Mike Stefanik Wins Bud Pole Award At Holland -- Relegated To 17th Place Finish

Holland, NY (June 28, 2003): Mike Stefanik earned his first Bud Pole Award since May 2, 1998 when he set fast time with a lap of 14.687 seconds (91.918 mph) for the Sunoco/Burnham Boilers 150 at Holland International Speedway. The pole marked the eighth of his career and ties him with Tracy Gordon and Mike Olsen on the all-time Bud Pole Award winners list. The set-up, which was new for the Burnham Boilers Chevrolet, didn’t work out for the race and a loose racecar relegated the team to a 17^th place finish.

“We tried a new setup and we were backing up out there,” Stefanik said. “The team was pretty excited to get the pole and I wish we could have backed that up with a win, but it just didn’t work out that way this week. There’s always next week I guess.”

Stefanik jumped out front for the start of the race and led the first 28 laps before Kelly Moore drove by on the inside for the lead.

“I was getting loose and I was moving up on the racetrack,” Stefanik explained. “That gave Kelly enough room to be able to drive by on the bottom.”

Stefanik and the GRIZCO Racing crew collaborated on the radio and decided a pit stop was needed to make an adjustment.

“In hindsight, we probably should have just stayed out there,” Stefanik said. “The guys did a great job on the pitstop, but very few teams came in. That put us in the back and only made our night that much more challenging. I love a challenge, don’t get me wrong, but the car was just way too loose. The adjustment just wasn’t enough to allow me to move up through the field.”

Race sponsor and Stefanik’s primary sponsor Burnham Boilers hosted many distributors at the 3/8^th’s mile oval and the Coventry, RI-driver wanted to give them a car to cheer for. Stefanik kept on plugging and moved to 17^th before the checkers fell.

“Of course I wanted to give Burnham’s distributors a chance to go into Victory Lane with the driver of the Burnham Boilers car,” Stefanik said. “Sometimes that works out and sometimes it doesn’t. I hope that, despite our problems, they left there having had a good time and a lot of fun.”

Stefanik is currently sixth in the Busch North Series points as the teams shifts their focus to the July 12^th event at Thompson International Speedway.