Alex Bowman found mid-race trouble in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series event, heading to the garage early at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after engine problems struck his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.
Bowman was running 17th in the 36-car field when the caution flag flew for Daniel Hemric’s Turn 2 spin, and he pulled the No. 48 Chevy to the pits in the 144th of 305 laps. His crew looked under the hood as the rough-running car spewed smoke before the team opted to go behind the wall.
The team did not return to the track after the engine woes, and Bowman was credited with a last-place finish in the USA Today 301. Bowman had started a promising fifth after Saturday’s qualifying session was scrapped by rain.
Bowman entered the event in 12th position in the Cup Series standings with just a 66-point margin above the provisional postseason elimination line. His cushion shrank only slightly to plus-59 atop the bubble.
After Sunday’s show, just eight races remain in the regular season before the 16-driver playoff field is set.
LOUDON, N.H. — A future version of Justin Bonsignore will beam with pride when he reflects upon what he accomplished at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 22, 2024.
He’ll recall tying the late Ted Christopher for third on the all-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour win list with a victory in the Mohegan Sun 100, then following the triumph with a statement performance in his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut. He’ll value the fact that he did it all literally surrounded by family and figuratively upheld by the entire Modified racing community.
But that’s not the version of Justin Bonsignore that climbed out of the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota after Saturday’s Sci Aps 200. That one had no idea how to feel.
The three-time Modified Tour champion backed up his Saturday-morning win with a 22nd-place Xfinity finish that was not indicative of the race he ran at the Magic Mile. Such a result left the 36-year-old disappointed on a day that represented a celebration of Modified racers and short-track competitors as a whole.
“I don’t like to get emotional, but it is emotional to accomplish what we did today,” Bonsignore said. “I’m a race-car driver, though. I wanted to win. I don’t know if we had the driver to win today.”
Many presumed the Holtsville, New York, native would make the Modified racing community proud in his Xfinity debut, especially given the quality of his equipment under the JGR banner. Few could have predicted Bonsignore’s assessment would be incorrect: The team did, in fact, field a driver capable of winning.
Bonsignore, who entered Saturday with minimal simulation time and virtually no on-track experience in the Xfinity car, started 25th and carefully advanced a few positions before a strategy call during an early caution catapulted him to the front row. He proceeded to lead three laps before settling for competitive spots inside the top five. His lap times were consistent with those of his JGR teammates, including NASCAR Cup Series driver and eventual race winner Christopher Bell.
Bonsignore said he learned more about the car with each lap, though uninformed observers might have assumed a teacher and not a student was driving.
Including Saturday morning’s race, Bonsignore has three wins in 26 Modified Tour starts at New Hampshire. Beyond his familiarity with the track’s 1.058-mile layout, that experience did little to prepare him for Saturday afternoon’s challenges. He explained the difference in the Xfinity car’s handling compared to his Modified as tire wear becomes a factor; the Xfinity cars rapidly burn up right-front tires, and Mods take a toll on right rears.
Inexperience did not cost Bonsignore what might have been a top-10 finish in his debut. Chaos was the culprit.
Justin Bonsignore (No. 19) leads the NASCAR Xfinity Series SciAps 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on June 22, 2024. (Photo: Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Sammy Smith on a late restart made what appeared to be incidental contact with Bonsignore’s rear bumper, sending the No. 19 spinning into a multi-car pileup. Bonsignore’s recollection of the incident was pointed: “My rear tires weren’t on the race track. I know that much.”
He proceeded with minimal damage, but without the track position that aided his attempt at a single-digit finish, he opted against pushing JGR’s car to a slightly better result in the closing laps.
Perhaps subconsciously, Bonsignore knew he had done what he came to New Hampshire to do.
Bell, for example, understood his teammate for the day made a substantial impact: “I hope and pray we have more elite short-track racers like that coming to the NASCAR [national] series.”
JGR Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. expressed a similar sentiment Saturday morning when asked about Bonsignore’s Xfinity debut: “It’s huge, and it’s really special. This place has put a lot of people on the map.”
