RIVERHEAD, NY :: Justin Bonsignore is heading to his home track of Riverhead Raceway on Saturday night. It’s the site of his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win in 2011 and he also won the track championship that same year. He knows how to get around the Long Island bullring pretty well.
“You’ve got to qualify up front,” he said. “It makes it a lot easier when you don’t have to come through the field and burn your tires up. That’s been a little bit of our troubles the last few years.”
Riverhead is the smallest track the Tour goes to. Someone else’s mess can become your mess quickly. Bonsignore said missing all the mayhem should have him up front late in the event.
“We’ve been in good positions sometimes and been caught in other people’s wrecks and it ruins your night,” he said. “You’ve just gotta play the race smart and try and keep yourself in the inside position on any restart so you aren’t chancing getting wrecked on the outside lane. Just keep your nose clean and have enough car left in the last 30 laps”
That’s exactly what happened to him last June. Ryan Preece lost a tire on a restart and the chain reaction crash took out a bunch of competitive cars on the outside lane including Bonsignore and polesitter Ron Silk.
Bonsignore is currently the series points leader and already has a win this season. He’s also found success on the Valenti Modified Racing Series. The early season success has Bonsignore as confident heading into Riverhead.
“Anytime you run well on a consistent basis it gets your confidence up,” he said. “We’ve had good runs this year on both series. The team is feeling great. Definitely when you’re running good and things are going smooth you’re a lot better off.”
