Bonsignore Claims Seekonk 150 Pole
A month off hasn’t slowed the pace of Justin Bonsignore.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour points leader topped practice and set quick time in time trials at 11.925/99.623 MPH. The Ken Massa Motorsports – Phoenix Communications No. 51 has a win, two top fives, and three top tens to start the season.
“Yeah, it’s been a long time,” Bonsignore said. “I think Bristol 2014 was our last pole. Qualifying’s been a struggle for us a little bit. Qualified and practiced really well all season. We’ve raced really well too. So, I’m excited, you know, to start on the pole tonight will be huge. The track position is so important in the no pitstop races. So, I’m sure it’s gonna be a real good race and looking forward to it, and just keep building the season and you know just keep going in the direction we’re going. It’s been a great start we just want to keep this going in this direction.”’
Although Bonsignore has never won at the 1/3-mile oval, he has run well. Bonsignore has four podiums and five top tens in eight races.
“We came with a totally different setup than we had put in the car for Tuesday, changed it on Thursday. So, we’ve just been hitting it off really well so far. We run well here so I’m excited. Never got the victory lane in any of the series but we’ve been close a couple of times and it would be nice to get a win here at Seekonk. It’s an awesome little racetrack.”
Seekonk is the first of three races this month and begins a busy stretch for teams. Thompson, Langley, Riverhead, and Loudon remain before the halfway mark.
“No doubt the next five racetracks including tonight are really good for us and we’ve got a lot of success at a lot of ‘em. We ran really well at Langley last year. So, I’m excited you know it’s been a long month off. We wanted to go racing. The weather didn’t cooperate. So, I’m excited to just keep this going as long as we can. Hopefully, it will carry through the whole season. Just it’s never gonna be that easy though, and we’re gonna fight hard the whole way.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto, YankeeRacer.com
Results from http://racing-reference.info
2018 Seekonk 150 qualifying results
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race number 4 of 4
Saturday, June 2, 2018 at Seekonk Speedway, Seekonk, MA
150 laps on a .333 mile paved track (50.0 miles)
Qualifying results for this race:
Rank Driver Nbr Car Time Speed
1 Justin Bonsignore 51 Chevrolet 11.925 99.623
2 Matt Hirschman 60 11.953 99.389
3 Anthony Nocella 92 Chevrolet 12.005 98.959
4 Rowan Pennink 3 Chevrolet 12.016 98.868
5 Jon McKennedy 7 Chevrolet 12.040 98.671
6 Andrew Krause 24 Chevrolet 12.048 98.606
7 Ronnie Williams 21 Chevrolet 12.076 98.377
8 Ron Silk 85 Chevrolet 12.085 98.304
9 Dave Sapienza 36 Chevrolet 12.108 98.117
10 Eric Goodale 58 Chevrolet 12.115 98.060
11 Chris Pasteryak 75 Chevrolet 12.128 97.955
12 Doug Coby 2 Chevrolet 12.144 97.826
13 Chase Dowling 15 Chevrolet 12.154 97.746
14 Craig Lutz 46 Chevrolet 12.155 97.738
15 Ryan Preece 6 Chevrolet 12.158 97.713
16 Calvin Carroll 25 Chevrolet 12.206 97.329
17 Timmy Solomito 16 Ford 12.209 97.305
18 Rob Summers 64 Chevrolet 12.221 97.210
19 Jeff Rocco 1 Chevrolet 12.251 96.972
20 Matt Swanson 89 Ford 12.262 96.885
21 Tommy Catalano 54 Chevrolet 12.265 96.861
22 Blake Barney 14 Chevrolet 12.266 96.853
23 Kyle Ellwood 38 Chevrolet 12.300 96.585
24 Woody Pitkat 82 Chevrolet 12.368 96.054
25 Gary Putnam 77 Chevrolet 12.392 95.868
26 Ken Heagy 18 Chevrolet 12.464 95.315
27 Joe DeGracia 23 Chevrolet 12.477 95.215
28 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. 78 Chevrolet 12.540 94.737
29 Gary McDonald 26 Chevrolet 12.611 94.203
30 Melissa Fifield 01 Chevrolet 12.768 93.045
31 Wade Cole 33 Chevrolet 12.951 91.730
OP: qualified via owners points
PC: qualified as past champion
PR: provisional
QR: via qualifying race
* – had to qualify on time
Failed to qualify, withdrew, or driver changes: none