Stefanik Pulls Off Podium Finish At Stafford

Stafford Springs, CT — Mike Stefanik used pit strategy to put himself in position for a third place finish in Saturday night’s Whelen Modified Tour New England Dodge Dealers 150 at Stafford Motor Speedway. The seven-time champion pitted earlier than a majority of the field and put himself out front of the field and in contention despite having handling problems with the #16 Diversified Metals Pontiac.

“We were really happy with the car in practice, but it didn’t drive quite as good as it did in the race. We had to come up with something to put us up front,” said Stefanik of his strategy. “We got the lead, but we weren’t quite strong enough to stay there. We were pretty fortunate to get third.”

The team’s practice results didn’t transpire into a strong qualifying effort. Instead, their speeds dropped off and Flamingo Motorsports had to settle with a 21^st place starting position.

“This is a new car,” explained Stefanik. “We were pretty happy with it when we tested, but we needed to go racing with it to see where we stood. You never really know what you got until you put it under race conditions. The shocks and package that we ran Riverhead with didn’t work here. We made adjustments and our times were excellent in practice. It just didn’t work out for us at Stafford.”

Stefanik credited his podium finish to the hard work of the Flamingo Motorsports crew saying, “These guys just kept plugging, and never gave up. When they realized that adjustments weren’t going to help us, they came up with the early pit strategy. The guys in the pits and the calls they made were what made the difference tonight.”

Stefanik is up to eighth in the Whelen Modified Tour point standings with his third place finish at Stafford. Only 46 points separate the 4^th-8^th place teams, and Stefanik is hoping to get the edge on any one of those drivers at Thompson International Speedway this weekend.

“We’re coming off a strong finish at Stafford, but we want it better. We’re looking for our first win this season and I’m hoping that Thompson is the place to do it,” Stefanik said. “This car should be the better of our two cars so hopefully it will be Thursday night.”

Sources: Penny Aicardi/Mike Stefanik PR

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