Stefanik Posts Top-10 Finish At Thompson’s Bud 150

Flamingo Motorsports Looks Ahead To Martinsville

Thompson, CT (August 21, 2006): Whelen Modified Tour driver Mike Stefanik is anticipating the upcoming Made In America Whelen 300 at Martinsville Speedway on September 2nd more than ever. The team left Thompson International Speedway last week with a sixth place finish after leading 41 laps of the race and having a car capable of finishing in the top-three.

“I’ve been around this game for 30 years and pretty much have seen it all. The reality of having a tough night is the racing game and you have to get over it and move on,” Stefanik said. “Whatever lane we were in at Thompson seemed to be the wrong one. It turned what looked like was going to be a great day into a discouraging sixth place.”

Stefanik started the No. 16 Diversified Metals Chevrolet fourth in the 33-car field and took the lead from Tony Hirschman at lap 46. The eight-time NASCAR Champion commanded the field until opting to come in for a pit stop on lap 86.

“We led until we pitted, and we kind of got the car too tight after the pit stop,” Stefanik admitted.

But the handling wasn’t the only trouble Stefanik had to contend with. A big problem was being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“There were a couple of cars that restarted up front that ended up running about half the speed that the cars around them could. We lost several spots. We had another restart and got behind Kenny Bouchard and he just plain lost it in front of me and I had to come to a stop to avoid him. I lost at least seven or eight spots on that one so I think we were about to 15th at one point.”

Stefanik was able to work his way back up to sixth by the conclusion of the event, but the team had hoped for better.

“You just shake your head at what should have been,” he said. “We ran first and second in the first 80 laps of the race, and that was all that we wanted. We had a great pit stop and came out just behind Tony Hirschman who only put two tires on and we put three on. We were going to line up behind him with one extra fresher tire. The stage was set for a big night and it just turned into a disaster. Unfortunately, you have those nights.”

Instead of dwelling on it, Stefanik and the Flamingo Motorsports team have already shifted their focus to the Martinsville race, where the team will enter as the series point leader by 71 points over Ted Christopher.

“Going to Martinsville was always the highlight of the Modified Series back in the 80’s and 90’s. To go back there is like a walk back in time to a lot of good memories. The place has been pretty good to us over the years. Last year, we finished second to Teddy (Christopher) and I’m looking forward to having a good night again. Who knows, maybe it’ll be our week,” Stefanik said optimistically.