Mike Stefanik

Mike Stefanik ( born May 20, 1958 in Wilbraham, Massachusetts ) is an American NASCAR driver. He is considered one of the best drivers in the history of NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and was also active in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Career

In the period 1989-1998 Stefanik won four times the championship in the Whelen Modified Tour, but he also won two consecutive titles in 1997 and 1998. Moreover, he was also very successful in the NASCAR Busch North Series, today's NASCAR K & N Pro Series East. He also won in 1997 and 1998 the title. Thus he is the only driver who won the championship twice in a row in two different NASCAR series.

After the successful years in the Whelen Modified Tour and the Busch North Series Stefanik got a place in a Craftsman Truck Series team. In 1999 he drove the full season there. The big break him but never succeeded. He was a total of ten times in the Top 10 and only once in the Top 5 His best result was a second place finish in the season opening race of the 1999 season at Homestead -Miami Speedway. The average arrival position in the target was 13.8. He was with a 13th place in the overall standings Rookie of the Year, Freshman of the Year.

Furthermore drove Stefanik 1992-2000 occasional races in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. There, however, he was not very successful and took only a top 10 placement in 1992 at the New Hampshire International Speedway. While all of his appearances at Busch Grand National Series and Craftsman Truck Series Stefanik led only three laps.

Then he returned to the Whelen Modified Tour, where he again won the championship in 2001 and 2002. In 2003, Stefanik was chosen because of its hitherto six titles in the group of the best Whelen Modified Tour driver of all time. In 2006, he won the championship again, so that he has in common with Jerry Cook, most titles that could ever enter a driver in the Whelen Modified Tour, namely seven. He also is on the list of entire NASCAR titles from all racing series of NASCAR par with the deceased Richie Evans. Both have won nine championships in NASCAR series.