Story By: KYLE SOUZA / NASCAR – THOMPSON, CT – Justin Bonsignore didn’t look to have the fastest car for much of the Thompson 125, but when it was time to crown the winner, he found his way to the front.
The Holtsville, New York, driver scored his third victory of the 2018 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park, using a late caution to get out front of the field on pit road.
The win was his 15th career, his seventh on the Thompson high-banks, and it helped to continue an early-season roll that has him at the top of the championship standings with five of 16 races into the record books.
“The (pit crew) guys won us that race, they got us out in front of Doug (Coby),” Bonsignore said. “Track position is so important, if we didn’t get it, I don’t think we would have won as easily as we did. If you can roll the top here, and have good drive-off, you can just roll away from the guys on the bottom.”
A pit stop during the first of two cautions on lap 92 for fresh Hoosier rubber saw Bonsignore enter the pits running fourth, but when he left, he was looking at clear track in front of him. On the restart, Bonsignore drove away from Coby, who led a race-high 82 laps, but that wasn’t the only challenge he faced in the final circuits.
After another quick yellow flag, Bonsignore had to fight-off a charge by Rowan Pennink, who was all over the back bumper of the No. 51 Phoenix Communications Inc., Chevrolet looking to spoil Bonsignore’s success. In the end, Pennink was forced to settle for second.
