will air to a live audience on NBC Sports Gold through the TrackPass platform.
For more information on Justin Bonsignore, visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his athlete page on Facebook for the latest updates, including on race day.
