ARCA - Top-10 Performance For Maryeve Dufault And Tony Marks Racing In Chicagoland

JOLIET, June 6, 2011: In just her sixth career ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards start Maryeve Dufault and her Tony Marks Racing reached a great achievement Saturday night at Chicagoland Speedway by posting a top-10 finish in her No. 12 VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger.

After enduring the tracks of Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, Salem (Ind.) Speedway, Toledo Speedway and most recently the challenging road course of New Jersey Motorsports Park – Dufault was set to make her ARCA intermediate track debut at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Despite not testing at Chicagoland Speedway, Dufault and her TMR team entered the sixth race of the season with confidence that a large oval track would allow the Sorel, Quebec native to strut her stuff and show improvement from start to finish.

Gains from the start of practice had the No. 12 VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger going in the right direction by posting the 21st fastest lap during the hour and a half practice session. Changes made by crew chief Darren Wolfe would allow Dufault to throttle hard in Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying lining up her automobile in the 20th position.

An hour before the sixth race of the season was to take the green flag; Mother Nature invaded Chicagoland Speedway and completely drenched the facility, ultimately forcing officials from ARCA, NASCAR and Chicagoland Speedway to postpone the start of the event until the conclusion of the NASCAR Nationwide Series’ STP 300. Several hours later and nearly 20 degrees cooler, the ARCA Racing Series would be given the command to start the engines.

From the drop of the green flag, Dufault did an excellent job to click off laps and gain experience around the extremely fast 1.5-mile speedway. Hovering inside the top-18 for much of the event’s first quarter, Despite posting respectable lap times Dufault would lose a lap to the leaders by the time routine pit stops occurred on lap 37.

Four tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment was the call from atop of the pit box which sent the former NASCAR Canadian Tire Series back into the hunt. Continuing to mount laps and gain priceless experience, Dufault would safely hover inside the top-20 racing with the likes of Bobby Gerhart, Sean Corr, Brent Brevak and Stefan Rzesnowiecky.

Eight laps past the half-way mark, Dufault and her TMR team received a welcome break when the yellow flag waived allowing the No. 12 VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger to retain their lost lap back courtesy of the Aaron’s Lucky Dog.

Back on the lead circuit, Dufault was determined and focused to move her Chrysler nameplate towards the top-10. Methodically moving her way forward, Dufault nicely hit her marks and utilized the give and take method to steer her TMR entry towards a career-best finish.

Despite inching up the leader board, Dufault would again lose a lap to the ultra-quick Chad Hackenbracht with 26 laps remaining, putting the No. 12 VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger once again one lap off the pace. Running solidly in the 13th position with 17 laps to go, Dufault was biding her time waiting for the perfect opportunity to pass the No. 3 of Brent Brevak and the No. 96 of Stefan Rzesnowiecky.

When leader Chad Hackenbracht blew a tire with 15 laps to go, the yellow flag was displayed allowing the lone female driver in the event to catch her breath and gather her thoughts for the closing laps. As an added bonus, the No. 12 VR-12 / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger once again became the beneficiary of the Aaron’s Lucky Dog.

Restarting in 12th, Dufault was able to move up two positions over the race’s final 10 circuits to cross the start finish line in 10th, the team’s best finish since their series debut at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway in February.

“I’m really happy,” said Dufault. “VR-12, Dodge, Tony Marks and the entire Tony Marks Racing team really needed this. At the start of the race, I was a little worried because the car was so loose. I consulted with the team and we were able to make some changes and the car’s handling improved considerably. We had a good car. I was just being patient, racing with the cars I could and being extra careful around the slower cars after our last two races. My main goal was to finish the race and pick up some momentum to carry into these big races coming up. As a team, we’re going to build on this and look for more top-10s down the road. The team did an amazing job.”

As for Tony Marks, owner of TMR, he was one of the happiest car owners in the garage area Saturday night. “I’m tickled,” Marks explained. “Maryeve did a fantastic job of showing maturity and patience. We were going to be satisfied with a solid top-15 finish but to leave Chicagoland with a top-10, I’m thrilled. I have to thank VR-12, Dodge, Victory Water and all those who stand behind and support TMR. A huge congratulations to the team as the finish was a total team effort. Hopefully we can go to Pocono next weekend and make it back-to-back top-10 finishes.”

With their performance Saturday night, Dufault climbed into the top-10 in the ARCA Racing Series championship standings where she currently occupies 10th, 65 markers behind ninth place competitor Sean Corr.