The Modified and Northeastern short-track racing communities stood behind Bonsignore on Saturday in ways that were both obvious (shaking his hand and wishing him luck) and subtle (sticking around after the Modified Tour race to watch his Xfinity effort). And he repaid their support with both his impressive run his post-race reminder that the Modified Tour is rich with talent.
“Anything you can accomplish there, you’re beating the best guys in our area,” he said. “You could put any of these guys in these cars. Ron Silk would come out here and would have done the same thing today.”
(Photo: Adam Glanzman/NASCAR)
Bonsignore was adamant about his desire to take another shot at an Xfinity Series win. He was surprised by how much information he was able to absorb Saturday, reinforcing the experience-is-the-best-teacher mantra. He believes more laps would result in a better finish, and he’s looking forward to testing that theory if another opportunity arises.
Beyond his time at the front of the field Saturday — “that was kind of cool for a little bit,” he said — Bonsignore did not let himself pause to soak in the moments that made June 22 a new pillar of his career. There were plenty from which to choose.
He was recognized early Saturday morning for his 200th Modified Tour start, which occurred last July at New Jersey’s Wall Stadium Speedway.
He won his 42nd Modified Tour race by beating his cousin, Kyle Bonsignore, in a last-lap dash to the finish. His dad said Justin and Kyle were 8 years old the last time he can remember the cousins racing each other for a win without crashing.
For the second time, he was joined in Victory Lane by his 7-month-old son.
The roar of the crowd that followed the announcement of his name during Xfinity Series driver intros was among the loudest Saturday.
He competed for a victory in a car he’d never raced against some of stock-car racing’s best competitors. His final driver rating was 99.3, the fifth best in the field.
And afterwards, even through the downer that was his place in the final running order, he smiled.
“I’m just really proud of the effort we put in,” he said. “Hopefully I made some people proud in this area.”
The future version of Justin Bonsignore won’t need to question whether he did.
The No. 38 RSS Racing Ford for driver Matt DiBenedetto was disqualified after Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race after the car was found with three unsecured lug nuts on the right-rear wheel at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
DiBenedetto had driven to what was initially credited as a 17th-place finish in Saturday’s SciAps 200. The three unsecured lugs, however, were violations of Sections 8.8.10.4 (Tires and Wheels) and 10.5.2.5 (Safety Penalties and Penalty Options) in the NASCAR Rule Book for the Xfinity Series.
LOUDON, N.H. — Reigning NASCAR Xfinity Series champion Cole Custer dominated to a season-high 114 laps led in Saturday’s SciAps 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. The No. 00 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford driver even led the field to green on the final — of several late and physical — restarts.
He walked away from the “Magic Mile” still winless as the calendar approaches July.
Cup Series championship contender Christopher Bell emerged victorious in NASCAR Overtime, taking advantage of contact between Custer and the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Sheldon Creed by making a three-wide pass on the inside just after the white flag and holding on from there.
For Bell — it was a fourth straight NXS victory at Loudon in as many tries; for Custer, the bittersweet sting of yet another disappointment while retaining his points lead.
“I think that was probably the best New Hampshire car we’ve ever had here. It just stings so much to have it ripped away with two laps to go, you know?” he said on pit road following the race. “Being able to pull away from the 20 (of Bell) on that long green-flag run and being able to really flex our muscle a little bit there was really cool. I mean, you don’t get to do that around New Hampshire with those guys very much so, man … we’ll keep knocking on the door and we’ll get one. I’m really proud of our guys and what we did today. … It definitely stings because this is a really cool place to win at with the fans and it’s a really special place to me. So it stings a lot not to win that.”
Apart from a crash at Charlotte that saddled him with a 32nd-place finish, Custer has strung together nothing but top 10s since finishing outside of it in the season’s first two races; a pair of drafting-style tracks in Daytona and Atlanta. He’s essentially been the guy to beat since then — and he has been beat — clawing back to the points lead and holding it for the past month. As he alluded to, putting on that show and holding off a slew of strong Toyotas, including the only current back-to-back Cup Series Championship 4 contender, gives him plenty to take away from the New England track, even if there isn’t a lobster coming home with him as well.
