He may have come into the race trying to preserve his race car for Saturday's 100-lap main event, but Justin Bonsignore left no doubt how badly he wanted to win the 2018 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour All Star Shootout at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Friday afternoon. The driver of the No. 51 Phoenix Communications dove to the bottom of turn four on the final lap to make sure challenger Doug Coby couldn't steal the victory.
"I did what you do here on the last lap... I blocked the bottom of turn four as best I could," explained Bonsignore after celebrating in Victory Lane with his race crew. "I'll take it."
Bonsignore narrowly edged the No. 2 car of Doug Coby, who spent the second half of the race trying to find a line that would take him past the race leader. Coby and Rowan Pennink battled fiercely for second place before the two cars bumped in the final lap, sending Pennink's No. 3 car into the outside wall.
Eric Goodale took third place, Jon McKennedy finished fourth, Bobby Santos was fifth, followed by Ryan Preece, Andy Seiss, Ryan Newman, Woody Pitkat and Matt Swanson rounding out the top-10 finishers.
The All Star Shootout featured a 35-lap run in a 30-minute timeframe, with a mandatory pit stop at lap 20. The top-five leaders were inverted before the second half restart. Bonsignore started the race 12th and had to weave his way through the field to win the race. There were three cautions thrown during the race.
"The early restarts worked in our favor," explained Bonsignore. "I could tell the car was working pretty well early. I also learned about how it reacts in traffic."
The winner admitted he was trying to preserve and protect his race car during Friday's race, but felt the entire field of drivers seemed aggressive from the opening lap.
This is the second straight Whelen Modified event victory for Bonsignore this month and his second win at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Bonsignore won the F.W. Webb 100 on September 24, 2016.
The entire field will gather on Saturday when 37 drivers line-up for what promises to be a closely contested race. 22 of the 37 drivers posted Friday morning practice lap times within a half second of one another.
For full schedule and ticket information on all 2018 events at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, including the July 20-22 Foxwoods Resort Casino 301 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend and the September 21-22 Full Throttle Fall Weekend, please stop by the ticket office, visit the speedway website at www.NHMS.com or call Fan Relations at (603) 783-4931.
Bonsignore is Best of 2018 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour All Star Shootout
Holtsville, N.Y. standout cruises to second straight Whelen win.
Friday, July 20, 2018