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NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour

Silk Avoids Calamity To Score In NWMT New Smyrna Opener

The former champion shook the frustrations of a winless season on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour with a victory to kick off the new year.

Ron Silk hoists the 1948 Cup after his season-opening victory in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour's New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200. (Photo courtesy Tom Morris)

Ron Silk may have finished second in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour standings in 2022, but a zero in the win column at year’s end left the 2011 NWMT champion feeling unfulfilled.

Fulfillment came early this year.

Silk prevailed in a late-race dogfight with Justin Bonsignore to win Saturday night’s New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 at New Smyrna Speedway, one of the opening events of New Smyrna Speedway’s World Series of Asphalt Stock Car Racing and the season opener for NASCAR’s oldest and only active open-wheel division.

“I knew it was a good chance to get one, so I didn’t want to let it slip away,” Silk said of his first NWMT win since 2021. “I had a really good car all last year and couldn’t find victory lane.”

The Norwalk, Conn. veteran started third after rain forced an early end to time trials, but he flew under the radar for the first half of the race. Polesitter Doug Coby set the pace early on, then led a number of veterans down pit road for early adjustments under the second caution of the night. While Austin Beers and Eric Goodale ran out front, Silk was content to ride.

A lap-87 spin reset the race strategy, cycling Coby and Silk back to the front. Coby, returning to the Tour full-time for champion car owner Tommy Baldwin, set sail on the restart, building a lead of nearly two seconds on a long green-flag run as Silk, Tommy Catalano and Beers navigated slower traffic.

Beers had cleared Catalano for third when contact between Craig Lutz and Jake Johnson drew a caution flag with 42 laps to go, opening the window for late pit stops. Catalano opted to stay on old tires, beating Coby out of the pits. Silk lined up fifth for the restart, behind defending race winner Matt Hirschman and reigning Tour champion Jon McKennedy.

Catalano spun his tires on the start, dropping him from the pack as Hirschman pounced on Coby for the race lead. Coby swung back under Hirschman to take the lead back, but Silk slipped through the open door to steal the top spot. Bonsignore followed Silk through, taking the point ever briefly.

But as Silk dove under Bonsignore entering turn one, Bonsignore seemed to slow down, stacking up the field and spinning off Coby’s bumper. McKennedy, Goodale and Jimmy Blewett were among those who piled into the mess, while Hirschman dodged the carnage to restart second.

Silk brought the field to green with 24 laps remaining, clearing Hirschman quickly as Bonsignore charged back into contention. The three-time champion worked over Hirschman to take second, then set his sights on Silk with twenty circuits left. Bonsignore pulled out all the stops to get past Silk, even trying a slide job to take the lead with five laps to go.

Silk charged right back, reclaiming the lead and leaving Bonsignore to fend off Hirschman in the final laps.

Tom Morris Photo

Ron Silk and Justin Bonsignore staged a scintillating battle for the lead in the final laps of Saturday’s season opener, but the 2011 champion held off the three-time titlist for his first Tour win since 2021. (Photo courtesy Tom Morris)

“I think we were both driving a little bit over our heads,” Silk said.

Bonsignore held on for second, a welcome rebound from his results in last year’s New Smyrna lidlifter. Hirschman, who started 17th and ran mid-pack until the final stint, settled for third.

Anthony Sesely, fresh off his fourth win in the Atlantic City Indoor Race Gambler’s Classic, finished a career-best fourth in a car prepared by Connecticut Modified ace Stephen Kopcik. Coby, who avoided major damage in the incident with Bonsignore, opened the drive for his seventh Tour title with a fifth-place run.

Jake Johnson rallied from his late spin to finish sixth, ahead of veteran Dave Sapienza, who earned his first Tour top-ten finish since 2021 with some assistance from Modified alumnus Ryan Preece. Beers, Anthony Nocella and Catalano rounded out the top ten. McKennedy, hampered by damage from the late wreck, limped to a 24th-place finish to open his title defense.

Disparate pit strategies and the late wreck at the front of the pack allowed some of Modified racing’s rising stars, like Johnson, Beers and Catalano, to log laps up front and showcase their potential.

But Saturday’s race was about potential realized for Silk, who delivered car owners Tyler Haydt and Joe Yannone a seemingly-overdue first NWMT victory.

Silk joined Haydt-Yannone Racing in 2020, running the team’s car in select open shows while balancing full-time rides for Tour car owner Kevin Stuart and Tri-Track Series stalwart Bob Horn. Haydt and Silk increased their schedule in 2021, with Silk winning Thompson Speedway’s Icebreaker opener and finishing third in Tri-Track points. Silk committed to HYR full-time for 2022, closing out a four-year Tour run for Stuart with wins at Beech Ridge Motor Speedway and Oswego Speedway.

When Doug Coby scaled his plans back, crew chief Phil Moran joined HYR, setting up the Pennsylvania-based team for championship contention.

Silk, Moran and HYR were not without success in 2022, winning a World Series feature at New Smyrna and capturing the Fall Final at Stafford Motor Speedway under the Tri-Track Series banner. In NWMT competition, they won two poles and finished worse than 13th only once. But the runner-up effort in the points standings came with a best finish of second.

This year, Silk and Moran got the winning out of the way early.

It seems unlikely that they will be content to stop there.

Unofficial Results, NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour New Smyrna Beach Area Visitors Bureau 200 at New Smyrna Speedway:
1. (16) Ron Silk
2. (51) Justin Bonsignore
3. (60) Matt Hirschman
4. (19) Anthony Sesely
5. (7) Doug Coby
6. (3) Jake Johnson
7. (36) Dave Sapienza
8. (64) Austin Beers
9. (92) Anthony Nocella
10. (54) Tommy Catalano
11. (32) Tyler Rypkema
12. (5) Kyle Ebersole
13. (29) Spencer Davis
14. (02) Joey Coulter
15. (46) Justin Brown
16. (34) J.B. Fortin
17. (55) Jeremy Gerstner
18. (82) Craig Lutz
19. (22) Kyle Bonsignore
20. (71) James Pritchard, Jr.
21. (18) Ken Heagy
22. (26) Gary McDonald
23. (99) Ronnie Williams
24. (79) Jon McKennedy
25. (24) Andrew Krause
26. (25) Brian Robie
27. (58) Eric Goodale
28. (76) Jimmy Blewett
29. (20) Eddie McCarthy
30. (2) J.R. Bertuccio
31. (12) Anthony Bello
32. (43) Matthew Kimball
33. (01) Melissa Fifield
34. (07) Patrick Emerling
35. (09) Chris Hatton, Jr.

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Jeff Brown is a contributor to Short Track Scene. A native of New Hampshire and a long-time fan of New England racing, Brown provides a fan's perspective as he follows New England's regional Late Model touring series.

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