In his immediate post-race analysis, Custer mentioned he’s “gonna relive what (he) could’ve done” differently, but overall knew the chances of something like that not going his way increased exponentially, with five-plus late-race restarts.
He doesn’t feel that he lost the race — “that was just good racing” — but he’s not so sure Bell won the race, either.
“I don’t know if anybody lost it or won it, honestly. I think he kind of got given it a little bit because me and 18 got together and I don’t know; I didn’t feel like I made a pure mistake so I wouldn’t say I lost it,” said Custer.
“I just gotta look back on what I could have done a little different, but it’s just hard racing around here. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way.”
LOUDON, N.H. — Christopher Bell kept it dramatic at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon, relying on a last-lap pass in overtime to claim the SciAps 200 victory — giving him a perfect 4-for-4 record in NASCAR Xfinity Series races at the 1.058-mile track.
Bell’s No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota pulled off a daring three-wide move with two corners to go and ultimately drove away to a 0.254-second win over teammate Sheldon Creed. The runner-up showing for the Xfinity Series championship contender Creed was the 10th of his career, tying him with NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Jarrett and former series champion Daniel Hemric for most runner-up finishes before a series win.
Bell, a full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor for JGR who has already scored two wins in the sport’s premier series this year, now ties Xfinity Series regular AJ Allmendinger with four Xfinity Series wins in four starts at a single track — and is the fourth different driver to earn a victory in the No. 20 JGR Toyota this season. It is Bell’s 18th win in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with his wins at New Hampshire arriving in 2018, ’19, ’21 and ’24.
“I was just really fortunate, that’s for sure,” said Bell of the race-winning pass on Creed. “I feel so bad for Sheldon. He’s been really, really close to winning these things and today he did everything right to win that race. He restarted in the right lane and gave Cole [Custer] a good push. And coming to the white flag, he got Cole loose and that’s what opened the door for me.
“Very fortunate to keep my undefeated streak alive,” he continued with a smile. “We got really lucky there.”
Despite the recurring near-misses, Creed offered a smile and insisted he was encouraged that a win was close.
“I don’t know, running out of ways to lose them,” Creed said, mustering a smile before adding, “I can think of a million things I could do, that is not a stat I wanted to tie, 10 seconds before a win. … But overall, a great day and proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing. Been in the hunt the past four weeks so just going to keep working hard at it.”
Stewart-Haas Racing’s Custer led the most laps on the day — 114 of the 203 total — and finished third despite having the lead on that final overtime restart. The result was tough to take, but big picture, it was still good enough to keep him in the NASCAR Xfinity Series championship lead by 15 points over JGR’s Chandler Smith, who finished 15th.
While the reigning series champion Custer was out front for much of the overcast New England day — he was forced to hold off the field in four restarts in the final 22 laps hoping to claim that first victory of the season. He leaves without a trophy, but won his third stage of the season and maintains the championship advantage.
“I would have done the same thing, you know, you’re racing for the win, it is what it is,” Custer said of the tight racing between him and Creed competing for the win on the final lap. “Man, it just stings. I felt like we had the best car of the day. And that’s not easy to do at these flat short tracks. Our guys brought such a fast car. But you get put in those late-race restarts, eventually it’s probably not going to go your way. But I’m gonna re-live what I could have done.
“Just gotta keep digging,” he continued. “We’ve got the points lead, just gotta keep knocking on the door.”
JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier rallied to finish fourth with his teammate, 21-year-old rookie Carson Kvapil, rounding out the top five. Kvapil led 24 laps and used pit strategy to run among the front-runners late in the race, which featured 15 lead changes among 10 drivers.
Ryan Sieg, Parker Kligerman, Riley Herbst, Alex Bowman and Cory Heim rounded out the top 10 with season-long title contenders Smith finishing 15th and Austin Hill, 25th — both being involved in incidents.
Justin Bonsignore finished 23rd in his series debut, but that finishing position was not indicative of his afternoon work. He won his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race at New Hampshire on Saturday morning and then impressively ran among the top five in the Xfinity Series all afternoon — making a bold outside pass at one point early in the race to get into the top five after starting 25th in the 38-car field.
