 Teaming with Tommy Baldwin Racing in Historic 7NY
Justin Bonsignore and Tommy Baldwin Racing will team together this weekend to chase over $20,000 in posted awards in the NAPA Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway. The 52nd running of the Sizzler, an Open Modified event, pins some of the top Modified talent in the Northeast against each other to chase a large amount of cash at one the most historic short-tracks in the country. It will be Bonsignore’s second start in the historic No. 7NY for Tommy Baldwin Racing. He competed once in the car last year at Riverhead Raceway, scoring a top-10 finish. The three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has never won the Spring Sizzler, posting a best finish of second in 2014. He hasn’t competed in the event since 2021. In Bonsignore’s last Stafford start, he finally posted his first win at the Connecticut half-mile - a victory that helped him capture his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour title. “The Spring Sizzler is a major event and I’m thrilled that Tommy Baldwin and his team asked me to drive the 7NY for it,” Bonsignore said. “It’s going to be a competitive race with a lot of strategy involved in the whole weekend. We’re looking forward to getting to Stafford and going after the trophy.” The schedule for Stafford’s Spring Sizzler weekend includes two days of racing. On Saturday, the team will compete in a qualifying heat race and a 40-lap Duel qualifying race worth $3,500 to win. On Sunday, the team will race for a $20,000 prize in the 100-lap NAPA Spring Sizzler feature. All of the racing action for the weekend will air live on FloRacing.TV. For the latest information on three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore, fans are encouraged to visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his Athlete page on Facebook for updates. ABOUT JUSTIN BONSIGNORE Justin Bonsignore, 36, is a three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion driver for Ken Massa Motorsports. Bonsignore picked up his first championship in 2018, and followed it up with two more in 2020 and 2021. Over 17 years of competing on NASCAR’s oldest touring series, Bonsignore has amassed 41 career wins, along with over 115 top-fives. His 41 wins ranks him fourth all-time on the series win list, just one behind the late Ted Christopher for third. Bonsignore also has 30 career Tour pole awards - also fourth on the all-time list. In the last six years with crew chief Ryan Stone, Bonsignore has 29 of his 41 wins.
0 Comments
 Photo: Tom Morris Stafford Motor Speedway and the Arute Family are pleased to announce that long-time NASCAR team owner and crew chief Tommy Baldwin, Jr. will serve as the grand marshal of the 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler®, set for April 27-28. Baldwin will send the open modified field on their way for 100-laps of ground pounding action with the most famous words in motorsports, ‘Drivers start your engines.’
“This is pretty cool and very unexpected for sure,” said Baldwin. “As a crew chief, the Sizzler® is the only race that I haven’t won yet at Stafford. We’ve won at New Hampshire, won the Thompson 300 a couple of times, won the Fall Final a couple times, won at Martinsville, but the Sizzler® at Stafford is definitely a race that I have circled.” “When we were talking about the 2024 Sizzler® Grand Marshal, Tommy was one of the first names that came up,” explained Stafford Speedway CEO Mark Arute. “From the early days racing with his father to having his own Modified team today, his contributions to Modified racing is something we wanted to recognize. We’re looking forward to having Tommy send off the drivers in the 52nd running of the NAPA Spring Sizzler®.” Baldwin has a long history of success in both the modified ranks as well as the NASCAR Cup Series. Baldwin has won modified races with a wide variety of drivers such as his father Tom Baldwin, Jimmy Blewett, Michael Christopher, Jr., Doug Coby, Mike Ewanitsko, Jeff Fuller, Jon McKennedy, and Steve Park. Baldwin also has 5 career NASCAR Cup Series wins as a crew chief with 4 of those wins, including crown jewel events Daytona 500 and Southern 500, with Ward Burton, and he has a single victory with Kasey Kahne. Baldwin won the Whelen Modified Tour owner’s championship in 2022 and he has notched several Speedweeks championships at New Smyrna Speedway. “I think I’ve won 25 or 26 tour races in my career and a bunch of open races and a couple championships on top of that, so it’s been pretty cool,” said Baldwin. “We won the owners championship a couple years ago with Doug Coby, Jimmy Blewett, and Michael Christopher, Jr. driving and I’ve lost the championship to Tony Hirschman by 3 points with Steve Park. In the five years since I’ve been back racing modifieds, we finished second with Jon McKennedy and won the owner’s championship and those are the only two years we