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By KEVIN RICE
Loudon, NH- If Friday practice is any indication, look for Justin Bonsignore and Craig Lutz to be at the front of the pack when the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour goes green on Saturday morning for the Mohegan Sun 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Right as the one-hour practice ended, Bonsignore turned the fastest lap of the 25 he turned. He was the only driver to get under the 29 second bracket with a lap at 28.995 seconds around the “Magic Mile”. Lutz was close behind with a best lap at 29.118 seconds.
This could go into history as a crucial race in the coveted NWMT title chase, especially with points leader Austin Beers exiting the Mike Murphy 64 with frustration on his face. The Pennsylvania driver enters tomorrow’s race leading Bonsignore by 17 points, but he was in position 12 on the speed chart, about one-half second behind the Ken Massa 51.
“I am excited,” Bonsignore said after exiting his car. “I think we’ve got a shot at the pole with how practice ended, and I think we will have a good shot to win tomorrow. We struggled there for the first part of practice. Made good changes and got it driving at the end like it has the last three or four years here.”
Bonsignore doesn’t believe that the early start time, with air temperatures climbing rapidly through the race, or another year on the old asphalt will make much difference.
“I don’t think anything will change with that here ever,” he said. “Drives (in practice) like it normally does here. I think tomorrow morning you’ll see what you always see here. Big pack racing and maybe a couple of guys will get away. I’m sure it will be exciting.
“We’ve raced here at all different times of the year here, and all times of the day. I don’t think it will be too much of an issue as long as the weather is nice. At this time of the year it’s better that we’re racing early rather than later, with it being close to dark. I think it will be normal Loudon, just with coffee instead of beer.”
Craig Lutz has been a winner of a couple of big races this season, and he is equally confident after a productive hour of practice. To win tomorrow though, he will need to be better than Bonsignore, which is a tall order given past successes of the 51 team at NHMS.
“Went really well,” Lutz said after briefing with his crew post-practice. “The car feels really stable. I am comfortable with all of the changes we made. Ended up second at the end there, so I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I feel like there is no better time than now (to win here) with the package we’ve got going now.
“I don’t know so much about the actual race time making a difference. Anytime you race at Loudon the track changes as it takes rubber on. You’ve just got to pay attention to your adjustments and what you’re going to need for later on in the race, and hopefully hit it at the pit stop.”
The car count for some of the NWMT events this year have been down, but this event has brought in some of the best Modified drivers in recent times, who have not been racing. That has given a boost to the quality of competition. Among those are six-time NWMT Champion Doug Coby, NASCAR Southern tour champ Andy Seuss, plus talented drivers Chase Dowling and Jake Lutz.
Mike Christopher Jr., timed 13th best in his new family owned car numbered 13 despite an oil leak issue that was repaired before he turned his fastest lap. Jon McKennedy is about the only driver able to use track time from his dominating win here in the spring Modified Open for a base setup, and he ended up third on the board. If he can hold serve on their pit stop he could also be a factor.
“It went pretty well,” McKennedy said of his 29 laps of practice today. “Speedwise it was decent. We had a pretty good balance. Tried a bunch of stuff. Some things helped and some made it worse. We’ll see what happens. This historically has been a pretty good track for me.
“I don’t think it hurts to have the extra laps this spring, but the tires are slightly different. I came in here with the same setup that we dominated with here in April. We unloaded and we were close, but we were just way tighter. It only helps so much, but I guess any track time for the notebook is a good thing.”
Matt Hirschman is racing at NHMS for the first time in several years with hopes of staying in the championship hunt. He is currently in a tie for fourth place and 31 points behind Beers and just seven in behind third place Patrick Emerling. However, Hirschman was near the bottom on the speed chart in practice, as was Dough Coby.
Despite the opportunity for drivers to make more than one pit stop for tires, that is not expected with track position being so crucial. Qualifying begins at 3:05 p.m. this afternoon with a green flag on the Mohegan Sun 100 set for 9:15 a.m. on Saturday morning, with live coverage on FloRacing. Temperatures are expected to be about 50 degrees at the drop of the green, but rising roughly 10 degrees from the morning sun as the race progresses.
Practice results (top 15 only): 1. Justin Bonsignore, 2. Craig Lutz, 3. Jon McKennedy, 4. Tyler Rypkema, 5. Chase Dowling, 6. Patrick Emerling, 7. Ron Silk, 8. Joey Cipriano, 9. Trevor Catalano, 10. Jake Lutz, 11. Andy Seuss, 12. Austin Beers, 13. Michael Christopher Jr., 14. Stephen Kopcik, 15. Anthony Nocella.