He was ultimately collected in a late-race incident that diminished his finish, but he still climbed out of his No. 19 JGR Toyota feeling rightly encouraged — his Modified team trackside cheering him on.
“Just really good pace and unfortunate we got turned around here,” Bonsignore said. “We had good pace all day long and just wished it would have stayed green there [at the end]. We were fifth and right there with Sheldon. It’s tough. These late-race restarts bunch everyone up, but all in all it was a great experience. … Hopefully we can put something together and do some more.”
The race began on Goodyear’s wet-weather tires — a first for the Xfinity Series on an oval — after a lingering shower soaked the track nearly an hour before the scheduled green flag. After some rapid drying in the opening 10-lap run, teams pitted under a yellow flag for dry-weather slicks.
The Xfinity Series’ next race is the Tennessee Lottery 250, scheduled next Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway (5 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
NOTE: Post-race inspection was completed in the Xfinity Series garage, confirming Christopher Bell as the winner. The No. 38 of Matt DiBenedetto was disqualified due to three lug nuts loose on the right rear of the car.
Saturday’s qualifying session was canceled due to inclement weather, and the starting lineup was set per the NASCAR Rule Book. Chase Elliott will lead the field to green for Sunday’s race, with Iowa race winner Ryan Blaney starting on the front row alongside Elliott. Defending New Hampshire winner Martin Truex Jr. will start seventh.
With a brief pause in Mother Nature’s activity in the Granite State, the Cup Series squeezed in a five-minute practice period for all 36 drivers. Carson Hocevar put down the quickest lap of 127.534 mph. Michael McDowell, Brad Keselowski, William Byron and Zane Smith made up the top five in the brief stint. | Practice results
Big story line
Is this the toughest year to make 16-driver field in playoff era?
While nine races still offer plenty of time for drivers near the bubble to make the 2024 postseason, it’s not about how much time is left before the checkered flag waves at the Southern 500 to close the regular season; it’s a matter of who’s fighting for said playoff spots.
Victories from Chase Elliott, Daniel Suárez and Austin Cindric this year have already guaranteed three drivers from 2023’s postseason will miss out in September. Along with Brad Keselowski’s Darlington Raceway win and Alex Bowman’s consistency to have himself 66 points above the current elimination line, the names that have murky outlooks heading into the summer are among the biggest in the sport.
Chris Buescher (+27) and Bubba Wallace (+6) currently hold the final two playoff spots. Both drivers advanced out of the Round of 16 last year, with Buescher making a run all the way to the Round of 8.
This year though, both drivers have fallen short when the opportunity has presented itself. Buescher lost out to Kyle Larson in the closest Cup finish ever at Kansas Speedway and was walled by Tyler Reddick battling for the win in the closing laps at Darlington. While Wallace hasn’t come as close to a win as Buescher this year, tracks like Charlotte Motor Speedway, Darlington and Kansas Speedway should’ve offered huge points days for the No. 23 team. However, the 30-year-old veteran only scored one top 10 at those three venues and doesn’t have favorable tracks coming up this summer.
Then, there are the two active multi-time Cup champions who are on the outside looking in. Joey Logano (-6) and Kyle Busch (-31) have had forgettable campaigns in 2024. While in contention for decent runs the last few weeks, every instance of bad luck has seemingly struck the No. 8 RCR team after wrecking at Gateway while in the top 10, getting spun while in the top five on the final lap at Sonoma Raceway and then suffering a mechanical failure while in the top 10 last Sunday at Iowa Speedway.
As for Logano, the No. 22 Team Penske stable hasn’t shown consistent speed worthy of race wins. Across the last nine races, Logano has only led a combined 53 laps. He’s also trending toward his worst average finish (17.1 this season) since 2012.
Loudon is veterans’ bread and butter. While only two races have been run at the flat, 1-mile oval in the Next Gen car, a specific trend pops out — old guys rule here.
Martin Truex Jr. has been the lead guy the past two years, leading 426 of 602 laps highlighted by his commanding triumph last season, the most recent victory for him in the Cup Series.
Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin scored top 10s in both Next Gen races along with the now-retired Kevin Harvick. The only driver that bucks the trend among longtime veterans and future Hall of Famers is Bubba Wallace, who has third and eighth-place tallies in Loudon the last two seasons.
