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9/19/2010 |
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NASCAR WHELEN
MODIFIED ROOKIE RACER CORNER - NHMS
Racing is all about Up and
Downs
by
Denise DuPont |
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 NASCAR
Whelen Modified Tour 2010 rookie contenders, Justin Bonsignore and
Richie Pallai, Jr, are in the top thirteen in points for the series
as they race to the end of the 2010 NWMT season. With only two 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”.
At New Hampshire Motor Speedway (NHMS) it was Richie Pallai’s turn
to run with the race front runners such as Ryan Newman, Mike
Stefanik, Ryan Preece, Todd Szegedy and Ron Silk. And as the day
became tough day for some of the competitors, it became a run to
remember for Pallai on the “Magic Mile”.
 During the day, bad luck slowly took out lead runners but Pallai
managed to keep the #39 car out of trouble. In the end he brought
the car home for a solid tenth place finish. “We had a good car. I
had put us in a hole qualifying pretty far back. We passed a lot of
cars on the green today. We got up to the front there and a couple
of the leaders pitted. We stayed out. We stayed up there and we were
running about seventh when it was about twenty to go. There was only
a hand full of guys behind us that we had not passed all day. So we
came in and took some tires. Then we took some fuel just in case.
Then we got back by them all and then the last caution cost us. I
think that we would have gotten up even higher. But we will take it.
We have a top ten so it was a good run. It is only our second time
here so we are real happy”.
Rookie, Justin Bonsignore was not as lucky as Pallai. He went from
his first Coors Light Pole Award at Bristol Motor Speedway to a
disappointing twenty-seventh place finish at NHMS.
Bonsignore’s target had been a top ten finish at NHMS. Starting the
race back further back in the field than where he wanted, Bonsignore
regrouped and followed Jimmy Blewett through the field of cars.
Running with Blewett, he almost was able to make up for his
qualifying time. “We came back with a really good car. We ran with
Jimmy Blewett for the first part of the race and he ended up
second.”
But his plans ended when he was involved in a incident on lap 38
that brought out the red flag. Jimmy Blewett and Ed Flemke were
racing hard for the same spot on the track. Flemke had the air taken
out from under his car and spun. Cars dove both high and low to
avoid but there was not enough room for everyone to make it through.
“So it is kind of disappointing. We thought we could have had a
solid top five or ten finish.”
 “It is just unfortunate that we got caught up in somebody else’s
mess again this year,” said Bonsignore. “It was really none of our
doing. We just were just running where we were faster than those
where we were running. It is just frustrating to get caught up in
some of the slower guys mess. We put ourselves in that position on
Thursday.” Bonsignore had qualified twentieth on Thursday.
So the NWMT rookie contenders left NHMS with mixed emotions and
thoughts. Currently second in rookie points, Richie Pallai, was
pleased with his team’s success. He was also disappointed that he
did not run with fellow rookie contender, Justin Bonsignore. “I
would rather beat him on the track rather than to see him wreck or
see me wreck. He is the same way. We were racing side by side a
little bit, Justin and I, and that is the way that we both want to
do it. It is just unfortunate for them. But racing is about your ups
and downs and today is a down for them. So we have to make the best
of it and I think that we did.”
NWMT rookie race teams will take the next few weeks to regroup as
racing move closer to home. The next NWMT race will be Sunday,
October 3rd at Stafford Motor Speedway.
Rookie Race Notes from New
Hampshire Motor Speedway
After the bitter and sweet finishes at
NHMS, what are the rookies thoughts for the rest of the year?
Justin Bonsignore
“Performance wise we have run great everywhere that we went. That is
the only thing that is keeping g us going right now. We have had so
much bad luck and getting caught up in other people’s messes and
stupid stuff. That is the only thing that is positive about it. We
are trying to build towards next year and be a championship
contender. That is our biggest thing. – getting ready for next year.
We think that we have the rookie of the year lock up which is good.
So we are just concentrating on planning for next year.”
Richie Pallai, Jr.
“We are going one race at a time. So now we are all excited about
Stafford it is our home track. We have qualified good there. But we
have not run a good race there yet. So if we can put both together
and start up front, I think that we will run up front all day. If we
could win at Stafford that would be really big for us.” |
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Source: Denise DuPont / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted: September
19, 2010 |
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