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04/11/2014 |
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JUSTIN
BONSIGNORE LOOKING TO CONTINUE 2014 WINNING WAYS
IN NAPA AUTO PARTS SPRING SIZZLER AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY |
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Fresh
off of his win in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour
season opening race, Justin Bonsignore heads to
Stafford Motor Speedway for the 43rd Annual NAPA
Auto Parts Spring Sizzler with a ton of momentum on
his side. In the season opener at Thompson,
Bonsignore and his #51 M3 Technology team qualified
second and ran in the top-3 for the entire race
before Bonsignore made the winning pass around Woody
Pitkat with 9 laps to go.
"That win was huge for our team," said Bonsignore.
"Any time you can start the season off with a real
good finish it just gets everything started off on
the right foot and to be able to do that with a win
is that much better. We're looking forward to
Stafford, we had a real good run there last year in
the Sizzler and it would be nice to continue the
streak we've been on lately and get another win."
Over the winter, Bonsignore and the #51 M3
Technology team made several changes. They acquired
a SPAFCO chassis, a NASCAR Spec Engine, and they
have a new crew chief in Billy Michael. The new
combination got off to a slow start in Daytona with
mechanical issues relegating them to a 18th place
finish, but that all got turned around in the season
opening event and Bonsignore's win has him looking
forward to the NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler at
Stafford.
"I feel like every time we go to the racetrack we
have a good chance to win," said Bonsignore. "I have
a real good team, I'm real confident in my guys, and
I have a strong feeling that we'll be in contention.
We debuted a SPAFCO chassis down in Florida and we
also ran that car at Thompson and that's the car
we'll be bringing to Stafford. We made a few changes
over the winter with the chassis, we have a NASCAR
Spec Engine in the car now, and we have a new crew
chief with Billy Michael. It seems like everything
has been clicking so far and there's a lot of good
communication between me, Billy, SPAFCO, and the
Robert Yates people. Everything has been jelling
really well."
Although Bonsignore wasn't a dominant car during the
Thompson race, he credits an adjustment that he and
his crew made to his car during their pitstop as a
deciding factor in his ability to get past Pitkat in
the closing laps and win the race. With the Sizzler
being 200-laps long, sometimes a good pit strategy
can trump a fast racecar and Bonsignore is confident
in both of those aspects and expects to be among the
challengers for the checkered flag.
"We had a good car at Thompson and we made an
adjustment on our pit stop and that helped us to
contend with the top couple of guys and we were in
the right position at the end of the race," said
Bonsignore. "We just maintained and bided our time
and when we felt it was time to go we made an extra
push for it and the adjustment we made really helped
with that. The Sizzler seems to play out where you
have a plan in place before the race but depending
on how the race is playing out your strategy could
be altered. Ultimately you'd like to pit around
halfway or a little bit after halfway to have good
tires for the end of the race but stuff like that
all goes out the window as soon as another team
makes a different strategy move. If we can start off
the year with 2 wins in a row that would be great."
With the history and tradition behind the Spring
Sizzler, Bonsignore says that if he can improve on
his second place finish from last season and get to
the top step on the podium, it would be the biggest
win of his career and it would play into his goal of
winning as many races as he can this season without
worrying about the points standings.
"Winning the Sizzler would be bigger than the
Thompson win," said Bonsignore. "Stafford has a lot
of great history and they call the Sizzler "The
Greatest Race In The History Of Spring" for a
reason. To be able to win at Stafford would be huge
at some point during my time on the Tour and there
wouldn't be any better race to do that than the
Spring Sizzler. I like racing at Stafford. If you
look at the stats, it's probably one of my worst
tracks, but it's similar to Riverhead in that you
have to be smooth, have a lot of finesse, and you
don't really attack the racetrack. I think Stafford
fits right into my driving style but our finishes
don't really show that. We're just taking things one
week at a time and doing the best we can and we'll
worry about points stuff later in the year if it
comes down to that."
The 43rd Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler gets
underway Friday, April 25 with a practice session
for Stafford's weekly divisions. The practice
session will be open to the public at no charge. The
run for the Coors Light Pole position gets underway
on Saturday, April 26 with time trials for the
Whelen Modified Tour cars, along with heat and
consolation races for Stafford's weekly divisions.
Saturday's action wraps up with feature events for
the SK Light, Limited Late Model, and DARE Stock
divisions as well as a feature event for the
Northeast Mini Stocks. The Sizzler continues on
Sunday, April 27 with the NAPA Auto Parts Pit Party
followed by Stafford's SK Modifieds® and Late Models
joining the Whelen Modified Tour in feature action.
Tickets for the "Greatest Race in the History of
Spring" are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office.
Tickets are priced at $38.50 for adult general
admission tickets, $5.00 for children ages 6-14, and
children ages 5 and under are admitted free of
charge when accompanied by an adult. Reserved
seating is priced at $42.00 for all ages. As always,
Stafford Motor Speedway offers free parking with
overnight parking available. All tickets are good
for both Saturday and Sunday admission. All ticket
prices include 10% CT Admission Tax.
For more information on the 43rd annual NAPA Auto
Parts Spring Sizzler, or to order tickets, contact
the Stafford Motor Speedway track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
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Source: Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted:
April 11, 2014 |
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