Season Ending World Series 

This past weekend NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series competitor Renee Dupuis participated in Thompson International Speedway's 'World Series' - the final event on the 2004 FMS schedule. The 125-lap race marked the final appearance by Featherlite as the Series‘ title sponsor. 

With just the standard 90 minutes of testing allowed on Saturday morning, the team worked closely with Troyer’s Bob Muller to make adjustments on the new car. Clearly, the hard work paid off as the car ran very competitive times the very first time it hit the track. 

“Bob went above and beyond the call of duty this weekend,” stated a grateful Renee. “We’ve never had the opportunity to work with Bob before and he stayed right with my guys throughout practice. Together we worked to a point where we continued to get faster - on old tires - while everyone else started to fall off. We cannot thank him enough for his help,” she continued. 

With practice over, a total of 50 cars attempted to qualify thru time trials for a starting spot in the 32-car field. In what has been an impressive year in terms of healthy car counts - the 'World Series' offered up the largest yet.  Following her two-laps under the clock, Renee’s run earned the 26th starting position (just behind Championship contender Eddie Flemke Jr.). 

With the track running behind (rain on Saturday evening postponed several features to noon on Sunday), the FMS feature finally went off at about 6 PM. 

While things appeared to go smoothly from the onset - Renee gained several positions on the outside during the first few laps - things quickly went bad. It appears a bolt that connects the sway (anti-roll) bar to the left-side lower control arm snapped - causing Renee to spin on the backstretch (an odd place to just spin). In any event, the team worked real hard to return the car to the track. In doing so, they were able to earn enough points to finish the season in the 20th position overall (about 90 different drivers are ranked). 

In their three years with the FMS, this season marks the team’s highest points finish. “The guys have really worked their tails off all year - but especially this last month or so to get the new Troyer car race ready,” Renee explained. “We’ve got a great group of individuals involved with us - crew members, sponsors and supporters alike - and are so appreciative of all they’ve done for us during this season,” declared Renee. 

While the 2004 season has just come to an end, plans are already well underway for 2005. In fact, NASCAR announced that the 2005 NASCAR Whelen Modified Series schedule will be released in the next few weeks. From all indications, Whelen guarantees the Series will serve as the focal point of an aggressive national advertising campaign. This new venture promises to garner tremendous exposure for Whelen, NASCAR and the drivers and teams of the Modified Series. 

We look forward to providing the schedule to you upon its release.