The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour returns to Virginia’s Langley Speedway for the CheckeredFlag.com 150 this Saturday night. With just seven races left on the 2023 calendar for the ground-pounders, the championship picture is starting to come into focus, and boy is it going to be a heavy-weight fight to the finish in October.

In one corner of the ring, driving the No. 16 for Haydt Yannone Racing prepared by champion crew chief Phil Moran and hailing from Norwalk, Connecticut, it’s the 2011 champion and current points leader, Ron Silk.

And in the other corner, driving the No. 51 for Ken Massa Motorsports prepared by champion crew chief Ryan Stone and hailing from Holtsville, New York, it’s the three-time champion, Justin Bonsignore.

The two veteran drivers have combined to win more than half of the 11 races run so far this season entering Saturday’s race at Langley, with each driver having scored three victories. When you take a bit deeper of a look you see that the two drivers have nearly identical statlines.

In addition to the three wins each, both drivers have 10 top five finishes and 11 top 10 finishes in 11 starts. The biggest difference is Bonsignore’s four pole positions to Silk’s none. Currently, Silk has an average start of 5.8 and an average finish of 2.8 to Bonsignore’s average start of 3.9 and average finish of 3.2. Silk has also led 396 laps to Bonsignore’s 176 laps led.

So, what does that all add up to? Well, it adds up to a slim two-point margin from Silk to Bonsignore as they head south to Hampton, Virginia’s abrasive and hot 0.395-mile oval for Saturday’s 150-lap showdown. 

Both Silk and Bonsignore have been strong at Langley in the past, though neither driver has visited victory lane there yet. In three prior trips to Langley, only Timmy Solomito, Ryan Preece, and Doug Coby have won races at Langley. But, both Silk and Bonsignore have scored runner-up finishes at Langley in the past, including last year’s race for Silk.

Saturday’s CheckeredFlag.com 150 for the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will be streamed live on FloRacing as part of a FloRacing subscription. Race fans can subscribe to FloRacing by clicking here.