Justin Bonsinore took advantage of his home court experience to win at Riverhead Raceway ‘s familiar turf. Credit: NASCAR Home Track photo.)
Justin Bonsignore joined elite company Saturday night when he drove to a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season sweep of events at Riverhead Raceway.
Bonsignore grabbed the lead from Doug Coby on Lap 115 and held on through six caution restarts to take down a third career victory at his home track, and second in two tries in 2015.
A 12th and final caution came out on Lap 199 just after Bonsignore had taken the white flag in his No. 51 M3 Technology Chevrolet, and he came around to a yellow-checkered. It was the eighth career victory overall for the Holtsville, New York native.
In the process he became just the fifth driver in 31 years of Whelen Modified Tour racing to sweep a season at the venerable Long Island bullring.
Coby and his No. 2 Dunleavy’s Repair/A&J Romano Construction Chevrolet finished second, while rookie Chase Dowling, Donny Lia and Eric Goodale rounded out the top-five.
Tom Rogers Jr – who won his second-consecutive Coors Light Pole Award at Riverhead earlier in the day – finished sixth.
Woody Pitkat, championship points leader Ryan Preece, Todd Szegedy and rookie Jeff Goodale completed the top-10.
Pitkat gained one point on Preece, who now leads by a single tally with three races remaining on the schedule.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be back in action Saturday, Sept. 26 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the F.W. Webb 100.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour-Riverhead 200 Results
Saturday
At Riverhead Raceway
Riverhead, N.Y.
Lap length: 0.25 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (3) Justin Bonsignore, Holtsville, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200 laps, 43.321 mph.
2. (2) Doug Coby, Milford, Conn., Chevrolet, 200.
3. (5) Chase Dowling, Roxbury, Conn., Chevrolet, 200.
4. (4) Donny Lia, Jericho, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
5. (17) Eric Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
6. (1) Tom Rogers, Jr., Patchogue, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
7. (14) Woody Pitkat, Stafford, Conn., Chevrolet, 200.
8. (12) Ryan Preece, Berlin, Conn., Chevrolet, 200.
9. (6) Todd Szegedy, Ridgefield, Conn., Dodge, 200.
10. (22) Jeff Goodale, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
11. (13) Rowan Pennink, Huntingdon Valley, Pa., Chevrolet, 200.
12. (18) Max Zachem, Preston, Conn., Chevrolet, 200.
13. (9) Patrick Emerling, Orchard Park, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
14. (10) Ken Heagy, Calverton, N.Y., Chevrolet, 200.
15. (11) James Civali, Meriden, Conn., Chevrolet, 199.
16. (15) Kyle Ellwood, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 199.
17. (16) Jerry Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 197.
18. (26) Gary McDonald, Ronkonkoma, N.Y., Pontiac, 197.
19. (24) Timmy Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Ford, 197.
20. (7) Shawn Solomito, Islip, N.Y., Chevrolet, 196.
21. (21) Craig Lutz, Miller Place, N.Y., Chevrolet, 170, overheating.
22. (23) Jamie Tomaino, Howell, N.J., Chevrolet, 166, black flag.
23. (20) Dave Sapienza, Riverhead, N.Y., Chevrolet, 165, tie rod.
24. (25) Wade Cole, Hartland, Conn., Chevrolet, 159, front end.
25. (19) Ed Brunnhoelzl, III, Levittown, N.Y., Chevrolet, 115, brakes.
26. (28) Johnny Bush, Huntington Station, N.Y., Troyer, 79, handling.
27. (27) Melissa Fifield, Wakefield, N.H., Chevrolet, 66, front end.
28. (8) Ron Silk, Norwalk, Conn., Chevrolet, 21, suspension.
Race Statistics
Time of Race: 1 hour 9 minutes 15 seconds
Margin of Victory: Under caution
Fastest Qualifier: T.Rogers, Jr. (75.182 mph, 11.971 seconds)
Caution Flags: 12 for 84 laps.
Lead Changes: 7 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Coby 1; T. Rogers, Jr. 2-12; D. Coby 13; T. Rogers, Jr. 14-23; D. Coby 24; T. Rogers, Jr. 25-36; D. Coby 37-114; J. Bonsignore 115-200.
Standings: 1. R. Preece, 495; 2. W. Pitkat, 494; 3. D. Coby, 470; 4. T. Szegedy, 437; 5. E. Goodale, 419; 6. P. Emerling, 412; 7. T. Solomito, 400; 8. D. Lia, 377; 9. J. Bonsignore, 373; 10. B. Santos, 373.