16^th PLACE SIZZLER FINISH
Dupuis now tied for 9^th in season-long battle

Stafford Springs, CT (April 24, 2005) – The second event on the inaugural Whelen Modified Tour schedule was this past weekend’s 34^th annual Spring Sizzler – billed as the greatest race in the history of spring. 43 cars were on hand – vying for 33 starting positions.

Practice and qualifying – which were scheduled for Saturday – were cancelled after persistent rain showers blanketed the area. With rain continuing well into Sunday morning, plans for the annual Pit Party were abandoned and practice was significantly shortened.

On Sunday morning, Dupuis and her family and team were interviewed and filmed by Connecticut’s FOX affiliate, FOX 61, for a segment which aired on Sunday’s ‘FOX 61 Sports Ticket’ following the 10 PM news broadcast (click here to view the segment). “FOX’s Amy Lundy approached us on Sunday morning and explained that she was interested in doing a story on us,” described Dupuis. “FOX ended-up interviewing my family and filming our crew – which was nice because they don’t often get the credit they deserve,” she continued. “The finished product turned out great – giving valuable publicity to our team and sponsors.”

At the start of the 200-lap feature, Dupuis ran toward the rear of the field for a few laps before following seven-time national champion Mike Stefanik past several cars solidly into the middle of the pack. On lap 40, just in front of the No. 90, past champion Jerry Marquis lost a right rear tire collecting Stefanik and Dupuis. Bleeding water from the radiator, Dupuis was forced to pit under caution to replace the badly damaged radiator.

“Once again, the guys did an outstanding job in the pits replacing the radiator and refilling the water in the system,” credited Dupuis. “I think we initially lost like 14 laps. Which wasn’t bad considering the front bumper was mashed into the radiator, the bolt-on chassis horns holding the radiator in place were twisted and the bent radiator was squashing the rack lines.”

Upon returning to the track, Dupuis ran highly competitive lap times despite the significantly damaged front end. In the end, Dupuis moved-up 16 spots to finish in 16^th place. As a result she is currently tied for 9^th place in the seasonal points race – the team’s best start to a NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour season to date. Currently, about 60 teams are ranked.

With more than a month off, the Tour will again return to action on Friday, May 27 when they revisit the flat .5-mile oval at Stafford Motor Speedway.