Woman of pressdog® Maryeve Dufault will get a ride for the NASCAR Nationwide race in Montreal, very near her hometown of Sorel, Quebec, on August 20.
For Maryeve (pronounced Mary-ev), it will be a return to the track that opened the door for the former open-wheel driver into stock cars. A race on the famous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2010 got the attention of Dodge sponsors and put Maryeve in a full-time ARCA ride in 2011.
For more on Maryeve, read my July 16 interview HERE. News release on her Nationwide race below.
Dufault will be First Canadian Female to Race in the Series
Maryeve Dufault will become the first Canadian female to compete in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race, when she makes her Nationwide Series debut driving the Quebec Dodge Dealers Dodge Challenger for MacDonald Motorsports at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal for the Napa Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge on August 20, 2011.
Declared “One to Watch,” by SPEED commentator Darrell Waltrip, Dufault has extensive road racing experience and competed in the Canadian Tire Series at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2010. This year she is racing in the ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards and looks forward to making history with her Nationwide debut next month, “This is just an awesome opportunity for me and I can’t thank the Quebec Dodge Dealers enough for making it happen,” said Dufault. “I feel like I have learned a lot this season in the ARCA car and I’m hoping that knowledge will translate to my Quebec Dodge Dealers Nationwide car at Montreal.”
With support from the Quebec Dodge Dealers, Dufault will drive a Dodge Challenger for fellow Canadian, Randy MacDonald, “After all these years living State side, it’s still important to me to be involved in helping my fellow countrymen, so I am super excited to have Maryeve join MacDonald Motorsports. I’ve been able to watch Maryeve compete in the ARCA races this year and it is clear to me, she wants to win.” MacDonald continued, “We intend to give her a fast car and a great finish at our only race in Canada. This is an important race for both of us. This is big league racing, the Nationwide Series is ultra competitive, hopefully we can open the opportunity for her to move into NASCAR with more races to come.”
A rookie in the ARCA Racing Series, Dufault and her first-year team (Tony Marks Racing) are off to a strong start. Dufault made her debut at Daytona, where she qualified in her first attempt, for her first oval race in a stock car. Dufault has already earned her first top-ten finish (Chicagoland), and in Talladega, she was third quick in practice and followed it up with a 12th place finish after racing from the back of the field (39th) due to a part malfunction. Making her mark in her rookie season, Dufault has already earned four top-15 finishes in the highly competitive 40 car ARCA field.
Practice and qualifying for the Napa Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at Montreal gets underway on Friday, August 19 in preparation for the 200 mile race on Saturday. The race will be shown on ESPN at 2:30 p.m. ET and at 2:00 p.m. on TSN in Canada.
For more information on Maryeve Dufault, please log onto Maryeveracing.com.
I hope the crew at ESPN read your interview, so they know how to pronounce Maryeve's name.
Posted by: Marty | July 25, 2011 at 07:46 PM