If you are keen to leaning on drivers under 30, Chase Elliott (7.0) and Chase Briscoe (12.5) have the best average finishes of those that fit that age category.
He may not be the betting favorite to win, but watch out for…
JUSTIN HALEY. It’s not every weekend that a Rick Ware Racing driver becomes one to keep an eye on, but there’s real reason to pay attention to the No. 51 on Sunday. Recently, Haley has shown consistent top-10 speed on smaller and slower tracks. The No. 51 was among the fastest cars in the closing laps at Darlington to score a ninth-place result. Haley matched a season-best result two weeks later at Gateway. Iowa opened the door for another top 10, but the No. 51 lost spots on strategy and finished 13th. With Loudon having similar characteristics to Gateway (outside of length), don’t be surprised if you see Haley toward the top of the leaderboard during Sunday’s race. | Loudon odds
Speed reads
Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• Dual citizenship: Daniel Suárez sworn in as United States citizen | Read article
• Gene Haas to continue operation: Haas Factory Team to have one Cup charter, two Xfinity programs in 2025 | Read article
• Who will drive No. 19 in ’25?: Top candidates to replace Martin Truex Jr. at Joe Gibbs Racing | Read article
• A second Cup stint?: Cole Custer on future in Cup Series; lessons learned from first stint | Read article
• Mobility Pit Box: NASCAR, Toyota develop innovative pit box for individuals with mobility challenges | Read article
• Track treble: Drivers who won at same track in all three national series | Photo gallery
• Power Rankings: Logano looking for home-cooked lobster at Loudon | Photo gallery • Turning Point: Who else might sneak into playoffs the rest of the way? | Read article • Racing Insights: Fourth lobster for Hamlin? See full finish projections | Read article • Field of 16: How the projected playoff picture shakes out pre-Loudon | Read article • 36 for 36: Check out this week’s survivor pool picks | Read article
• Fantasy Fastlane: JGR, Penske lead way at Loudon | Photo gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Revisiting New Hampshire’s best events over the years | Read article • Paint Scheme Preview: Home-run designs in the Granite State | Pick your favorite
Fast facts ⏩
Race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.
• Each of the drivers to finish top six at New Hampshire last year was a Cup champion.
• Entering this weekend, Martin Truex Jr. (1,170) and Kyle Busch (1,134) could pass Jeff Gordon (1,373) for most laps led all-time at New Hampshire.
• Four of the last eight New Hampshire winners got their first win of the season.
See where your favorite NASCAR Cup Series driver will pit for the USA Today 301 on Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (2 p.m. ET, USA, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App).
LOUDON, N.H. — In the days since announcing his intent to step aside from full-time racing at the end of the 2024 season, NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. has “heard from a lot of people,” he said Saturday morning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, site of Sunday’s USA Today 301 (2 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.)
One of them was Denny Hamlin — but not as his longtime Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, offering his best wishes in Truex’s future endeavors. Instead, it was Denny Hamlin, 23XI Racing co-owner — offering the potential for a 2025 ride.
In the immediacy of last week’s announcement at Iowa Speedway, Hamlin was quick to tell reporters that the No. 11 driver “told (Truex) that I will have his Daytona 500 car ready immediately … tell me the word.”
Turns out, this wasn’t some off-the-cuff empty gesture like two old friends making plans to grab lunch they both know will never happen. It sounds like a reality that when NASCAR rolls into Daytona International Speedway come February 2025, there likely will be a 23XI Racing Toyota with “Truex Jr.” signed above the door.
“We just kind of started talking because he threw it out there in the media center and we’ve chatted a few times this week,” said Truex, the defending winner at New Hampshire. “A few things to figure out, but it seems like we will be able to do some races if we want, which will be awesome. Excited about that. It is really cool that Denny did that and reached out this week. It means a lot to me.”
