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8/21/2010 |
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NASCAR WHELEN
MODIFIED ROOKIE RACER CORNER
The Race for
the “Rookie of The Year” Winds Down
by
Denise
DuPont |
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 NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour 2010 rookie contenders, Justin Bonsignore and
Richie Pallai, Jr, are in the top fifteen in points as they race to
the end of the 2010 race season. With only three races left in their
first year of competing on the tour, the two young guns are both
striving to be in the top ten and to be honored as the “Rookie of
the Year”.
They had a lot of firsts for their teams this year and moments that
they will not forget. During the tours visit to historic Bristol
Motor Speedway, Justin Bonsignore made some history of his own as he
became the first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver to earn a Coors
Light Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway. Achieving this notable
milestone he also managed to earn the first pole of his career. This
was a great accomplishment for Bonsignore as he raced to the charts
ahead of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman and NASCAR
Whelen Modified Champions such as Mike Stefanik , Ted Christopher,
and Todd Szegedy.
Bonsignore raced with the front runners as though he had been doing
it for years. He finished the race with a strong sixth place finish
and was all smiles after the race. He was very pleased with his
finish, but like any driver, wished it could have been better. “The
race went pretty well. We were just looking to get a pretty solid
finish. I did not know how good our car was going to be. We started
that first run a little too loose. We had a different transmission
in the car so it didn’t work on the start. So that is where we lost
all of our positions and it really hurt us.”
Bonsignore followed Ryan Newman’s through the field of cars and
along the way hoped he learned some moves that will help him with
his career. “During the second run after the break, I ran with
Newman (Ryan) as he made the holes. We were fighting for track
position on the outside. I just could not get in there as fast as he
did. But the time that I got in there the hole was already filled.”
With the best of both series contending, getting his first pole and
finishing sixth was a great accomplishment for Bonsignore. “It is
just such a pleasure racing with those guys up front. It is pretty
cool to do that in my rookie season. I am really happy. It is tough
though to beat guys like Ryan Newman and Mike Stefanik. We have to
be spot on perfect and I cannot mess up at all. I cannot be so-so
because they are so good. Hopefully my time come a time. We are
still learning every week consistently. That is all we can ask for
as a rookie.”
 “Running a full segment like that it is pretty demanding,” said
Bonsignore exhausted after the intense race. “You just try to keep
your focus going every lap. You just make your marks and keep going.
I was pretty beat it was a long run. I am not use to running that
long in that type of G-Force.”
Rookie, Richie Pallai did not have as stellar experience at Bristol
as the team continues to be plagued with issues. “We did not qualify
as well as we wanted to.” The #39 car of the Bosch Spark Plugs
Chevrolet completed time trials in thirty-five and took a
provisional spot to enter the race.
During the race the team’s hard luck continued as more challenges
were dealt to them. “About lap 20 we lost power steering. Then about
lap 100 as we went down the front straight away the oil pressure
light came on. So before it (the car) blew up we pulled it in and we
will go through it.”
Veteran racer Ted Christopher raced with Pallai at Stafford Speedway
in the SK Modified division and shared some words of experience to
the rookie before the race began. “Teddy told me before we went out
at practice was to just breathe. He also said that the G-Forces will
get to you. You just have to make sure that you stay relaxed and
hydrated especially how hot it was today.”
Bristol Motor Speedway has banking of thirty degrees plus in some
portions of the track. When you walk the track you feel like you are
climbing Mt Washington but while racing the drivers barely notice
it. Pallai expressed his thoughts on the historic track. “You really
do not notice that you are sideways on the track because you have so
in tune with what you have to do you do not notice. When we walked
in and looked at
 the track it looked like a Roman Coliseum.”
Now that the Northern Whelen Modified teams have conquered Bristol
they have about a month to regroup and get ready for the drafts of
New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
As the M3 Technology team of Bonsignore prepares their car ready for
more racing, the team is setting their goals. “For the rest of the
year we just hope to finish strong like we did tonight. Hopefully we
will get back to the top ten and be in a top six or seven in points.
And win the rookie of the year. I do not know if we have that
clinched or not yet. I have to figure it out. Goal is to win rookie
of the year and definitely get back into the top ten in points if we
can.”
The Pallai team has more work to do as the team takes the car apart,
diagnoses what is wrong and puts it back together ready for racing
at Loudon New Hampshire’s superspeedway. “We will put the car
together and try again at Loudon. It has been a good year so far. We
had some bumps but over all we are happy. It is my first year in a
full blown modified and my fourth year of racing. Not a lot of kids
can say what they are doing what I am doing. So I am pretty
fortunate. We are happy with the progress that we have made.”
So the two rookie teams have a month to regroup and psych themselves
as the season unwinds and the last three races of the season
unravel. They will give it their all we are sure. In the end like
the great Modified racers before them, they will make their marks in
the books and go forward with their racing careers shooting for the
stars.
Rookie Race Notes From Bristol
Motor Speedway
First of all here are some facts about Historic Bristol Motor
Speedway:
It is considered the World's Fastest Half Mile Track.
It is a .553 Mile Concrete Oval Track.
The race surface is concrete and it is 43 feet wide.
The banking is steep.
The Degree of Banking in corners varies from 24 to 30 degrees.
The straightaways are 650 feet long.
The grandstands have a seating capacity of approximate 160,000.
What are the rookies thoughts on the track?
Justin Bonsignore
“The groove started to move up as the race went on. The track
rubbered up so bad on the bottom, that everybody started fighting
for the top. Newman, I think, was the first one to go up there. You
just wanted to and had to run up there. You are just holding on
because you are running fast and you are sideways. It is a
controlled slide.”
Richie Pallai
“The track is different. You just drive it in and then you roll out
of it and then you roll it back into it. Just like every where else
that we went to this year, the track is new. It is pretty cool to
say that we have raced at Bristol.” |
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Source: Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: August
21, 2010 |
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