Mike Stefanik
Mike Stefanik | |||||||
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Born |
Wilbraham, Massachusetts, U.S. | May 20, 1958||||||
Achievements |
1989 Winston Modified Tour Champion 1991 Winston Modified Tour Champion 1997 Featherlite Modified Series Champion 1998 Featherlite Modified Series Champion 2001 Featherlite Modified Series Champion 2002 Featherlite Modified Series Champion 2006 Whelen Modified Tour Champion 1997 Busch North Series Champion 1998 Busch North Series Champion | ||||||
Awards |
1999 Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year 1997, 1998, 2001 Featherlite Modified Series Most Popular Driver 1995, 1997, 1998, 2004 Busch North Series Most Popular Driver Named one of the "NASCAR Modified All-Time Top 10 Drivers" (2003) | ||||||
NASCAR Xfinity Series career | |||||||
26 races run over 9 years | |||||||
Best finish | 56th (2000) | ||||||
First race | 1992 Budweiser 300 (Loudon) | ||||||
Last race | 2000 Miami 300 (Homestead) | ||||||
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NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
26 races run over 2 years | |||||||
Best finish | 13th (1999) | ||||||
First race | 1998 Sam's Town 250 (Las Vegas) | ||||||
Last race | 1999 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Fontana) | ||||||
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Statistics current as of March 25, 2013. |
Michael Stefanik (born May 20, 1958) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently races in the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour. A seven-time champion in the series, Stefanik was named the second greatest NASCAR Modified driver of all-time in 2003.[1] His seven series championships are tied with Jerry Cook for second all-time, trailing only Richie Evans.
Racing career
From 1989 to 1998, Stefanik won four championships in the Modified Tour, and was also an accomplished Busch North driver, winning the 1997 and 1998 titles. In doing so, he became the first driver to win two NASCAR championships in consecutive years; Lee Petty is the only other person to have won two championships in one year. Following those seasons, Stefanik moved up to the Craftsman Truck Series, racing for Dale Phelon and finishing in the top ten nine times during 1999, achieving Rookie of the Year honors. After that, though, Phelon's team left the series, and Stefanik moved back to the Modified and Busch North tours in 2001. He won three more Modified titles in 2001, 2002 and 2006.
In 2006, Stefanik tied the late Evans with nine overall championships in NASCAR-sanctioned competitions including the unique situation in 1997 and 1998 when he won both the Modified and Busch North Series championships in the same year.
Stefanik was nominated for the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015 and 2016.[2][3]
"Just Bullshit"
In 2013, Stefanik competed in the inaugural UNOH Battle at the Beach at Daytona International Speedway. On the final lap, he was leading until he was turned by Steve Park; he finished 13th in the race. Afterwards, when Speed reporter Ray Dunlap arrived to interview him, Stefanik angrily stated he is "that freaking pissed. This is just bullshit." The interview was subsequently aired on The Jay Leno Show.[2]
Awards
- 1999 Riverside Park Hall of Fame inductee
- 1998 Northeast Motorsports Expo Touring Series Driver of the Year
- Two-time Trackside Magazine Driver of the Year (1997–98)
- 1998 NASCAR WMT Bud Pole Award champion
- 10 NASCAR BES wins (19991-98) (9th all-time)
- 1997 NEMPA Northeastern Driver of the Year
- 1997 Motorsports Media of Maine & New Hampshire Touring Series Driver of the Year
- 1997 TNN Short Track Racer of the Year
- 1997 AARWBA Auto Racing All American Team, Second Team
- 1997 NASCAR WMT Gatorade Half-way champion
- 1997 NASCAR BES Gatorade Half-way champion
- 1997 NASCAR BES Busch Pole Award champion
- 1995 Speedway Scene Racer of the Year
- 13 Riverside Park Modified wins (1980-1995) (tied for 23rd all-time w/ S.J. Evonsion) (9 winning seasons)
- 1990 Pocono Race of Champions winner
- 1987 Riverside Park Modified champion
- 1986 Stafford Modified champion
- 1982 Riverside Park Pro Stock champion
- 1980 Stafford Modified Rookie of the Year
- 1979 Stafford Limited Sportsman Most Popular Driver
- 1979 Stafford Limited Sportsman champion
- 1979 Stafford Limited Sportsman champion
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Busch Series
Craftsman Truck Series
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | NCTC | Pts | ||||||||||||
1998 | Phelon Motorsports | 66 | Ford | WDW | HOM | PHO | POR | EVG | I70 | GLN | TEX | BRI | MLW | NZH | CAL | PPR | IRP | NHA | FLM | NSV | HPT | LVL | RCH | MEM | GTY | MAR | SON | MMR | PHO | LVS 8 |
49th | 142 | ||||||||||||
1999 | HOM 2 |
PHO 13 |
EVG 24 |
MMR 14 |
MAR 12 |
MEM 11 |
PPR 11 |
I70 7 |
BRI 22 |
TEX 28 |
PIR 13 |
GLN 11 |
MLW 13 |
NSV 8 |
NZH 8 |
MCH 7 |
NHA 13 |
IRP 16 |
GTY 6 |
HPT 10 |
RCH 16 |
LVS 32 |
LVL 9 |
TEX 31 |
CAL 9 |
13th | 3074 |
2 Competed only in companion events with Busch North Series as BNS driver and ineligible for Busch Series points
References
- ↑
- ↑ "NASCAR HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2015". NASCAR Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
- ↑ "NASCAR HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2016". NASCAR Hall of Fame. Retrieved February 26, 2016.
External links
- Mike Stefanik driver statistics at Racing-Reference
Sporting positions | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Dave Dion |
NASCAR Busch North Series champion 1997, 1998 |
Succeeded by Brad Leighton |
Preceded by Tony Hirschman |
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion 2006 |
Succeeded by Donny Lia |
Preceded by Jerry Marquis |
NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series champion 2001, 2002 |
Succeeded by Todd Szegedy |
Preceded by Tony Hirschman |
NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series champion 1997, 1998 |
Succeeded by Tony Hirschman |
Preceded by Jamie Tomaino |
NASCAR Winston Modified Tour champion 1991 |
Succeeded by Jeff Fuller |
Preceded by Mike McLaughlin |
NASCAR Winston Modified Tour champion 1989 |
Succeeded by Jamie Tomaino |
Achievements | ||
Preceded by Greg Biffle |
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year 1999 |
Succeeded by Kurt Busch |