Catchfence

“Dufault will be First Canadian Female to Race in the Series”

Mooresville, NC (July 25, 2011) – 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.

- Sierra Specialized Inc. Press Release