have run the Tour full-time. On the Cup side I’ve won the Daytona 500 and the Southern 500, so I’ve had a really good career and hopefully there’s a lot more still to come.” On paper, Baldwin will have a great opportunity to finally take home a Sizzler® trophy as he has teamed with Justin Bonsignore to drive the famous #7ny car. Bonsignore is a 3-time Whelen Modified Tour champion and his 41 career WMT wins place him 4th on the all-time winners list, trailing only Ted Christopher with 42, Reggie Ruggiero with 44, and Mike Stefanik with 74. Bonsignore first ran the #7ny last season in the Tour-Type 150 at Riverhead Raceway where he finished 7th. “We ran together last year at Riverhead and I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of really good racecar drivers driving the #7ny car,” said Baldwin. “We have another one with Justin and we’ll plug him in there and see what we can do. Winning the Sizzler® would be awesome and that race is definitely on my list of accomplishments that I’d like to get.” The 52nd Annual NAPA Spring Sizzler® is set for Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28. Saturday, April 27th and will consist of two 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races for the Open Modified division. The 40-lap races will each pay $3,500 to win and will set the field for Sunday’s NAPA Spring Sizzler®. Stafford’s Late Model, Limited Late Model, and Street Stock divisions will complete Saturday’s racing program with qualifying and feature racing. Order 52nd NAPA Spring Sizzler® Tickets Sponsor a NAPA Spring Sizzler® Lap Sunday, April 28th will play host to the $20,000 to win 52nd NAPA Auto Parts Spring Sizzler®. Filling out Sunday’s racing card will be qualifying and feature racing for the SK Modified® and SK Light Modified divisions along with last chance qualifiers for the NAPA Spring Sizzler®. For more information, visit staffordspeedway.com, follow Stafford Speedway on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or contact the track office at 860-684-2783.  Photo: Noah Watts Tommy Baldwin Racing announced today that Justin Bonsignore will drive the historic No. 7NY for the 52nd running of the NAPA Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway on April 27-28. Bonsignore will wheel the entry for both the NAPA Duel Race on Saturday and the prestigious 100-lap, $20,000 to win event on Sunday.
The three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has one Stafford win to his credit on the Tour, sealing the championship with a victory in 2021. He will be looking for his first Sizzler victory at the end of the month in a partnership with Tommy Baldwin Jr. and the team. “We’re happy to have Justin in the car,” Tommy Baldwin Jr. said. “The NAPA Spring Sizzler has become such a marquee race in the Modified community with a lot of buzz and a lot of money on the line. We’ve had success at Stafford in the last few years and look forward to having Justin behind the wheel to chase the big trophy.” Bonsignore has driven the No. 7NY before - competing in an Open Modified event at Riverhead Raceway last year, scoring a top-10 finish - and is excited to have the opportunity to drive for Baldwin again. “Driving the No. 7NY in the Spring Sizzler at Stafford is an honor,” Bonsignore said. “Tommy has been such a major part of the Modified community for so many years and it’s great to have the chance to work with him and his team for this big race. There is going to be a lot of competition at the Sizzler and it should be fun to go out there and contend for the win.” The NAPA Spring Sizzler at Stafford Motor Speedway includes two, 40-lap NAPA Duel qualifying races on Saturday, April 27, both worth $3,500 to win. On Sunday, the 100-lap race pays $20,000 to win and $4,000 for second - part of a purse that extends over $125,000 for a 32-car field. For more information on the race, or to see the full schedule, visit StaffordMotorSpeedway.com. For the latest information on three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Justin Bonsignore, fans are encouraged to visit JustinBonsignore.com and follow his Athlete page on Facebook for updates. For more information on Tommy Baldwin Racing, visit TommyBaldwinRacing.com and follow the team on social media. ABOUT JUSTIN BONSIGNORE Justin Bonsignore, 36, is a three-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion driver for Ken Massa Motorsports. Bonsignore picked up his first championship in 2018, and followed it up with two more in 2020 and 2021. Over 17 years of competing on NASCAR’s oldest touring series, Bonsignore has amassed 41 career wins, along with over 115 top-fives. His 41 wins ranks him fourth all-time on the series win list, just one behind the late Ted Christopher for third. Bonsignore also has 30 career Tour pole awards - also fourth on the all-time list. In the last six years with crew chief Ryan Stone, Bonsignore has 29 of his 41 wins. |