There certainly are some things to figure out. The Toyota-backed, JGR-affiliated team is expected to be in conversations to expand beyond the team’s two current chartered cars — the Nos. 23 and 45 driven by Bubba Wallace and Tyler Reddick, respectively — with Truex’s potential addition extending above and beyond a third entry. For a team still just a handful of years into existence and already having expanded from a one-to-two-car organization, the prospect of adding another full-time ride and another part-time one beyond just the 500 is a tall task.
Whatever number of races Hamlin and Truex do decide on, the Virginia native is confident he’ll be putting a competitive ride under his longtime cohort.
“Yeah, I mean, I think that if we have those conversations, I certainly probably would like to know (how many races he wants to do), that way I can make sure I’m staffed properly and certainly anything that we did, we wouldn’t half-ass anything,” Hamlin told NASCAR.com. “I’d make sure that everything is capable of winning from top to bottom and I think he knows that.”
So if Truex is in a car that he could take to Victory Lane — and we know he and Hamlin work well together at Daytona; the duo finished 1-2 in Hamlin’s 2016 “Great American Race” win — what happens if the New Jersey native finally cracks the code and claims his first Harley J. Earl trophy after 20 years of trying, 20 years of frustration?
Could we see Truex renege on his commitment to walk away from full-time racing and attempt to chase his second championship?
“I don’t think you’ll talk (him into it). I don’t think you back that train up with Martin for sure,” Hamlin said with a laugh. “But, you know, I think it’s great that he still has goals and things that he wants to achieve. And so I think being, really, a Florida resident, it makes it pretty easy for him to want to participate in our biggest race and certainly, it’s been a race that has, unfortunately, evaded his resume for one or two reasons, but I don’t know. It’s just think it would be good all around for everyone.”
In the meantime, Truex still has a lobster to chase. New Hampshire Motor Speedway has long been a track embedded in Truex’s heart, “watching my dad win his first Busch North (now ARCA Menards Series East) race on TV” and being “madder than hell that I wasn’t here” to celebrate in person.
He finally collected his first Loudon the Lobster trophy in last year’s Cup race at the “Magic Mile,” but he hasn’t yet had his fill of seafood. If he’s back behind the wheel next year, you can expect to see New Hampshire on the northeast native’s potential schedule.
“Yeah, probably. We will see,” said Truex. “I haven’t really looked into all of that and started the scheduling process. I’m just kind of focused on what we are doing here, but eventually, we will figure it out and it is definitely a place I would like to come back to.”
Rain canceled NASCAR Cup Series qualifying Saturday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, putting standings leader Chase Elliott in the top starting spot for Sunday’s USA Today 301.
Track-drying and a precipitation let-up after the qualifying washout opened the door for a brief Cup Series practice session, allowing teams and drivers to tune up for Sunday’s 301-lapper (2 p.m. ET, USA Network, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, NBC Sports App). Rookie Carson Hocevar topped the speed charts in a session that ran for barely five of a scheduled 30 minutes, posting a 127.534-mph lap in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.
Goodyear has wet-weather tires available at the 1.058-mile Loudon oval for both the Cup and Xfinity Series, but NASCAR competition officials deemed the track too wet to justify time trials on Saturday afternoon.
The threat of more rain in the forecast prompted officials to move the starting times for Saturday’s Xfinity Series event and Sunday’s Cup Series race up 30 minutes. That slots the Xfinity SciAps 200 for a 3:06 p.m. ET green flag and Sunday’s Cup event to go green at 2:06 p.m. ET, both to be broadcast on USA Network, PRN Radio, NBC Sports App and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.
The starting lineup for Sunday’s Cup Series event was set according to the NASCAR Rule Book. As a result, Elliott’s No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet will lead the field to the green flag. Ryan Blaney, last weekend’s winner at Iowa Speedway, will share the front row in the second starting spot in the Team Penske No. 12 Ford. William Byron, Christopher Bell and Alex Bowman complete the top five starters in order.
“Yeah, I mean obviously we’d rather have an actual pole, for sure,” Elliott said. “But you know, circumstances being what they are, fortunately our team has been performing at a really solid level over the past couple of months. The reality of it is that it put us in a position to have a good starting spot for a rainout situation. That’s just the reality of the weekend. Certainly, we’ll take a good starting spot, and more importantly, take a really good pit pick there on pit road.”
