Familiar Territory: Stefanik Eyes History-Making Whelen Modified Tour Title
Less than two weeks ago, after a wild race day at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Mike Stefanik sat in the infield media center of the sprawling facility and tried to downplay his championship hopes.
To paraphrase, informed of just a single-digit deficit to series leader Bobby Santos, Stefanik shrugged his shoulders and said all he really wanted was to win races.
But fast-forward to the eve of CARQUEST Fall Final weekend at Stafford (Conn.) Motor Speedway, and there is energy buzzing about the 52-year-old veteran.
“I’m excited,” said Stefanik, of Coventry, R.I. “I’m excited about being excited, about having the chance to win another championship. I haven’t been able to be that way in a couple of years.”
With two races remaining in the season, Stefanik is just seven points behind Santos — and as close as he’s been all season to winning a 10th career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship. He’s tied with the legendary Richie Evans with nine titles apiece, but his 70 career Tour victories are the most in series history, and the most in NASCAR history by a non-Sprint Cup Series driver.
He’s closed on leaders Santos and Ted Christopher at a rate that would make Secretariat proud.
“We did get a little cooperation as far as some of the guys ahead of us having some bad luck,” Stefanik said. “They didn’t finish off a couple of races, and that’s obviously helped.
“But we’ve also been bringing faster race cars to the race track. We’ve been unloading faster race cars. They’ve always been dependable, and we’ve run better at Bristol and Stafford and some other tracks.”
After finishing 11th at Monadnock Speedway in mid-July, Stefanik said his No. 16 Diversified Metals team owned by Eric Sanderson put its collective head together and mapped out a plan for the second half of the season. They talked about making the next six races on the schedule count — and Sanderson and crew chief Stan Szaban got to work.
The results have been impressive. While Santos and Christopher rolled out to three wins apiece through the first 12 races, Stefanik began chipping away. He finished fourth next time out at Riverhead Raceway and hasn’t finished outside the top-5 since.
He finished second to Cup Series invader Ryan Newman at Bristol Motor Speedway and third at New Hampshire.
“Personally, I’m just happy to be back in it,” said Stefanik, whose career might best be known to non-Modified enthusiasts for having won back-to-back titles in both the Whelen Modified Tour and K&N Pro Series East simultaneously during the 1997-1998 seasons.
After three straight finishes of seventh in the final Whelen Modified Tour standings heading into 2010, Stefanik drew a comparison to Sprint Cup Series drivers who aren’t eligible for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
“It’s no fun not being in the Chase,” he said. “That’s kind of how I felt before. It’s not fun being in that spot. But I’m happy to have this excitement in my life. It’s excitement for our whole team. We’re going to Stafford trying to win this race.”
When the series last stopped at Stafford in August — a track where he’s won an incredible 20 times over his career — Stefanik finished second.
After his podium run at New Hampshire, and while seated in that media center, Stefanik talked openly about putting a possible 10th championship in perspective. He raised eyebrows when he said a championship without a trip to Victory Lane would feel “hollow.”
But Stefanik expanded on those feelings as race weekend at Stafford inched closer.
“I wouldn’t give it back, that’s for sure, and I wouldn’t need professional psychological help to get over it,” he said of winning the 2010 title without winning a race. “I wouldn’t end up in a mental institution, I know that.”
Stefanik took a big picture view of the series and how it crowns a champion.
“I don’t make the rules. I don’t set up the points. It’s all about consistency,” said Stefanik, whose last win came at Martinsville Speedway last September. “I’d rather go out winless and win the championship then go out winless and not win the championship.
“It’s a short season with only 14 races. Ryan Newman’s won three of them, and (Dale) Quarterley won one, too — that’s four races out of 12 to ‘outsiders.’ There are only so many left for the rest of us.”
But he’s hardly conceded the fight. As his team has performed better, he said a win either at Stafford this weekend or in the season finale at Thompson International Speedway in two weeks would be a “relief” for the team.
And it would also add to the career win and possibly championship totals that already have Stefanik named as one of the 10 greatest Modified drivers in NASCAR history. And he might end up someday being remembered as the greatest.
“I never really got into the sport for that purpose,” Stefanik said of leaving a lasting legacy behind. “I don’t suppose anybody did. All you really hope to get out of this is respect from your peers. You want the guys you race with to say, ‘He was a good racer, he drove hard, he won races.’ When I’m done, those are the things that are going to mean the most to me.
“I’m not looking for a ranking. I don’t care about that. I’ve enjoyed 34 years of racing — I don’t know how many more I have left. I know I’ll do it again next year, and every year now is a bonus. I’m having fun, and I still get excited about going racing.”
So excited that he’s also competing in indoor midget races in the winter, the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Super Late Model division at Thompson weekly and some selected Modified Racing Series events.
Even after more than three decades in the sport, Stefanik remains energized. And a championship battle has energized him even more.
“We’re going to Stafford with guns a’ blazing,” Stefanik said. “We’re definitely not going there to ride around. We’re not the point leader. We’ve never been the leader all year. We’re still behind, and I’m sure (Santos) doesn’t have a big enough lead to feel like he just has to protect it.
“We’re in the same mode as everybody else. We’ve got to go there to try and run up front, lead some laps and win it.”
Sources: Travis Barrett, Special To NASCARHomeTracks.com