Justin Bonsignore Holds Off Charging Ron Silk to Sweep NASCAR Whelen Modified Title at Richmond Raceway

Just a month back, Justin Bonsignore and his team- Kenneth Massa Motorsports- shared the news that they’re hitting the track again at Richmond Raceway for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 150, which is the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season’s second showdown. And talk about kicking things off with a bang – winning it?

Bonsignore isn’t new to this kind of success, especially at Richmond Raceway. He snagged a victory there in 2022 and looks like hasn’t slowed down since.

After a constant back and forth from the lead, ultimately Justin Bonsignore wins at Richmond

It was a real nail-biter at Richmond with Justin Bonsignore, starting second, quickly grabbing the lead by lap 11. The race saw him and others swapping the front spot back and forth. Around lap 57, Bonsignore and the leading pack hit the pits, shaking things up and handing the lead over to Tommy Catalano with Emerling hot on his heels.

But Bonsignore wasn’t done yet. He was right on Goodale’s tail, sneaking inside on turn one to snatch back the lead. Come lap 70, while Bonsignore was holding the fort, Ron Silk slipped out of nowhere into second and nosed ahead of Bonsignore. The drama peaked with just two laps left when Silk edged in front in turn one, but Bonsignore wasn’t having it. He ducked under Silk in turn three, going door to door. On the final lap, they clashed in turn three, with Bonsignore pushing wide in turn four, and in a thrilling finish, it was Justin Bonsignore who powered across the line first at Richmond Raceway!

Kicking off the season, Bonsignore took the #51 Phoenix Communications Modified for a spin and landed a solid second place at New Smyrna Speedway in February. Snagging a win in just the second race might have surely lit a fire under the Kenneth Massa Motorsports team, giving them a massive confidence boost.

 Ron Silk, on the other hand, wasn’t too thrilled with how things panned out for him. He was spotted later, second-guessing some of the choices he made during the race.

Ron Silk opened up about his doubts about the decision to stay outside of Justin Bonsignore

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Ron Silk really got into his feelings after that nail-biter with Justin Bonsignore. The race was so tight, it’s bound to be replayed over and over. But for Silk, it’s that last lap that’s got him rethinking his whole strategy.

In a chat after the race, Silk was turning over his choice to stick to the outside of Bonsignore. Matt Weaver threw him the question: could he have played it differently? Silk admitted, “Thinking back on it, I probably would have been better off, like, getting in line and trying to pass them, get back to the bottom. But… I committed to the top and I got back to the gas really good.”

He continued, “All through three and four and I just got the right front up a little bit like just out of the groove and it started to slide and had to breathe it coming to the line but it was a good run. It sucks to lose them when they’re that close but it was a good race. Yeah, I kind of want that note. I know it stings to not win when.”

Furthermore, Ron Silk didn’t miss the chance to say how much he loved being in the thick of such an intense race. He shared a bit of silver lining too, saying his track record had peaked at seventh before this, so gunning for the win this time felt like a massive leap forward for him and his crew. Hence he was happy to be a part of the good race and in the end, just wishing they would have been one spot better.