Stefanik’s Early-Race Dominance

            Lakeville, CT (May 29, 2004): Mike Stefanik dominated the first 41 laps of the Busch North 200 at Lime Rock Park before damage to the radiator on the No. 55 Burnham Boilers Chevrolet forced him to be towed from the track at lap 70. Stefanik received the damage during a restart following a mid-race pit stop where several cars piled up heading into Big Bend.

            “I let them guys all bunch up on the bottom,” Stefanik explained. “I was in my own lane and nobody was ahead of me when all of a sudden the whole field was stopped ahead of me. I certainly can’t blame anybody but myself. I had such a good racecar and I guess you could say that I made a judgment error on that restart.”

            Stefanik started the Burnham Boilers Chevrolet on the outside front row after heavy rains and inclement weather forced NASCAR officials to cancel qualifying procedures and line the field up by 2003 points.

            When green flag action started, Stefanik raced Santerre into the tricky first turn and came out of Big Bend the first leader of the day. The extra hours that the Burnham Boilers crew spent working on their machine paid off with Stefanik pulling away by a commanding lead.

            “We had a really fast car. We knew we had a good driving car. I just felt so confident in our car and in our program that we decided to stay out there. We had a fast car and we wanted to use it,” Stefanik said.

            Other teams began to pit under green flag conditions at lat 12. By the time the halfway mark came out, most teams had come in for fuel – a necessity in a 200-kilometer race. Stefanik gave up the lead at lap 42.

            “Looking back at it now of course you can find reasons why we should have come in, but when you’re out there and running so well it’s hard to give it up,” Stefanik said. “It felt good to have clear track in front of me, and see the rest of the field get smaller and smaller in my rear view mirror.”

            Stefanik re-entered the race at the tail of the field and had his work cut out for him. Stefanik was up to the challenge, however, and clearly having one of the fastest cars on the track gave him the extra confidence needed to come back up through the field. Stefanik made it up to the 11^th position before his problems started.

            “I ran into the back of the 40 car and punctured the radiator,” Stefanik explained. “I lost water from the radiator, overheated the motor, and had to shut it off. I knew I wouldn’t get back around with the engine going completely so I shut it off to prevent laying any fluid on the surface of the track.”

            Stefanik’s Burnham Boilers Chevrolet slowed dramatically through the esses on lap 70 before a caution waved. Track officials sent a tow truck out and Stefanik’s car was brought to his pit stall. His once dominating day had come to an end.

            Despite the 27^th place finish, Stefanik holds a seventh place position in the 2004 point standings after three races