Justin Bonsignore Sweeps at Riverhead
A win can do a lot for a driver’s confidence. Sitting outside of the top 10 in points entering Saturday’s race at Riverhead Raceway, Long Island native Justin Bonsignore captured the victory to sweep the season’s events at the ¼-mile track.
Leading 86 of the 200 laps at Riverhead, Bonsignore held off Doug Coby for his second win of the year. With the victory, he now has eight in his NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour career.
“It’s awesome,” Bonsignore said. “We came here for a few years and had a stretch where Preece won every year it seemed. We just didn’t have that car to outright win the race. We carried forward with the setup. We were not perfect tonight, but we were as close to perfect to win a race, and that’s what you need at the end of the day.”
In the last race as Barbara and Jim Cromarty as the track owners, the win was an emotional one for Bonsignore, who grew up racing at Riverhead. The caution-filled race provided opportunity for him to showcase his restart ability, and that he did. Coby led 81 laps, dominating the first part of the race. However, it was the No. 51 car that excelled in the second half.
“I was just thanking them for everything they have done. I haven’t been here as much the last couple of years because I can’t line something up to race here weekly, but I wasn’t sure how things were considered with the ownership. It’s cool to sweep them both under their name, and now the track is under the Partridge’s name, so it’s cool to win the first one for them. I’m looking forward to a lot of years of the Partridge family putting a good effort into Long Island racing.”
Chase Dowling finished a career-best third on Saturday, which is the first top 5 for him in his rookie season driving the No. 9 car. Jeff Goodale earned his second consecutive top 10, finishing 10th in the No. 46 car. Ryan Preece continues to hold the championship lead after finishing eighth on Saturday evening.
Notables on the night:
- Dylan Slepian won his sixth Legends race of the season in his No. 63 car.
- Tom Pickerell won the Blunderbusts race after Tim Mulqueen was DQ’d.
- Owen Grennan picked up his first win in the No. 38 car in the Chargers division.
- Justin Bonsignore Wins at Riverhead Raceway - August 30, 2015