Tommy Baldwin Racing wins owner championship, Austin Beers named Sunoco Rookie of the Year
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (Oct. 27, 2022) – In a battle that came down to the final race – and final laps – of the season at Martinsville Speedway, Jon McKennedy came out on top to win his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship while NASCAR Cup Series regular Corey LaJoie won the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200.
A quartet of drivers – McKennedy, Ron Silk, defending series champion Justin Bonsignore, and Eric Goodale – were within 13 points of each other heading into the season finale.
The first shoe fell for a contender when Silk’s championship hopes took a hit shortly after being lapped by leader LaJoie. He then spun at the exit of Turn 2 to bring out the caution on Lap 130. Several leaders pitted during the caution, bringing McKennedy to the lead as Bonsignore restarted in third behind him on the inside row.
McKennedy and Bonsignore quickly jumped out ahead of the field, but a caution on Lap 147 allowed Silk to get back on the lead lap while Bonsignore was forced to pit with mechanical issues that ended his race, knocking him out of championship contention.
A late caution put McKennedy and Jimmy Blewett on the front row with LaJoie, who had the strongest car all night, right behind them. On the restart with eight laps to go, all three came together going into Turn 3, with McKennedy and Blewett getting the worst of it and LaJoie regaining the lead.
Despite damage from that crash, McKennedy was able to recover to finish 12th on the final restart with two laps to go, and prevailed over Silk, who finished 11th, by six points for the title. Goodale finished seventh in the race and third in the standings, while Bonsignore’s troubles relegated him to a 29th-place finish and fourth on the season.
McKennedy thought his shot at a championship was over after the late wreck.
“We came so close to winning one of the biggest races of the year, got wrecked, I thought it was over at that point,” McKennedy said after the race. “But luckily, we were able to still come through and win the championship. It’s just unbelievable, it’s an amazing feeling to be a NASCAR Modified Tour champion.”
McKennedy had one win on the season at Claremont Speedway (New Hampshire), but proved consistency over the course of the season wins championships. He ended the year with seven top-five and 13 top-10 results in the 16 races.
LaJoie held onto the lead on the final restart to win his first NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race and the famed Martinsville grandfather clock, leading 110 laps.
The 2022 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour owner’s championship went to the No. 7 Tommy Baldwin Racing modified that was driven by a trio of drivers this season – Blewett, Doug Coby, and Mike Christopher Jr. They started off strong and never let off the gas after winning back-to-back races at Riverhead Raceway (Long Island, New York) and Lee USA Speedway (New Hampshire) in May with Coby piloting the car. The team then won a third in a row to finish the month as Christopher became the third different driver to win for the team as he crossed the line first at Jennerstown Speedway (Pennsylvania).
Blewett (Wall Stadium – New Jersey) and Coby (Langley Speedway – Hampton, Virginia) would go on to bring the team’s win total to five of the season’s 16 races. The team also recorded nine top-five and 14 top-10 finishes on the season.
Austin Beers was crowned the Sunoco Rookie of the Year. The driver of the No. 64 had one top five (a third-place finish at Langley) and seven top 10s over the 16 races.
The remainder of the weekend at Martinsville Speedway will set the Championship 4 field for the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Cup Series title battles the following week at Phoenix Raceway. As part of its 75th Anniversary season, Martinsville Speedway will host NASCAR Xfinity Series Playoff practice and qualifying on Friday, Oct. 28 at 4:00 p.m., penultimate races of the Xfinity Series Playoffs in the Dead On Tools 250 on Saturday, Oct. 29 at 3:00 p.m. and the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs in the Xfinity 500 on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 2:00 p.m.
About NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is the sanctioning body for the No. 1 form of motorsports in the United States and owner of 16 of the nation’s major motorsports entertainment facilities. NASCAR consists of three national series (NASCAR Cup Series™, NASCAR Xfinity Series™, and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series™), four regional series (ARCA Menards Series™, ARCA Menards Series East & West and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour™), one local grassroots series (NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series™) and three international series (NASCAR Pinty’s Series™, NASCAR Mexico Series™, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series™). The International Motor Sports Association™ (IMSA®) governs the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship™, the premier U.S. sports car series. NASCAR also owns Motor Racing Network, Racing Electronics, and ONE DAYTONA. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, with offices in eight cities across North America, NASCAR sanctions more than 1,200 races in more than 30 U.S. states, Canada, Mexico and Europe. For more information visit www.NASCAR.com and www.IMSA.com, and follow NASCAR on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat (‘NASCAR’).
Pos No. Name Sponsor Laps Diff
1 53 Corey LaJoie Curb Records 200
2 60 Matt Hirschman PeeDee Motorsports 200 0.601
3 39 Ryan Newman Pacematic/PSR Products 200 0.861
4 44 Bobby Santos III Harshaw Paving/Olivas Market 200 1.401
5 92 Anthony Nocella Nocella Paving/K&D Associates/Airgas 200 1.741
6 24 Andrew Krause Supreme Mfg. Co. 200 1.776
7 58 Eric Goodale GAF Roofing 200 1.893
8 64 Austin Beers* Dell Electric/Lumiere Electrical 200 2.237
9 54 Tommy Catalano FX Caprara 200 2.672
10 34 J.B. Fortin Red Camel Racing/Johns Fuel/John Tree Removal 200 3.003
11 16 Ron Silk Blue Mountain Machine and Future Homes 200 3.178
12 79 Jon McKennedy Middlesex Interiors 200 3.408
13 99 Jamie Tomaino Dunleavy’s 200 3.722
14 20 Ed McCarthy* McCarthy Marine Sales 200 3.748
15 02 Joey Coulter IV SRI Performance/Air Shok/Race-Run/Molecule 200 3.796
16 22 Kyle Bonsignore Chalew Performance/MTT/Munn’s Auto 200 5.159
17 7 Jimmy Blewett John Blewett, Inc. 200 11.265
18 2 Chuck Hossfeld Gershow Recycling 199 1 Lap
19 50 Ronnie Williams Empower Financial Services/RB Enterprises 199 1 Lap
20 36 Dave Sapienza Sapienza Enterprises 199 1 Lap
21 29 Spencer Davis Max Industrial 199 1 Lap
22 32 Tyler Rypkema Northeast Drilling/MUSCO 199 1 Lap
23 82 Craig Lutz Horton Avenue Materials 198 2 Laps
24 55 Jeremy Gerstner Jerry Hunt SuperCenter/GMR Complete Lawn Care 194 6 Laps
25 26 Gary McDonald Lakeland Landscape Supply 194 6 Laps
26 77 Max McLaughlin CURB Records 190 10 Laps
27 18 Ken Heagy Buoy One Seafood Market & Restaurant 178 22 Laps
28 01 Melissa Fifield Pine Knoll Auto Sales 175 25 Laps
29 51 Justin Bonsignore Phoenix Communication Inc. 153 47 Laps
30 10 Doug Coby Mayhew Tools 147 53 Laps
31 3 Ryan Preece Propane Plus/ACG/Island International 111 89 Laps
32 97 Bryan Dauzat Brother in Law Motorsports 82 118 Laps
33 17 Bobby Labonte Pace-O-Matic 63 137 Laps
34 07 Patrick Emerling Captain Pip Marina & Hideaway 55 145 Laps
35 78 Walter Sutcliffe, Jr. Last Minute Racing 3 197 Laps
