Mike Stefanik: ACT Late Model Tour
New Hampshire Motor Speedway Race Preview
THE STORY
Mike Stefanik of Coventry, R.I., joins RPM Motorsports to make his ACT Late Model Tour debut at the ACT All-Star Challenge at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, N.H., on Friday and Saturday, August 12-13. The race will be run in two segments on Saturday, one 25-lap segment and one 50-lap segment. One of only two drivers in history to win nine NASCAR championships, Stefanik has never competed in an ACT-legal Late Model. The veteran and seven-time NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion has eight career wins at New Hampshire – including six in a Modified and two more in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East car.
THE FACTS
WHO: Mike Stefanik, Coventry, R.I.
TEAM: RPM Motorsports No. 57 RPM Racing Engines Ford
CREW CHIEF: Andrew Hill, Georgia, Vt.
BEST CAREER NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY FINISH: N/A
LAST RACE AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY: N/A
WHAT: ACT Late Model Tour All-Star Challenge
WHERE: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (1.058-mile oval)
WHEN: Qualifying – 10:25 a.m., Friday, August 12; Race – Segment 1: 10:30 a.m., Saturday, August 13; Race – Segment 2: 6:15 p.m., Saturday, August 13
ACT LATE MODEL TOUR
LAST RACE: July 30, Casco Bay Ford 150, Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, Scarborough, Maine (—)
NEXT RACE: August 20, ACT 150, Oxford Plains Speedway, Oxford, Maine (.375-mile oval)
DID YOU KNOW?
Mike Stefanik has 70 career NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour race wins.
Mike Stefanik joined Lee Petty as one of only two drivers in NASCAR history to win two NASCAR touring series championships in back-to-back years, winning both the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour titles in 1997 and 1998.
RPM Motorsports has won seven ACT Late Model Tour championships, and the team’s full-time driver – Brian Hoar – has more wins than anybody in ACT history with 31.
The last time Mike Stefanik competed in a Late Model with 8-inch tires was at Stafford Motor Speedway in 1979.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
MIKE STEFANIK, Driver of the No. 57 RPM Racing Engines Ford, On making his ACT Late Model Tour debut at New Hampshire: “The whole newness of it is what’s exciting for me. I really don’t know what to expect. I’ve been told that I’ve got a really good car, and it usually comes down to the car. As long as I’m smart with it, I should be OK. It will be on-the-job training.
“I only know what I’ve been told from Brian (Hoar). Basically, it’s an awful big track for a lot of those competitors. There’s some regulars that have certainly raced there a lot. There are probably some haves and some have-nots – the haves have a lot of seat time, they’re comfortable there and they know where to put the car to get it to go to the front. The have-nots are probably going to be a little timid and hugging bottom of track a little more than they should.”
On his goals for this weekend: “I don’t really know what to expect. The difficult part for me is that I dont’ know anybody. I don’t know the cars or who is in them, so that will be a little bit of learning as I go to see who I can race around and who I can trust. I’m just going to have some fun with it and see what I can do.”
RICK PAYA, Owner of RPM Motorsports, On having Stefanik in the No. 37 RPM Racing Engines Ford at New Hampshire: “To have that kind of caliber of driver in one of my cars is pretty cool. It’s cool for the series, and it really shows how far our series has come. The Stefaniks, Hoars, (Eddie) MacDonalds and (Brad) Leightons – it’s cool to have five for six of those guys in our series. It’s really a neat thing.”
On Stefanik’s debut in an ACT Late Model: “I know he can get the job done. He’s successful in anything he gets into. Is he going to go through a learning curve? For sure. These cars are different from anything he’s ever driven, but I think he’ll adapt pretty quickly.”
UP NEXT
The ACT Late Model Tour heads back to Oxford Plains Speedway in Oxford, Maine, for the ACT 150 on Saturday, August 20… RPM Motorsports driver Brian Hoar finished second at Oxford the last time ACT competed at Oxford this summer, and he posted a Top-5 finish in the TD Bank Oxford 250.