Story By: KYLE SOUZA / NASCAR – THOMPSON, CT – Justin Bonsignore seems to have mastered Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park.
The Holtsville, New York, veteran pulled into NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour Victory Lane for the fifth time in 2018 on Wednesday night as part of the Bud “King of Beers” 150.
The victory was the fifth of the season for Bonsignore, his 17th of his Whelen Modified Tour career and his eighth at Thompson. He has now been in Victory Lane for all three stops at the 0.625-mile oval.
“I just can’t believe the season we are having,” Bonsignore said. “We just have to keep it going. Ryan Stone brought a great LFR car here. We have a long way to go, but hopefully we can just keep winning races.”
Bonsignore started from the top spot after winning his first Thompson pole and led the first 15 laps, but gave the lead up to Chase Dowling in the approach to lapped traffic. He took the lead back on lap 79, and even though he pitted during a caution on lap 89 for tires, it didn’t take him long to get back to the front.
He passed Doug Coby for the lead on lap 96 and never lost the top spot en route to the victory.
Matt Swanson, who got the call to drive the Boehler Racing No. 3 after the birth of Rowan Pennink’s first child, finished second. The result was his best career run on the Whelen Modified Tour in his first start with the BRE Racing team.
“The guys called me last night and asked if I wanted to drive their car,” Swanson said. “They told me to give it everything I had, and we did that tonight.”
Doug Coby, who led four laps, charged back through the field after spinning on lap 123, and finished third. Chase Dowling and Bobby Santos III rounded out the top five.
Woody Pitkat was sixth, followed by Andrew Krause, Craig Lutz, Chris Pasteryak and Timmy Solomito.
Bonsignore opened his advantage to 58 points over Dowling with six races remaining in the championship points chase. Timmy Solomito is third, 78 points back.
The Bud “King of Beers” 150 will air on NBCSN on Wednesday, August 15, at 7 p.m.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to the track at Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol, Tennessee, on Thursday, August 16.
