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01/02/2013 |
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STEFANIK SET
FOR UNOH BATTLE AT THE BEACH
Nine-Time NASCAR Champ
Ready For Daytona |
TA
large part of NASCAR history in his own right, Mike
Stefanik is set to participate in the historical and
inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach at Daytona
International Speedway, Feb. 18-19.
For the first time, NASCAR’s weekly and regional
touring series will have a prominent place during
Budweiser Speedweeks in Daytona, the “Worlds Center
of Racing.” As a nine-time touring series champion,
Stefanik had to be a part of it.
“At Daytona, whether you win on the road course, the
big track or the small track, the trophy will be
worth its weight in gold,” Stefanik said.
Stefanik knows a little something about trophies. He
shares the all-time record of nine NASCAR
championships with NASCAR Hall of Famer Richie
Evans. Stefanik won seven NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour championships as well as a pair of NASCAR K&N
Pro Series East titles.
Stefanik, from Coventry, R.I., has a locked-in
starting position for the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour feature in the UNOH Battle At The Beach by
virtue of his tour win during the 2012 season at New
Hampshire Motor Speedway. It was a record-extending
72nd career Whelen Modified Tour victory for
Stefanik. Drivers to win touring series races and
championships in 2012 are locked into their
respective features in Daytona; All others must
qualify through heat races.
Unlike the vast majority of touring and weekly
competitors that will head to Florida in February,
Stefanik has raced before at Daytona – the NASCAR
Nationwide Series event during Speedweeks in 1994.
That was on the big track, however, and the UNOH
Battle At The Beach will be contested on a.4-mile
oval on the track’s backstretch.
“I don’t really know that much about how the track
is going to race, I just know our car owner wants to
go,” Stefanik said. “It’s going to be good for our
team to get together and get a race in before things
really get going around here [New England], so
that’s always a bonus.”
Stefanik will head to Daytona with a slightly
different team dynamic than he had during the 2012
season in which he piloted the No. 66 that was a
joint effort between two different teams owned Ed
Marceau and Chris Our. For Daytona and the upcoming
Whelen Modified Tour season, Stefanik will compete
solely for Our in a No. 22 Modified and Brad
Lafontaine will remain the crew chief.
The Whelen Modified events will be just one facet of
the inaugural UNOH Battle At The Beach. The NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series Late Models will have
qualifying races and a 150-lap feature on Monday,
Feb. 18 while the action on Tuesday, Feb. 19 will
include a similar schedule of qualifying races and
150-lap races for both the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tours and NASCAR K&N Pro Series.
All three features are non-points events and will be
carried live on SPEED while supplemental event
coverage will be provided at
www.nascarhometracks.com.
For more information, please visit
www.daytonainternationalspeedway.com.
Grandstand and garage admission can be secured via
the website or by calling 1-888-PITSHOP. |
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Source: Jason Cunningham / NASCAR
Posted: January
2, 2013 |
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