The track dried and opened for Cup Series practice at 2 p.m. ET, but rain resumed just five minutes later and no driver completed more than seven laps. Just behind Hocevar’s chart-topping speed was Michael McDowell’s No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford at 127.312 mph. Brad Keselowski, William Byron and rookie Zane Smith finished out the top five.
Sunday’s event is the 18th of 36 races scheduled on the Cup Series calendar. Nine races remain in the regular season before the postseason kicks off on Sept. 8 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
LOUDON, N.H. — A dream weekend for Justin Bonsignore at New Hampshire Motor Speedway got off to a perfect start Saturday morning.
Hours before making his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut with Joe Gibbs Racing, the 36-year-old put together the type of performance that’s made him renowned on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. Bonsignore dominated the Mohegan Sun 100 to claim his third New Hampshire victory and 42nd overall in the series.
Previously possessing just one New Hampshire trophy in his first 13 full-time seasons on the Tour, the driver from Holtsville, New York has now won the last two editions of the Mohegan Sun 100. He said it is always a challenge to prevail in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s crown jewel race, which makes the trips to New Hampshire’s Victory Lane even more special.
“We have 16 awesome races in a year, but this is our Daytona 500,” Justin said. “Everyone wants to win this race. There’s so much that goes into putting yourself in position and having a good car. It’s mentally tough to control and understand what you need to do in these late restarts.”
During his illustrious career, Christopher won at New Hampshire five times in a Modified while also adding five more victories in what is now the ARCA Menards Series East. The gold standard set by Christopher at New Hampshire is something Justin and his fellow competitors strive to replicate with each visit to the facility.
“I forgot all about that,” Bonsignore said when asked about his feelings on his career standing. “You get caught up in these; we won Richmond in a crazy fashion, and these wins just happen in big fashion, and you kind of forget about stuff like that. But it’s really special.
“We all miss Ted. He would probably be busting my chops if he were here right now, that it was way harder when he did it and everything. But anytime you can have your name with those guys who were in the heyday when the Tour was just crazy stacked, is awesome.”
From the start of Saturday’s race, Bonsignore seemed primed to collect another New Hampshire win. He exchanged the lead with Modified Tour points leader Ron Silk several times in the opening half before assuming control of the race following an onslaught of cautions.
The closest challenge Justin received in the closing stages came in the form of his cousin, Kyle Bonsignore. Having maintained solid track position all day from the seventh starting position, Kyle patiently waited and pushed Justin away from the pack until a late caution set up a three-lap sprint to the finish.
Kyle was unable to make a move that could have drafted him past Justin on the final lap. Despite being disappointed with second, Kyle still had a reason to smile.
“I love racing with my cousin; he’s like my brother,” Kyle Bonsignore said. “I really wished that last caution hadn’t come out. We had a good gap behind us to where I could have actually tried a more aggressive move at the end. I got a little greedy and overdrove it into Turn 1 trying to set us up down the backstretch coming to the line.”
Justin Bonsignore also expressed satisfaction over the one-two finish at New Hampshire. He was grateful Kyle helped him prior to the last restart but was also relieved he did not have to play any substantial defense on the final lap.
“My cousin and I have raced against each other since we were 8 years old,” he said. “My dad said it was the first time we didn’t crash each other. I saw him get close in the mirror, and then my spotter said ‘clear by three, no run,’ so that was the most stress-free last lap probably anybody will run at Loudon down the back straightaway.”
The dominant victory provided Bonsignore a jolt of confidence prior to climbing into a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota later Saturday afternoon. It also provided him some momentum as he looks to chase down Silk over the next several months for his fourth NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title.
Chase Dowling, in his first start of 2024, brought home a strong third-place finish with Patrick Emerling and Sam Rameau rounding out the top five.
Tommy Catalano, Eric Goodale, Jake Johnson, Austin Beers and Silk were the rest of the top-10 finishers.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will have nearly a month off before its next event, which will be the second leg of the Whelen Granite State Short Track Cup at Monadnock Speedway on July 20. Live coverage of the Duel at the Dog 250 will commence on FloRacing at 8 p.m. ET.
