Stefanik Brings Home Top-Five Finish for Burnham Boilers and Maintains Runner-Up Status in Point Standings

Loudon, NH (September 14, 2003): Mike Stefanik soared from a 21^st place starting position to post a fifth place finish in the New Hampshire 125 at New Hampshire International Speedway this weekend. The finish marked Stefanik’s sixth top-five of the season, and 173 points behind current point leader Andy Santerre.

“It’s not a bad day for us,” Stefanik reflected. “We expected the clouds to stay over, but the sun came out and the car got a little tight. We had a good run, and finished top-five. It was nice to be competitive, battle a bunch of cars, and get in a few side-by-side battles. That’s what you come racing for – for those battles. It was a lot of fun.”

Stefanik’s weekend didn’t kick off as well as the Burnham Boiler driver had hoped for. The 75 car blew a rear-end during his qualifying run and laid fluid all over the track. Safety crews cleaned it up, and officials sent Stefanik out onto the track. The track conditions weren’t optimal, and the effort reflected that. His speed of 118.610 mph (32.112 seconds) earned him a 21^st starting position.

“There was speedy dry all over the track,” Stefanik explained. “You couldn’t just get into the throttle and run your line. You had to make sure you didn’t hit that stuff. We did the best we could with what we had to work with, and that’s all you can do.”

The green flag dropped in front of an estimated crowd of 36,000 people – many of which were Burnham Boilers distributors on hand that day for the hospitality event. Stefanik certainly gave them a car to cheer for as he gained nearly ten positions in the first two circuits.

Caution came out at lap 38 allowing for lead lap cars to pit. The pace of the Burnham Boilers crew allowed for Stefanik to re-enter the race in the sixth position.

“These guys don’t get to practice every day like you see in the Winston Cup Series,” Stefanik said. “But they take it just as seriously. They did a great job out there. It was their time to shine and they came through glowing!”

Stefanik maintained his sixth place standing for most of the remainder of the race. In the closing laps, Stefanik battled with the 74 car of Ryan Moore – keeping fans of the edge of their seat. Stefanik cleared the position before the checkers dropped, and a fifth place finish to take away from the weekend.

“The points are still very tight. Certainly, Andy distanced himself from everybody. Barring any bad luck on Andy’s part, he’ll win this championship, but we can go from second to eighth in one race and we know that. We have to keep fighting for every single point. We’re going to Dover with a little bit of moral, and hopefully we can grab our first win.”