Dover, DE (September 24, 2004): Mike Stefanik survived late-race contact to post a fourth place finish in the MBNA America 150 at Dover International Speedway Friday night. In a battle for third, Stefanik and Eddie Macdonald made contact, but the Coventry, RI-driver was able to gather up the Burnham Boilers Chevrolet for his fifth top-five of the season.

            “I can’t say enough about this crew. They work extremely hard each and every week, but even more so over the last 10 days,” Stefanik said. “Burnham Boilers had a hospitality event here today so it feels good to have given them a performance they could be proud of, and a car they could cheer on all night.”

            Stefanik’s weekend kicked off with a qualifying lap of 143.432 mph (25.099 seconds) on Thursday afternoon. The effort was worth a 12^th place starting position.

            In the early laps of the race, Stefanik set his sights on chasing down defending champion Andy Santerre. On lap 11, Stefanik attempted a pass on the lower groove, but had to back out of it. Stefanik seemed much stronger in the corners, but Santerre would pull away on the straights. After much determination and persistence, Stefanik was able to clear the 6 car on lap 21.

            Caution slowed the field at lap 26 with Stefanik lining up 11^th for the restart at lap 37. By lap 57, Stefanik was running ninth and patiently awaiting an opportunity to move closer to the front. That window came at lap 67 when the No. 17 got sideways in front of Stefanik allowing him to maneuver the Burnham Boilers Chevrolet underneath for the spot.

            Caution waved at lap 81 and set off a round of pit stops for tires and fuel. NASCAR rules only allowed teams to change two tires at a time forcing teams to pit twice for a full four-tire change. The swiftness on part of the crew gained Stefanik some position on-track, and the Burnham Boilers Chevy lined up fifth for the restart at lap 87.

            Stefanik maintained a fifth place position over the next several laps as caution flags plagued the event. The race length was extended to allow for a green-white-checkered finish, and the final restart waved at lap 158. Stefanik, having every confidence in the Burnham Boilers Chevrolet, challenged Paul Wolfe on the outside. The two ran side-by-side for a full circuit before Stefanik settled back into third.

            “He was running a little harder than I was willing to that late in the race,” Stefanik said. “I could have kept my foot in the throttle and risked wrecking the car. At those speeds, you sometimes just have to give up the position.”

            Stefanik was relegated to the fourth position on the final turn of the last lap when contact with Eddie MacDonald cost him the third position.

            Stefanik’s fourth place finish in the MBNA America 150 moved the team up to fifth place in the 2004 point standings with only one race remaining on the schedule. The series returns to action at Wall Stadium this Saturday night.