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05/19/2011 |
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MIKE STEFANIK
LOOKS TO GET BACK TO VICTORY LANE IN
TSI HARLEY-DAVIDSON 125 AT STAFFORD SPEEDWAY |
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 With
the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour heading back to
Stafford on May 27th for the 21st Annual TSI
Harley-Davidson 125, one driver who will be looking
to knock the door down to victory lane is Mike
Stefanik. Stefanik is the Tour’s all-time winningest
driver with 70 career victories, but he hasn’t won
on the Tour since Martinsville in 2009. Stefanik
heads into the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 with two
top-5 finishes in each of the first two races of the
2011 season, but he says his Diversified Metals team
are still searching for speed in his #16 machine.
“We’re struggling right now,” said Stefanik. “We’re
just not quite firing on all 8 cylinders right now.
It seems like our car is good on the shorter runs,
20 or 30 laps, but once we get to a run with 40 or
more laps, the car isn’t good. To win on the Tour,
you need to have all of your ducks in a row and
right now we need to get a couple of our ducks back
in that row. We’re working hard and we’ll get it
straightened out, we always do. The top-5’s are
nice, but we want to win races. It’s a short
schedule and if you want to win the championship,
you have to win races. Racing isn’t as easy as it
looks and right now we’re having a tough time
getting towards the front once we get into the
top-5.”
Perhaps the best remedy for Stefanik’s woes is a
return to Stafford. Of his 70 career victories, 20
of them have come at Stafford. While Stefanik hasn’t
won at Stafford since the 2008 Fall Final, his worst
finish in the four Stafford races in 2010 was a 7th
and he finished 5th in the CARQUEST Tech-Net Spring
Sizzler in April.
“We need to get back into victory lane, it’s been a
while since we won a race,” said Stefanik. “Stafford
is as good a track as any to win at, but like I
said, if the car isn’t handling, then you aren’t
going to win, no matter what track you’re racing at.
We’re working with Doug Chenard from Rowan Pennink’s
team and we’re coming with a new package for
Stafford, so we’ll see how that works out. We can be
fast in practice and fast in qualifying, but we need
to work on our race setup. Because no matter how
fast you are in practice or qualifying, you need to
have the car working for you in the race or you’re
going to go backwards.”
With the TSI Harley-Davidson 125 being 25 laps
shorter than the standard distance of 150 laps,
Stefanik says that pit strategy could play an
important role in determining the race winner.
“I think with this race you might see some different
pit strategies,” said Stefanik. “Some guys might pit
for tires and some guys might be able to stay out
for the whole 125 laps on one set of tires. With
these Hoosiers, if your car is right, you can stay
out on one set for a long time. But it all comes
down to the chassis, it has to be working for you. I
think that the new tires vs. old tires is not worth
as much as it used to be, so you may see the race
winner be able to go the whole way on one set of
tires.”
Tickets for the 21st Annual TSI Harley-Davidson 125
are on sale now at the Speedway Box Office and are
price at $30.00 for adult general admission tickets,
$5.00 for children ages 6-14, and children ages 5
and under are admitted free of charge when
accompanied by an adult. Reserved seating is priced
at $32.00 for all ages.
For more information, contact the Stafford Motor
Speedway track office at
860-684-2783 or visit us on the web at
www.staffordspeedway.com. |
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Source: Scott Running / Stafford Motor Speedway
Posted: May
19, 2011 |
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