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JUSTIN
BONSIGNORE READY TO KICK OFF SEASON OF DOUBLE DUTY
RACING AT STAFFORD WITH 44th ANNUAL NAPA SPRING SIZZLER |
The
2014 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season was a
breakthrough year for Justin Bonsignore. The West
Islip, NY native doubled his career win total from 3
to 6 and was in the championship race with Doug Coby
until several mechanical issues late in the season
relegated him third in the final standings. Fast
forward to the 2015 season and Bonsignore is ready
to once again be a championship contender. To add to
his busy schedule he will be pulling double duty at
Stafford during Whelen Modified Tour events as he
will pilot an Art Barry owned SK Modified® for the
entire 2015 season.
“We definitely ran better at Stafford last year and
I think the seat time in the SK this season will
really help me,” said Bonsignore. “I always like
coming to Stafford but don’t run as good as I like.
I’m really optimistic for this season. We had a
really good year last season and on paper we should
be better this year, especially with the chemistry
of me and my crew chief Bill Michael being together
for a year.”
One area that might work out to Bonsignore’s
advantage this season, and during the 200-lap NAPA
Spring Sizzler at Stafford, is the increase in NWMT
teams utilizing the NASCAR Spec Engine. Last year,
Bonsignore and Woody Pitkat were the only 2 cars in
the field using the spec engine and they both made 2
pit stops during the race while most other
competitors only had to pit once. Bonsignore and
Pitkat both finished in the top-5 last year, but
with more teams using the spec engine, they won’t be
the only cars having to make two pit-stops during
the race.
“This year should be interesting with more teams
going with the spec engine,” said Bonsignore. “Last
year it was only Woody [Pitkat] and myself with the
spec engines. We had to pit for fuel as well as
tires because we’ve calculated it out and we’re
about 20-30 laps short of going the whole race
without pitting. We figure we’d need around 80 laps
of yellow to make it so it’s not even worth taking
that risk. It was tough coming back through the
field with the two stops but if more guys show up
with the spec engine, then we’ll all be in the same
situation and it could make for a really interesting
race and it should make our jobs a little bit easier
in the race.”
If there are more teams that come to Stafford with
the spec engine, then Bonsignore may actually have a
small advantage over the field as he has already ran
a Sizzler with a two-stop strategy.
“Last year we pitted around lap-50 for fuel once we
were comfortably in our window and it’ll be
interesting to see how that will change up other
teams’ strategy,” said Bonsignore. “It was tough to
have to come from the back twice last year, but I
think that most guys will be making the switch. You
have to make sure you don’t do anything stupid until
you get your fuel and then go as hard as you can to
get to your pitstop for tires. There usually seems
to always be a caution right around halfway and that
will turn the race into a 100-lap sprint to the
checkered flag.”
In addition to his Whelen Modified Tour duties with
the #51 M3 Technology team, Bonsignore will make his
SK Modified® debut NAPA Spring Sizzler weekend
driving the #21 SPAFCO car for Art Barry.
“Art, Kenny, and the whole 21 team do a great job
preparing the car for me and it shouldn’t be any
problem for me going back and forth,” said
Bonsignore. “If anything I think I’ll be able to
pick up on some small things that I can apply to the
Tour car to get around the track even better. I’m
excited about it. You keep hearing almost every week
about someone new joining the SK division and it
should be hectic to just make the show the first
race. I’m thinking we can make our presence known
and hopefully we can win some races this year.”
Bonsignore will kick off his double duty at the 44th
Annual NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler on April
24-26. 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 44th 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 10, 2015 |
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