Being Chief Steward for Trinca Memorial Race is More than a Job for Justin Bonsignore
This coming Saturday, October 26th, the 3rd Annual Jason Trinca Memorial go-kart race will be held at Riverhead Raceway. The 48-lap Senior Champ Kart feature will be in memory of seven-year-old EEKR racer Jason Trinca and his mother, Keri who both perished in a tragic car accident on Oct. 8th 2011.
Jason won the 2010 championship in the Kid Champ Kart division at Riverhead. He raced in multiple go-kart divisions at Riverhead including Champ Kart and Open Kart. Many drivers in karting as well as in the Saturday night NASCAR divisions knew Jason and were friendly with his family. NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour driver Justin Bonsignore was as close to them as anybody.
“I knew them well,” said Bonsignore. “Jason raced with the club (East End Kart Racing). He was a really good kid and she was a great person. This is just something to keep their memory going.”
Bonsignore recalled that he wasn’t on Long Island when he got the phone call about the accident.
“A friend of mine called me up and broke the news. It was an absolute shock,” he said. “I was in Connecticut so I hopped on a boat and went to the hospital to be there for them.”
For the past two memorial races Bonsignore participated in the event. But this year he’s decided to organize it rather than race in it. With the help of Linda Solomito and Dave Brigati they have gotten sponsors for the event, and they’ve set the rules package.
“This year I decided to help the club out and be the chief official,” said Bonsignore. “I’m just going to do something different this year in helping out and not driving.”
Bonsignore is thrilled with how much support the event has received the last two years.
“It’s taken off well,” he said. “The first year we did the race within a month of his passing. It was a big event and we had a lot of competitors. Last year was an even bigger event. There were a lot of people there to check it out.”
The main event this year for the Senior Champ Kart division will be run in three segments. The first two segments will be 15 laps each. The final segment will be 18 laps. In total the race is 48 laps, which is another tribute to Jason whose number was 48 when he raced. Shawn Solomito won the race in 2011. Chris Daley won last year’s event.
There will be three races run on the day, concluding with the 48-lap memorial Senior Champ Kart event. “It should be a great day of go-kart racing,” said Bonsignore.
“The senior champ division is like watching at Sprint Cup Series race at Daytona with drafting and big packs,” he said. “It’s fun. It’s a good day and it’s great to help the family out.”
Source: Rob Blount/LongIslandJam