The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour picked up where it left off in February at Florida’s New Smyrna Speedway with a trip to Richmond Raceway on Friday night.

In desperate need of a strong performance after a part failure relegated him to a last-place finish at New Smyrna, defending Tour champion Justin Bonsignore delivered with a victory in the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at the 0.75-mile oval.

RESULTS: Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150 at Richmond

It wasn’t easy for Bonsignore, who led early in the race after starting from the pole before being shuffled back in the field via pit strategy.

He ultimately chased down and passed Tommy Catalano with 11 laps left to secure his 32nd Tour victory and first of the season.

Below are the key takeaways from Friday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150, beginning with Bonsignore’s quick rebound to Victory Lane.

Last no more for Justin Bonsignore

For approximately seven weeks, every day Justin Bonsignore would drive home from work thinking about it.

A last-place finish at New Smyrna meant Bonsignore was last in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings after ending the 2021 season as the Tour champion for the third time in his career.

The constant reminder of his place in the standings was enough to drive Bonsignore just a little crazy.

Thankfully, he no longer has to think about being last in the standings after his victory Friday at Richmond.

“We have another long break until we can start racing up in the New England area. We have another six weeks off,” Bonsignore said Friday night. “Now we get to spend six weeks going, ‘We won the last time out.’ That’s huge for our confidence.”

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The victory catapulted Bonsignore from 31st in the Tour standings to ninth, 20 points behind the duo of Eric Goodale and Tony Catalano, who are tied at the top of the standings.

“The ride home from work each day will get a little better,” Bonsignore said.

RELATED: Catalano family gets confidence boost at Richmond

Ebersole, Beers overcome adversity

Kyle Ebersole and Austin Beers each overcame significant adversity Friday.

Both drivers had issues prior to the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150, with the trouble for Beers coming during practice earlier in the afternoon.

As he entered Turn 1, the left-rear tire failed on his No. 64 Modified, and he backed his car into the outside wall, resulting in significant damage to his race car.

His crew got to work and managed to get him back on track in time for qualifying, where he qualified 13th. He ultimately came home 11th, the highest finishing rookie in the race.

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Ebersole’s bad luck struck during qualifying. As he was coming out of Turn 4 during his qualifying attempt, his car suddenly got sideways, and he spun across the start/finish line, eventually coming to a stop moments later.

It was later discovered that an oil line had come loose on his car, which sprayed oil on the track and on his rear tires, leading to the spin.

His team was able to repair the car in time for the race, where he started 20th. After the completion of 150 laps, Ebersole had managed to make it all the way to fourth, a career-best finish for the 31-year-old from Hummelstown, Pennsylvania.

Solid start for Newman, SS Racing

Prior to Friday’s Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150, former NASCAR Cup Series regular Ryan Newman said he believed SS Racing had brought him a fast race car that was capable of running up front.

He proved that with a strong fourth-place qualifying effort and later backed that up by racing near the front of the field for the first half of the race. He also took a brief turn at the front of the pack, leading two laps just prior to the halfway point.

However, during the second half of the race, Newman began to fall off the pace of the leaders. He slowly fell through the field, eventually finishing 13th for the team co-owned by former NASCAR driver Hermie Sadler and Virginia Senator Bill Stanley.

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NOTES:

• Max McLaughlin, making his first Tour start of the year Friday in the No. 77 Curb Records entry fielded by Gary Putnam, started third and finished 12th after leading 10 laps. He then traveled to Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, New York, for a big-block modified race on Saturday and finished second.
• Two-time Tour champion Donny Lia completed his return to the series Friday with a ninth-place result for Boehler Racing Enterprises after qualifying eighth.
• Despite losing the air cleaner on his car with 53 laps left and being forced to make an unscheduled pit stop to replace it, Jimmy Blewett was able to pilot Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s No. 7 to an eighth-place finish.
• Chuck Hossfeld’s third-place finish Friday was the 50th top-five finish of his career with the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and his first since 2019. The seven-time Tour winner hasn’t run the full series schedule since 2010.