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By KEVIN RICE
Photo Jimmy Hayden /Myracenews
Martinsville, VA- The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour held their final practice session of 2023 this afternoon at Martinsville Speedway in preparation for the “Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200” that goes green at 8 p.m. tonight (FloRacing) and it was Patrick Emerling leading the way in a 36-car field that includes NWMT Championship hopefuls Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore.
Silk, a native of Norwalk, Conn., leads Bonsignore by 13 points heading into race 18 of the season. He needs to finish eighth or better to clinch the title, if Bonsignore were to win. Silk was seventh in afternoon practice, but he doesn’t seem too worried about that, judging by his response after exiting his HYR Modified this afternoon.
“No,” he quickly replied when asked. “It’s like a tenth of a second to the top. My car is really good, so I’m confident. It had pretty good speed. Tried to do a little bit of a longer run. It felt good doing that, so I am optimistic.
“I’m trying not to treat this race different from the others. I want to try and win the race. I feel like trying to do something different is probably not the smartest idea. Got to kind of do what got you here and race it like a normal race.”
Bonsignore is the chaser, but he hopes to be the one getting chased from behind as he pursues the famous grandfather clock trophy here at Martinsville. He wants to bring it back to Long Island, timing tenth best in afternoon practice.
“The clock is historic and winning here would be another crown jewel win for us,” Bonsignore confirmed. “We’ve got nothing to lose. We want to win this race. He’s (Silk) got to race a little more cautiously if anything. We will just try and go out and control the pace of the race, lead laps and put the pressure on him. Who knows. I messed up last week. Maybe he messes up tonight.
“Speeds are so close with everybody on mock runs. Our car drove really good and I think we had good pace in 10 lap runs, so I’m excited. We struggled here last year in practice and qualifying and a good chunk of the first part of the race. We knew what we needed to do for this year.
“I think we’re definitely in a good position to contend for it. Hopefully we can qualify good and stay up front and lead the race, but qualifying isn’t everything. I qualified top 10 here two years ago, started dead last and was in the lead in 100 laps. It definitely will make it easier to start up front, but if your car is good I think you can pass cars here tonight.”
For Emerling, a win tonight would be extra special. He hasn’t won a tour race since 2021, so to start off being the best in practice with a talented 36-car field is impressive, but also just the beginning of the process.
“Pretty cool,” he said of the practice success. “We had some pretty solid long run pace too. Definitely feeling good. We’ve been fast here the last few years. We just couldn’t put up a race together. We got in a wreck in the first one and we had mechanical problems in the second one last year. We won practice. Now we’ve got to do the same in qualifying and the race.
“At North Wilkesboro I was with the Advantage Motorsports 14 crew. Here I am with the old 07 crew. My own family car and Jan Leaty as crew chief. We got the boys back together for the last race of the year. To win with them would be special.”
Emerling topped the speed charts, followed by Austin Beers, Ryan Preece and Bryan Narducci, with pre-race favorite Matt Hirschman in fifth. Tyler Rypkema, Silk, Andrew Krause, Bobby Labonte and Bonsignore rounded out the top ten.
