LONG POND, Pennsylvania (August 4, 2011) – – For the first time in her rookie season in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards, Maryeve Dufault will return to a track that she has mounted experience in her No. 12 Mad Croc Energy / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger for Tony Marks Racing (TMR).
Two months ago, Dufault, the Sorel, Quebec native made her debut at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway where she impressed by qualifying 15th and improving to a solid 12th place lead-lap finish in the Pocono ARCA 200. Saturday, the ARCA Racing Series returns to the track nicknamed the “Tricky Triangle” for the running of the Pennsylvania ARCA 125.
Returning to the track nestled along the mountains of Long Pond, Pennsylvania, Dufault and her Ryan Chism led team knows though that a curveball has been thrown at them for the 13th race of the 2011 season.
Even though fog shortened her Pocono debut in June by 21 laps, the track time the former NASCAR Canadian Tire Series acquired was priceless. Saturday’s race has a shorter distance of just 50 laps or 125 miles which means Dufault and her TMR gang has to be on their toes and be prepared for the unexpected from the drop of the green flag.
“Actually, I’m really excited about returning to Pocono this weekend,” said Dufault who is aiming for her second career top-10 in ARCA competition. “I really adapted well to the track in June and I feel like with that experience, it should help us on Saturday.” She continued, “We’ve had some ups and downs over the last couple of weeks, but this Tony Marks Racing team is incredible. I’ve never met a group of more dedicated guys than mine. I know a good strong on Saturday is just one way of showing them how that hard work is paying off and especially how much they are appreciated.”
With just 50 laps to get the job done on Saturday afternoon, Dufault knows that while patience is still important, there will no time to lag as the laps will tick away quickly.
“You have to be prepared for anything,” added Dufault, who will make her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut in two weeks at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. “We could find ourselves pitting right where we need to or it could go the other way where we’ll have to pit under green flag conditions. The ARCA competition has been massively tough this year, so we’ll just have to be prepared for any situation that may be thrown at us.” Car owner Tony Marks offered his thoughts on Saturday’s anticipated thriller.
“Pocono is such a neat track,” said the Ohio entrepreneur. “Maryeve impressed a lot of people on how quickly she was able to adapt to a track that difficult in such a short amount of time. We’re bringing her a strong No. 12 Mad Croc Energy / Dodge Motorsports Dodge Charger, so we’re looking for another solid finish this weekend.”
The Pennsylvania ARCA 125(50 laps / 125 miles) is the 13th of 19 events on the 2011 ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards schedule. The 53rd ARCA race at Pocono Raceway is a two-day show. Practice begins Friday, August 5 with a one hour and twenty minute practice session planned from 1:40 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Menards Pole by Ansell qualifying is slated to begin later in the day at 5:40 p.m. The field will take the green flag shortly after 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 6. The event will be televised live on SPEED. Live timing and scoring throughout the 1,325th race for the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards since it was formed in 1953 will be available through the ARCA Racing Network (ARN) online at arcaracing.compresented by ARCANation.com. All times are local. To learn more about Tony Marks Racing, please click over to Tmr-racing.com.
For more on Maryeve Dufault, please log onto Maryeveracing.com.
Get Mad with Mad Croc Energy by visiting the World Wide Web at Madcroc.com. For additional information on TMT, Inc. please visit; tmtcompanies.net.
About Tony Marks Racing (TMR): Tony Marks Racing was founded in 2009 through the passion for racing of team owner and former driver Tony Marks. Marks is the successful owner of TMT, Inc., a logistics, warehousing and packaging company with over 400 employees whose customers are mainly comprised of Fortune 100 companies.
Marks began his racing career in 1985 getting behind the wheel of everything from drag racers, Dirt Late Models, SCCA Formula Fords, USAC F2000 Open Wheel and ARCA cars. Tony personally raced until 2005 amassing numerous wins, championships and track records along the way until he then changed his focus from driver to owner and began building racing programs for his children Jared (16 years old) and Rachel (13 years old). Under the auspices of TMR, Jared began his racing career in 2002 in quarter midgets and now competes in late model, CRA, ASA and ARCA Series events while Rachel continues her development program racing quarter midgets and Bandoleros.
TMR has been at the forefront of charitable giving through its’ “Driving Against Hunger” and “Million Meal Challenge” race programs which have raised over $200,000 for Forgotten Harvest in 2010 at the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series events at Michigan International Speedway.
For the NASCAR events TMR along with TMT, Inc. partnered with Forgotten Harvest for the “Million Meal Challenge For Our Kids” which helps to bridge the hunger gap while schools are out of session and feeds 20,000 children per day in the Detroit metro area. Forgotten Harvest was significantly displayed on the entry of Chase Austin during both the Truck and Nationwide events at Michigan International Speedway along with logos of “Million Meal Challenge” sponsors Walgreen’s, United Race Group, Holyfield’s Choice Alka-Power Water and Vitamin Spice. Evander Holyfield was also instrumental in the challenge, acting as Grand Marshall for the August race and announcing his “Fight Against Hunger” on behalf of Forgotten Harvest.
As the first race team to “Drive Against Hunger” through their partnership with Forgotten Harvest, TMR plans to continue their alliance with Forgotten Harvest and once again “Drive Against Hunger” during the 2011 season.
