Bonsignore wins Lighthouse Mission 200

For a second, one had to wonder if Justin Bonsignore might have been more at ease during the race than after. The 23-year-old was tugged in every which direction with requests (and a few demands) for photos and autographs from the gaggle of fans -- many of them giddy children.

"I enjoyed it," the Holtsville native said while standing on the Riverhead Raceway track. "Not too long ago, I was one of those kids . . . I was able to put smiles on some faces."

His own included. Bonsignore took first in Saturday night's Lighthouse Mission 200 -- part of NASCAR's Whelen Modified Tour -- finishing ahead of Todd Szegedy and Ron Silk to earn his first modified victory.

"I've won a lot of races in different forms, but this is my home track, and nothing compares to this," Bonsignore said. "Crossing that finish line was a huge relief."

Perhaps in part because the event has proven to be a survival match within a 175-lap race: 10 cautions and four red flags Saturday night. Pennsylvanian Rowan Pennink, the 2010 winner, failed to finish, as did East Islip's Howie Brode, who took the pole but wrecked in the 70th lap.

Lia's back

The thrill of competition -- that nonstop tension, the adrenaline surge that comes from weaving between vehicles while circling a racetrack at breakneck speeds. Selling cars just doesn't compare.

After a two-year absence, Donny Lia returned to Riverhead Raceway Saturday for the Lighthouse Mission 200. The comeback was short of triumphant, though, as the Jericho native crashed in the 58th lap. He had won the heat race to qualify.

"That's racing at Riverhead," said Lia, who won in 2007 and 2009. "A quarter-mile short track, wrecks happen real fast. But it could always be worse . . . It was nice to be back in a race car."

After the '09 victory, Lia left the modified tour for a short stint with the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2010 before retiring. Lia, 32, said the time off allowed him to "reevaluate what I wanted to do."

He slowed down. His wife, Nancy, gave birth to Domenick Jr. last year, and Lia got a 9-to-5 job as a general manager of New Rochelle Toyota.

But for a guy who grew up playing online racing simulator games and knows victory (real life and digital), the bug isn't easily shaken. Especially when there's a familiar track close to home, and when Wayne Anderson makes his No. 15 car available. "I wanted to come out and have fun, meet up with old friends," Lia said.

It's not a complete un-retirement, though. Lia has kept his day job but does plan to race "three or four more" times this year.

All in the family

With Riverhead brothers Kevin and Eric Goodale and their Islip cousins Shawn, Jerry Jr. and Timmy Solomito all on the tour, Saturdays at Riverhead become family night. Eric Goodale was the only relative to complete Saturday night's race, though, finishing 15th. Kevin Goodale wrecked in the second lap and Shawn, the only Solomito who competed, went out in the 146th.