RGeeProductions
08-10-2016, 11:55 PM
Bonsignore makes up ground with Bud 150 victory
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour made its third trip to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, August 10th for a Thompson tradition, the 27th annual Budweiser “King of Beers” 150. With only twenty points separating the top two drivers in the series, reigning champion and points leader Doug Coby looked to regain his composure and momentum following a poor finish at Stafford.
After dominating at Thompson last year, Coby, the reigning champion of the Bud 150, sought to recapture that success after placing 4th and 10th in the first two events in Thompson for 2016. He started off strong by winning another pole at the Big T and leading the way for the first 54 laps before a caution brought the field to the pits. Coby dropped several spots during the stop, but wasted no time reclaiming a lead he wouldn’t hold for very long.
Justin Bonsignore took advantage of a great pit stop under the first caution of the event to give Coby a run for his money and in the end he was able to secure not only the lead, but also an impressive win despite the best efforts of some of the series’ best talents to take the top spot away and a huge points day that put him in the hunt for the championship title.
It was Bonsignore’s fourth win at Thompson, the ninth of his career in the series and his first of the season putting him back in the winners circle for the first time in a while. In his own words, Bonsignore saw the win as the end to a losing streak that has gone on far to long.
“I haven’t won since Riverhead or won anywhere but Riverhead since last year. It was weighing on me. I hadn’t won in a really long time,” said Bonsignore after the race. “We had a really good car – We qualified good and stayed up there and we were just kind of riding. We had a good pit stop. We were the first car out with three tires. I could see Coby was really tight to start that second run and I wanted to put pressure on him.”
Coby settled for second while Bobby Santos, Woody Pitkat and Ryan Preece rounded out the top ten. Bonsignore entered the race with a twenty point deficit to Coby for the championship and left with a fifteen point deficit, but most of all momentum. The atmosphere after the win was one of optimism and pride as Bonsignore has realistically become a threat for the title.
“We want to be the guy that can beat (Coby),” Bonsignore said. “His team is the best every week and to beat them tonight is huge for us. They are the best right now and we’re trying hard to catch them and beat them.”
In other racing news, the Sunoco Modifieds took to the track twice as the series held its regularly scheduled event for the day and a makeup race that was rained out on July 9th. Points leader Keith Rocco looked to continue his domination of the series this season after seeing his win streak broken in late July. In the first race he would not be able to regain his winning ways but came home a strong third as Woody Pitkat, the reigning champions of the series, claimed his first win of the season, fighting off strong runs from Rocco and Ryan Preece to find his way back to victory lane.
“I thought I had the World Series won last year and we had a late caution. We had a late caution again today and I saw that Keith (Rocco) was coming. I think the caution helped me because I was actually getting loose,” Pitkat said after his win. “It gave the tires an opportunity to cool off a bit and then I lost my spotter. I pushed the radio and there was nothing so I just looked ahead and drove as hard as I could.”
The second event did see Rocco return to form as he fought his way to the lead over the course of the first half of the 30-lap event, going toe to toe with Ryan Preece in the process and holding off a hard charging Rowan Pennink, who led a good portion of the event, and Pitkat to return to victory lane and continue his charge towards a Sunoco Modified title.
“It’s tough when everyone is nose to nose. It’s hard to pass,” said Rocco in victory lane. “It looked like Preece spun himself out and it worked to our advantage – I have to thank the fans for sticking around and watching the race. I hope we made it fun for them.”
Despite a spin while battling for the lead Preece finished third and shared some choice words with Rocco after the event as the two had engaged in an intense battle over the course of the race. Pitkat held on for a great night in the Sunoco Modified Series with a second place finish while Jeff Gallup and Mike Benevides rounded out the top five.
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The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour made its third trip to Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park on Wednesday, August 10th for a Thompson tradition, the 27th annual Budweiser “King of Beers” 150. With only twenty points separating the top two drivers in the series, reigning champion and points leader Doug Coby looked to regain his composure and momentum following a poor finish at Stafford.
After dominating at Thompson last year, Coby, the reigning champion of the Bud 150, sought to recapture that success after placing 4th and 10th in the first two events in Thompson for 2016. He started off strong by winning another pole at the Big T and leading the way for the first 54 laps before a caution brought the field to the pits. Coby dropped several spots during the stop, but wasted no time reclaiming a lead he wouldn’t hold for very long.
Justin Bonsignore took advantage of a great pit stop under the first caution of the event to give Coby a run for his money and in the end he was able to secure not only the lead, but also an impressive win despite the best efforts of some of the series’ best talents to take the top spot away and a huge points day that put him in the hunt for the championship title.
It was Bonsignore’s fourth win at Thompson, the ninth of his career in the series and his first of the season putting him back in the winners circle for the first time in a while. In his own words, Bonsignore saw the win as the end to a losing streak that has gone on far to long.
“I haven’t won since Riverhead or won anywhere but Riverhead since last year. It was weighing on me. I hadn’t won in a really long time,” said Bonsignore after the race. “We had a really good car – We qualified good and stayed up there and we were just kind of riding. We had a good pit stop. We were the first car out with three tires. I could see Coby was really tight to start that second run and I wanted to put pressure on him.”
Coby settled for second while Bobby Santos, Woody Pitkat and Ryan Preece rounded out the top ten. Bonsignore entered the race with a twenty point deficit to Coby for the championship and left with a fifteen point deficit, but most of all momentum. The atmosphere after the win was one of optimism and pride as Bonsignore has realistically become a threat for the title.
“We want to be the guy that can beat (Coby),” Bonsignore said. “His team is the best every week and to beat them tonight is huge for us. They are the best right now and we’re trying hard to catch them and beat them.”
In other racing news, the Sunoco Modifieds took to the track twice as the series held its regularly scheduled event for the day and a makeup race that was rained out on July 9th. Points leader Keith Rocco looked to continue his domination of the series this season after seeing his win streak broken in late July. In the first race he would not be able to regain his winning ways but came home a strong third as Woody Pitkat, the reigning champions of the series, claimed his first win of the season, fighting off strong runs from Rocco and Ryan Preece to find his way back to victory lane.
“I thought I had the World Series won last year and we had a late caution. We had a late caution again today and I saw that Keith (Rocco) was coming. I think the caution helped me because I was actually getting loose,” Pitkat said after his win. “It gave the tires an opportunity to cool off a bit and then I lost my spotter. I pushed the radio and there was nothing so I just looked ahead and drove as hard as I could.”
The second event did see Rocco return to form as he fought his way to the lead over the course of the first half of the 30-lap event, going toe to toe with Ryan Preece in the process and holding off a hard charging Rowan Pennink, who led a good portion of the event, and Pitkat to return to victory lane and continue his charge towards a Sunoco Modified title.
“It’s tough when everyone is nose to nose. It’s hard to pass,” said Rocco in victory lane. “It looked like Preece spun himself out and it worked to our advantage – I have to thank the fans for sticking around and watching the race. I hope we made it fun for them.”
Despite a spin while battling for the lead Preece finished third and shared some choice words with Rocco after the event as the two had engaged in an intense battle over the course of the race. Pitkat held on for a great night in the Sunoco Modified Series with a second place finish while Jeff Gallup and Mike Benevides rounded out the top five.
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