Stefanik stars again at Stafford

August 25, 2001
4:26 PM EDT (2026 GMT)

STAFFORD SPRINGS, Conn. -- The all-time NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series leader in wins at the Stafford Motor Speedway added one more victory to his collection on Friday night, as Coventry, Rhode Island’s Mike Stefanik captured the checkers in the ASB American Classic 150.

Stefanik dominated the event, leading 119 of the 150 laps to earn the win. By earning the Bud Pole Award in time trials earlier in the evening, Stefanik proved that he had the car to beat from the beginning.

Stefanik would have to wait to prove his meddle, as any of the first 50 laps of the race were run under caution. Stefanik held his lead through the early portions of the race, keeping challengers such as Jerry Marquis, Rick Fuller, and Mike Ewanitsko in his rear-view mirror.

A lap-54 caution for the spun car of Carl Pasteryak gave some of the contenders a chance to make a pit stop under the yellow flag period.

Defending race champion John Blewett, III, as well as Charlie Pasteryak, Eddie Flemke, and Tony Hirschman all took to pit road for service, while the lead group of cars, Stefanik, Marquis, Fuller, and Ewanitsko, remained on the track.

The red flag was shown to the field on lap 61, when the car of Eddie Flemke struck the wall between turns three and four, causing the rear bumper to be wedged between the Armco barrier.

On the restart, Marquis shot out ahead of Stefanik on the outside lane, moving the Michael Boehler-owned No. 34 to the top spot. Stefanik would continue to lose spots to Ewanitsko, Dave Berghman, and Ted Christopher and settled into the fifth position.

Caution again flew for the spun Fred Vordermeier machine on lap 85, allowing the lead group to make their pit stops. Marquis led Ewanitsko, Berghman, Christopher, Stefanik, Fuller, and a handful of other cars down pit road for service.

When the green flag brought the cars back up to speed on lap-91, Chuck Schartzer was in the front of the field, leading his first career NFMS race. Former Stafford winner Tom Baldwin made Shartzer’s lead short-lived, as he moved to first on lap 93.

Four laps later, however, it was Stefanik making good use of his fresh tires as he passed Baldwin for the lead. At the lap-100 mark, Stefanik was still in command over Charlie Pasteryak, Christopher, and Baldwin.

Christopher’s strong run ended on lap-117, as his No. 25 car broke between turn one and two, bringing out the caution again. The field restarted on lap 122 in single-file fashion, with the top-5 consisting of Stefanik, Charlie Pasteryak, Baldwin, Ewanitsko, and Carl Pasteryak.

The final caution flag of the evening flew on lap 142, when Reggie Ruggiero rammed the turn-3 wall. Upon the restart, Stefanik would hold strong and lead the field to the checkered flag. Ewanitsko would wind up second, with Marquis, Charlie Pasteryak, and Dave Berghman rounding out the top-5.

The victory is Stefanik’s 62nd career NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series victory and his 17th NFMS win at Stafford.