8/13/2007
STEFANIK PULLS OFF PODIUM FINISH AT STAFFORD
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 21st 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 4th-8th 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.”
Source: Penny
Aicardi/Flamingo Motorsports PR
Posted:
August 13, 2007 |