As the country prepares to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice this Memorial Day weekend, the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour travels to Jennerstown Speedway for the Jennerstown Salutes 150 this Saturday night.

Saturday’s race at the 0.522-mile asphalt oval will be the 18th NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race in the history of the track, which will honor fallen service men and women who gave their lives in defense of the United States.

Each driver competing in the Jennerstown Salutes 150 will carry the name of a fallen service member on his or her car as a way to honor and remember them during Memorial Day weekend.

The Jennerstown Salutes 150 is also the second race of four on the Tour schedule this season that will be promoted by JDV Productions.

The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour has competed at Jennerstown Speedway 17 times, with the first visit to the track coming in 1987. That event was won by Jan Leaty, with additional races in the years that followed being won by drivers like Reggie Ruggiero, Tony Hirschman, Mike Stefanik, Steve Park and Ted Christopher.

Christopher’s victory in 2006 was followed by a long hiatus for the Tour at Jennerstown. The track was closed for several seasons and went through a few ownership changes before the Tour returned in 2020, with Justin Bonsignore earning a trip to Victory Lane.

In the three races at Jennerstown since the Tour returned in 2020, Bonsignore has earned a pair of victories. Craig Lutz scored one of his three Tour victories at the track, as well.

Bonsignore and Lutz are among the those expected to compete Saturday night along with a strong contingent of Modified drivers who will be looking to take home the winner’s check.

Jennerstown Salutes 150 at Jennerstown Speedway

What to watch for:

Bonsignore is in need of a strong run, and there is no better place for him to get it than Jennerstown Speedway.

Bonsignore has won two of the last three races held at the Pennsylvania oval, including the inaugural running of the Jennerstown Salutes 150 last season. He dominated that race, leading all but 14 of the 150 laps contested as he marched toward his third NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship.

In his three races at Jennerstown in the last two years, Bonsignore has led 379 laps. No other driver has led more than 39.

If Bonsignore is to find his way back to Victory Lane, he’ll have to go through a number of strong competitors. They include Tour points leader Ron Silk, who is one of only two drivers to earn top-10 finishes in each of the first four races held so far this year.

The other driver to accomplish that is Eric Goodale, who sits second in the standings. Silk and Goodale are both looking for their first Tour victories of the season.

After making his return to the Tour following a multi-year hiatus at Richmond Raceway in April, Donny Lia is set for his second race of the season in the Ole Blue No. 3 fielded by Boehler Racing Enterprises.

Mike Christopher Jr. is scheduled to take the wheel of Tommy Baldwin Jr.’s No. 7NY Modified, the same car Doug Coby used to win the last two races on the schedule at New York’s Riverhead Raceway and New Hampshire’s Lee USA Speedway.

Max McLaughlin is also back for his second start of the season after earning a 12th-place finish at Richmond. Other returnees include Spencer Davis, Tyler Rypkema and Kyle Ebersole. Patrick Emerling, who sat out the race at Lee USA Speedway to compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, is also back in action.

Craig Lutz, who holds a victory at Jennerstown in 2020, is among the Tour regulars who will be competing Saturday night. Additional Tour regulars expected to participate include Lee USA Speedway runner-up Jon McKennedy, Kyle Bonsignore, Tommy Catalano and J.B. Fortin, among others.

The complete entry list for the Jennerstown Salutes 150 will be available later this week.

RACE FACTS

Schedule: Garage opens at 12 p.m. ET … Final practice from 2:30-3:30 p.m. ET … Single-car qualifying (two laps) at 4:45 p.m. ET … Race at 8 p.m. ET

Qualifying: Two consecutive qualifying laps. Faster lap determines qualifying position. Adjustments or repairs may not be made on the vehicle after the vehicle has taken the green flag at the start/finish line. NASCAR reserves the right to have more than one vehicle engage in qualifying runs at the same time. Starting field for the Jennerstown Salutes 150 is limited to 24 starters including Provisional Positions. Vehicles will be impounded after qualifying. Vehicle must qualify on race setup.

Tire allotment: The maximum tire allotment available for this event is 11 tires per team. All tires used for qualifying and the race must be purchased at the track and scanned by Hoosier, unless otherwise approved in advance by the Series Director. Four (4) tires must be used for qualifying and to begin the race. All qualifying tires must remain in impound until released by NASCAR Officials. The remaining tire allotment may be used for practice and/or change tires during the event. The tire change rule is four (4) tires, any position.