Ron Silk gets his first win of the season at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour was at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park Thursday night for the Thompson 150 in Thompson, CT. Doug Coby won the pole with a lap time of 19.055 seconds at 118.079 mph. This was Coby’s 31st pole of his career. Justin Bonsignore qualified second with a lap time of 19.063 seconds at 118.030 mph. NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Preece was also in the race and started seventh. Jon McKennedy, who was supposed to start 13th, had to start at the rear of the field for unapproved adjustments.

Ground pounders are 🟢 at @ThompsonSpdwy‼#NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/fScp2IqUxa — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

            Coby would get a great jump on Bonsignore to move out in the front on the first lap. Coby led the first 30 laps before the first caution of the night came out for a spin at turn four by the No. 82 car of Anthony Nocella as he was challenging Patrick Emerling for fourth place.

Battle for 4th goes sideways for Anthony Nocella.#NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/bhyCxP543T — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

The race would get back underway on lap 34. Coby would lead an additional 32 laps before losing the lead to Justin Bonsignore on the 67th lap. Coby would lose another spot on the same lap to Craig Lutz, which left him sitting in third place. A spin at turn four by Chris Pasteryak would bring out the second caution of the night on lap 72. During the caution, all of the leaders came to pit road.

"And here comes Justin Bonsingore to the lead down the backstretch."#NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/vWcWGyOVdH — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

Justin Bonsignore led the field back to green at lap 79. Ron Silk began to move up through the field, passing Jon McKennedy for second place. Anthony Nocella spun again at turn four to bring out the third caution of the night. Bonsignore would lead the field back to green with 51 laps to go. Bonsignore and Ron Silk were fighting side-by-side as Silk led a lap before Bonsignore resumed the lead. Meanwhile, Ryan Preece was slowly making his way up the field as he took over the sixth position from McKennedy. The No. 25 car of Calvin Carroll would bring out the fourth caution of the night when he spun at the front stretch and into the grass suffering no damage.

How 'bout that crossover? 😱@Jbonsignore holds the point.#NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/WkAm0KzCya — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

Justin Bonsignore would once again lead the field to the restart on lap 113. He was battling Ron Silk to maintain the lead, but on lap 125, Silk used the outside lane to his advantage to take the lead. Just behind them was Ryan Preece and Craig Lutz.

2⃣5⃣ to go, and Ron Silk makes his move to 1st stick. New. Race. Leader.#NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/jMZgQ0m0pP — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

Lutz would take the second position away from Bonsignore with 20 laps to go. Bonsignore’s car seemed to be going away as Ryan Preece took the third position away from him. The caution would come out once again for the fifth time for Anthony Nocella as he spun at turn four for the third time of the night.

Ron Silk would lead the field back to green with 12 laps to go. A major wreck happened on the front stretch involving three cars, which brought out the sixth caution of the night. The three drivers involved in the wreck were Timmy Solomito, Eric Goodale, and Sam Rameau.

Three-wide through Turn 4? That's not going to end well.#NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/NY1KNb5q0d — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

The race was red-flagged for cleanup. Once cleanup was complete, the race was back underway with seven laps to go. Ryan Preece took the lead from the outside lane at turn four from Ron Silk. The No. 22 car of Kyle Bonsignore brought out the caution for the seventh time of the night. The caution happened at a bad time for Preece as he ran out of gas as the race was heading to a green/white/checkered finish. Preece had trouble getting his engine to fire and would end up finishing in 19th place.

.@RyanPreece_ to the lead‼ These final laps … 🤯 GWC coming up.#NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/OP1RXDweSX — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

Ryan Preece. Race Leader … out of gas⁉ #NWMT | @_TrackPass pic.twitter.com/YKvO7tivH9 — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

On the restart, Silk would get a great jump on Lutz for the lead. Lutz went up the racetrack with a problem as Justin Bonsignore took over second place. Silk would go on to score his first win of the season by .407 seconds over Justin Bonsignore.

Ron Silk holds on for the 🏁 14th career #NWMT win & 5th at @ThompsonSpdwy pic.twitter.com/5SBgYgd698 — NASCAR Roots (@NASCARRoots) September 4, 2020

The rest of the top ten finishers were Jon McKennedy third, Chris Pasteryak fourth, Doug Coby fifth, Dave Sapienza sixth, Ronnie Williams seventh, Anthony Nocella eighth, Matt Swanson ninth, and Tyler Rypkema tenth. There were six lead changes and seven cautions for 30 laps.

Point Standings right now is Justin Bonsignore with an eighteen-point lead over Doug Coby. Jon McKennedy is third (-32), Craig Lutz fourth (-41), Dave Sapienza fifth (-45), Calvin Carroll sixth (-68), Matt Swanson seventh (-70), Chris Pasteryak eighth (-73), Kyle Bonsignore ninth (-76), and Anthony Nocella tenth (-82). The next race for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Musket 200 presented by Whelen on Saturday, September 12th, at 12:05 pm on NBC Sports Gold Track Pass.

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